Mimic Octopus

Mimic Octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus)

This strange creature might look a bit like a Lion Fish in this image, but it’s actually the Mimic Octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus). As the name implies it confuses its enemies by mimicking other (poisonous or dangerous) sea creatures. It was discovered only some decades ago in 1998 off the coast of Indonesia. The mimic octopus is about 55 cm long and is brown with white in its normal form, although it is hard to determine what it really looks like because of its constant shape-shifting. The mimic octopus lives in a burrow on the bottom of the ocean but has also been found in muddy rivers in some tropical regions. Some of the creatures it’s been seen mimicing are sea snakes, brittle stars, jelly fish, sole fish, sting rays, sea anemones, lion fish, Japanese spider crabs, and sea shells.

The mimic octopus chooses the mimic forms it takes on carefully. When in danger the mimic octopus will most often choose a form which is a natural predator of the attacking creature. And the mimic form chosen by the octopus almost always is a common predator or creature for the habitat it’s in. This is important because if the attacking creature does not know the form the octopus mimics it will attack. How the octopus has evolved and adapted the way it has by mimicking other creatures, and knowing which creature to mimic, is really remarkable!