What is Digg?75 Comments
- ConceptJunkie, on 10/12/2007, -3/+36Not only is it real, but many octopuses also use their legs to mimic the shapes of other objects as well. I've seen some truly mind-blowing video (no exaggeration!) of octopuses mimicing plants, fish, and even coconuts (with little feeties sticking out the bottom to make them "drift"). I'm not kidding.
I for one welcome our new cephalopod overlords. - chrisbenson, on 10/12/2007, -1/+30It's not "invisible". It's camoflage. I've seen it before on Discovery Channel (or similar channel). They did a show that highlighted this exact ability of the octopus. Very cool, and the biochemistry enabling it is cooler still.
- abhishta, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17That octopus is not turning invisible. It is matching its skin texture and shape to match the plant's. Octopuses are known to do that.
- dirtyjersey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15An interesting note about the Cuttlefish: When they court a female they will go through a vivid light show but if there are males in the area the lightshow will only take place on the side on which the female swims. Really funny to watch, kind of like "Nothing to see here folks" and then on the other side its like "ooh yeah"
- ashika, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13some divers have an uncanny ability to find octopusses.
That said, this camera guy was probably chasing it for a while. - Etheo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Wow, to date this is the only video I've seen of an octopus' camoflage (thought it was long ago). Would you mind to link us to those mentioned videos if possible? I'd like to see some more camoflage in action ;)
- Moscube717, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Yes, most people know that this is possible, as we learned in school, but we have never seen it in action. I know stars and galaxies exist, but I still love pictures of them. Actually seeing it in action for 47 seconds was way more interesting than learning about it with text. Seeing this amazing animal in action is what people digg, not the fact that they learned something new.
- matthewaaron, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9So you can do it?
- LeftistPersona, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I'm sure the camera man was a research scientist or very well versed in octopus knowledge. It was probably part of a documentary like chrisbenson mentioned.
- StacyWebb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7If nothing else , dugg for just being cool.
- Greyhaven7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@ConceptJunkie
That's one specific kind of octopus called... (ironically) the Mimic Octopus. Most do not mimic shapes and actions, only textures and color.
Many MANY cepholopods contain color changing cells (called chromatophores) that allow them to blend in at will. The Broadclub Cuttlefish's attack display is extremely impressive. See this video
(second clip from the bottom of the page).
http://www.oceanfootage.com/stockfootage/Broadclub_Cuttle_Invertebrate/ - ConceptJunkie, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Leftist:
This is another reason why some evolutionary biologists think the cephalopods would be the next most likely candidates to evolve intelligence. It takes some serious brain power to control that camouflage ability (not to mention all those arms). - super_spyder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4that octopus couldnt fire when cloaked, just like the klingon bird of prey.... damn that octapus is so star trek.
- psbpv3o, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Amazing. It was posted awhile ago but still worth a digg...
- LeftistPersona, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4the octopus isn't reducing its volume, the change in size you see is because the arms of the octopus were curled up into a tight ball underneath its "head."
I've also seen cuttlefish change colors too. I saw a documentary about cuttlefish (it was interesting), and it mentioned that most scientists think that the color changing process in cuttlefish and octopi play a role in communication. Kinda like super semaphore... - warmonger48, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4So that's why we can't find Usama!!! He's really an Octopus!!!
- silent1, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6That's "octopi" ... :-) (joke! joke!)
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Evolution Schmevolution!
- thenamestj, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3People are stupid. "I think it's fake." Go read an encyclopedia. I love the vid though. Octopi are the coolest under water creatures ever. Intelligent too.
- yahoofrom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1would you share us how you do it?
- r0ck3tm4nn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No doubt. Cuttlefish even use their color changing ability to communicate, even express emotion to an extent. Crazy stuff.
- leodavinci, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I remember watching this video a year ago at the NYLF conference on technology, Jaron Lanier showed it to us. The entire crowd was ooh'ing and aah'ing : ). It's a sweet video.
