Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus

The 59-year-old author, Sy Montgomery, has written 20 books, each based on a specific research or expedition she has taken part in. Her studies, which she descriptively incorporates into her novels, have warranted her various book awards and acclaims. She plunges herself into the lives and mysteries of Earth’s wildlife in order to gain a further understanding of how particular organisms thrive in their wild, dangerous environments. Although Montgomery was no expert in the field of cephalopods, she quickly learned all she could about the intriguing invertebrates through fellow researcher, experts, aquarists, divers, and colleagues encountered throughout her studies about octopuses. Through diligent research via articles, studies, field

Hawaiian bobtail squid, also known as Euprymna scolopes is a species of bobtail squid in the family-sepiolidae. Native to the Pacific Ocean and can found in the shallow coastal water of Hawaii-island and Midway island. It has a relatively short life span (3 – 10 months). However, it grows quickly and hatching, reproduce can be undergo after 2 months. Female which lay egg on the underside of coral ledges in shallow will die shortly since they can breed only once. Hawaiian monk seal, common predator of it. Hawaiian bobtail squid can grow up to 30mm in mantle length.

On the ocean floor of tropical waters around Asia, Africa, and Australia, you may see a diverse array of ocean plants, but not all are what they seem. Some of these plants aren’t plants at all, they’re actually small tube-like creatures called Garden Eels. These eels bob up and down in their burrows, and together as a colony to look like sea grass swaying in the warm currents of the Indo-Pacific region.

They appeared at about the same time as the ammonites. The two groups have some anatomical and developmental traits in common that set them apart from the nautiluses, but they are much different. Ammonites relied on their shells for defense as well as buoyancy while coleoids had internal shells that they did not use for defense. Some coleoid groups have also discarded the shell as a buoyancy aid. Seen in Figure 3, Octopuses, and their close relatives, the vampyromorphs, have lost their shells independently. The squids have shells that no longer provide buoyancy but unlike octopuses, the squids kept their shell for support

Thaumoctopus mimicus is said to use imperfect mimicry, defined as the using poor to decent imitations of multiple morphs, rather than strong resemblance to one species (Hanlon et al., 2008; Huffard et al., 2010). As mentioned in the previous section, they replicate the coloration of multiple forms of flatfish, but more dramatic morphs are displayed while individuals are swimming in the mid-water range of the water column or while interacting directly with aggressive species (Norman et al., 2001). Following with the assumption that T. mimicus is a Batesian mimic, the forms that individual octopus use while swimming higher in the water column are those of well-known toxic or unpalatable species. A variety of dive

No research has been done about the different species of Blue Ringed Octopus having different rings. Doing this would give a more in depth understanding of just how this unique creature evolved its impressive warning system and how the rings have remained the same over time even when the different species now look quite different from each other excluding their blue rings. I would observe all four confirmed Blue Ringed Octopus species: Greater blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena lunulata) Southern blue-ringed octopus or lesser blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena maculosa) Blue-lined octopus (Hapalochlaena fasciata) using underwater cameras in placed in their habitat of the coast of Western Australia. I would collect dead specimen, that I can easily confirm death. They will be removed with proper protective gear as an extra precaution due to their extreme toxicity (2). The most easily accessible specimen will most likely be those who have died after reproduction. This will allow me to collect both male and female octopi. After observing and studying the rings I will attempt to replicate the effect of the rings and their contrast using man made products most likely some form of plastic. The fact that the model would work with ambient light in the environment it would mean there would be no need to have a light source within it the only power it would need is whatever is used to power the movement of the contrast

The shell of Limulus polyphemus frequently serves as substrate for a large number of epibionts, such as barnacles, mussels, oysters, polychaetes, slipper limpets, algae and other encrusting invertebrates ( Botton, 2009; Botton et al. 2015). The term epibiosis is used to describe a non-symbiotic, facultative association between the substrate organism and sessile animals (epizoans) or epiphytic algae (Botton, 2009). Using horseshoe crabs as a substrate may be advantageous for the epibionts in that it aids in gene dispersal and feeding opportunities (Botton & Shuster, 2003). Because horseshoe crabs are migratory, any of the organisms that live on them must be able to survive the same wide range of temperatures and salinities as their hosts (Botton, 2009).

The Caribbean Reef Squid, Sepioteuthis Sepioidea, is one of the most exotic and alienated creatures in the ocean. Being one of the most intelligent invertebrates, they only get to about 12-20cm in length and have torpedo-shaped bodies with 10 tentacles “fixed to its head”, and are arranged in a circle around its mouth. The Reef squid is fairly common, especially around Florida, Bermuda, South America, and the Bahamas, and travel in schools (4-30) and aren’t scared of divers, if not curious about them.

The Giant Pacific Octopuses are found though out the Pacific Ocean. It’s found north in Alaska, South in Mexico, west in Japan and East in California. So they really can tolerate all kinds of water temperature. It is more likely to find it in tidal pools and they live in the water depth from 110 meters down to 1500m. (Schwab, 1987) They eat fish, lobster, shellfish etc. They crack them open by their mouth. The way they reproduce is that male Octopuses have genital bags inside them. They will insert a hectocotylized arm into the female and then release sperm. The entire process will take 2-3 hours. They could change their skin color to fit into the environment so they really can fit into different conditions. (Anderson, & Mather, 2007)

The Enteroctopus dofleini, also known as the Giant Pacific Octopus, is an octopus which can range from 3 to 5 meter from top of the head to the tip of its arms (9.75 feet to 16 feet) and its arm range is typically six feet long. The Giant Pacific octopus is reddish brown and on average is 132 pounds. The body of the octopus is bulb-shaped and contains all of the its organs and its mouth. The mouth is found on the underside, where the arms converge. In the center of the mouth is a beak that is made of keratin, the same material that is in the human fingernail and the rhinoceros horn. The beak is used for killing prey and to bite food as it eats.

This small creature requires extraordinary effort to keep it alive in captivity. The researchers who are studying the creature have discovered certain peculiarities about the octopus, such as an inability to

Walking past a fancy poster of a famous model with the most amazing body, have you ever wished you could change your body instantly to make it look like that model? The mimic octopus, Thaumoctopus mimicus, is able to alter its body shape and colour to mimic up to 15 different species. Although mimicry of background patterns and textures is a common defence mechanism for the species under class Cephalopoda, mimicking of individual animals in the absence of the model is a unique feature in T.mimicus. It chooses to make itself more conspicuous to predators by mimicking high-contrast colour patterned species.

These creatures have a unique eating method, they paralyze their prey with venom that comes from their tentacles. There are filaments on the tentacles that stick to their prey and almost immediately apply poison. Once the jellyfish’s prey is paralyzed, the jellyfish will use its tentacles to put it into it’s mouth. “tentacles

Ichthyosaurs are fish shaped reptiles. These prehistoric creatures ruled over the oceans for 155 million years. Ranging from 245 to 90 million years ago. There are around 80 species known to be make up the group of Ichthyosaurs. These species can be found all over the world because they migrated heavily. The Ichthyosaurs can be compared to a whale, but it isn’t. Ichthyosaurs’ have been found to be two times the size of a person, or as small as a human’s arm length. The creature has a long snout jam-packed with teeth, capable of ripping through prehistoric creatures similar to a squid. Back in the 1800s when the fossils were found its unusual features were noted. A notable feature was its evolution. The fish like creature had evolved from a

Housing over 15,000 aquatic animals, Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada is a place fit for all types of tourists. It is a hot spot located in the downtown core of Toronto for international tourists visiting from outside of the country, or domestic tourists who live within Canada (Page & Connell, 2006). The aquarium holds marine species from around the world housed in different galleries throughout the building. I visited this attraction because it offered an experience with thousands of different animals in one accessible location, also relating to my degree of science.