- mungoman1313, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1WRT this not being known, I had an octopus in a home aquarium 30 years ago that would do all this stuff (change color, texture, patterns). When it got excited (being fed) it would do this rapidly, like a dog wagging its tail.
- *Ica*, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What would happen if you put it on a mirror?
- sull, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i had a discussion on a mailing list about this exact video a year ago.
and upon finding this link below, i decided it is legit.
Amazing!
http://www.cephbase.utmb.edu/viddb/vidsrch3.cfm?ID=132&CephID=495 - ezkiel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Not whining about a dupe. But just for general interest this clip was on diggnation a few months back. Still cool.
- surf314, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4It looked like he ran into it on accident
- xOutlawx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1isn't the correct term for more than one octopus, octopodre? (ock-toe-poe-drae)
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I remember seeing something on TV where they put an octopus in a pool with a marble floor and it matched it!
- TSugar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1btw in BBC series there was an experiment that shows than octopuses (as mollusks) cannot see colors, they are masked on color saturation and brightness instead of hue. They used checker-colored floor with yellow and blue colors similar in brightness (looks exactly the same in B/W) and octopus colored itself in something far away from it just 'cause no difference was detected.
- JayMeaux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i can do that.
- rehsifttam, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Agreed, this isn't new news at all. Great video and it's for sure real.
- sparkmonkeyz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1this hsbeen on ebaumsfor the longest time, but still a good digg.
- ConceptJunkie, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I know I didn't. I didn't know about this stuff until fairly recently. I'm not sure the extent of this camouflage ability was even known about 30 years ago. Octopuses are very shy...
- pyro108, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1yea like abhista said the octopus doesn't become what many people think of as "Invisible" isn't whats happening with the octopus. Its just taking the shape of its surroundings. Hasn't anybody heard of this yet!? man. Besides, according to the dictionary "Invisible- Not visible" I could become invisible by... moving behind you.
- ebusta, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Very awesome, love it. Biology++
- therazor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Holy crap thats awesome i mustve blinked in normal speed i didnt catch it o.O
- dmron, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Grey haven - wow thanks for those clips. Jesus that's insane :o
- mikesherov, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4this is real. as previous poster said... this has been on discovery channel as well.
- ZephyrWest, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Is it me or did the octopus grow thorny spines out of its head?
- Plastic3D, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Makes me think twice before eating Calamari.. they really are cool.
- sembetu, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@ConceptJiunkie: Oh, so that explains the Davy Jones Octopus Getup?
- missflibbles, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0calamari is squid.
- missflibbles, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0And that's why I love octopuses.
- CosmicBratt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The comments on the youtube video is what was truly entertaining.
- bluering, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0What is really cool is just how smart these little buggers are. I used to have a small "Bali" octopus in my 50 gallon reef tank. (not sure of the proper name, and I could never really get a positive ID on the species) My favorite trick is how they can figure out how to unscrew the lid on a glass jar to get to food inside.
If anyone wants to read up... The link below is a good place to start.
http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/
Note: My user-name, The Blue Ring octo is a very neat critter as well. I think its cool that an octopus the size of your thumb can kill you quicker than a rattlesnake. - SpoBo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1rofl this is what solid snake will be using in MGS4. Cool to see that it's based on something real :/
- Curcio, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I love this video, it's really amazing to see. Thanks for submitting it Stabmyface. hahaha and awesome name.
- BauskiBruhva, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1This makes me feel like an old digger. This story was on here about 11 months ago...
- kd1s, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0A while back I saw a video of a laboratory setting where they had an octopus in one transparent tank, and some crabs or lobsters in another tank across the room.
They started coming to come in during the morning to find shells on the floor but no obvious reason why there were empty shells on the floor. More interestingly all the tanks in the room were locked. They decided to video the room overnight to see what was going on.
The octopus had figured out how to unlock its tank proceed to to do, then climbed out and across the floor to the crab/lobster tank, unlocked it, reached in and grabbed a meal, ate then dumped the shell on the floor before making its way back to its own tank and re-locking itself in.
I think cephalapods are a wee bit more intelligent than we give them credit for. -
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