Master of Disguise: Mimic Octopus and its Skills of Mimicking 15 other Animals

"Did you Know that there is One animal that can Mimic 15 other variety of Marine animals?"

"Kill or Be Killed." In a world where you have to fight for survival and use methods like camouflage, deceit and tricks to avoid being eaten by the predators, one specific species of octopus excelled from the rest - the Mimic Octopus.

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Mimic Octopus

First discovered in Indonesia in 1998, the Mimic Octopus, Thaumoctopus mimicus, lives in the shallow waters in the Indo-Pacific. They are relatively small, only about two feet in length, and are pale brown in color with a number of brown and white stripes. Like many other cephalopods, the mimic octopus has color-changing cells, or chromatophores, covering its skin. This allows them to quickly change color by expanding or contracting the cells, and ultimately blend into its environment.

They are extremely intelligent and believed to choose an animal to mimic based upon the types of predators present in the area. They also have a great memory, and can recall what animal won't attack another in their environment to ensure their own survival. It was observed that when it was attacked by territorial damselfishes, it mimicked the banded sea snake, a known predator of damselfishes. By doing this, its protecting itself from a potential harm.

Mimicry is a common survival strategy in nature. The mimic octopus is the first known species to take on the characteristics of multiple species and takes the deception a step further. In addition to just changing its color and texture, the animal will also change the way it moves its arms to impersonate a variety of other marine species.

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List of creatures they mimic:

Sole fish: This flat, poisonous fish is imitated by the mimic octopus by building up speed through jet propulsion as it draws all of its arms together into a leaf-shaped wedge as it undulates in the manner of a swimming flat fish.
Lion fish: To mimic the lion fish, the octopus hovers above the ocean floor with its arms spread wide, trailing from its body to take on the appearance of the lion fish's poisonous fins.
Sea snake: The mimic octopus changes color taking on the yellow and black bands of the toxic sea snake as it waves 2 arms in opposite directions in the motion of two sea snakes.

Scientists believe this creature may also impersonate sand anemones, stingrays, crabs, mantis shrimp, seahorses, and even jellyfish.

Their ability to mimic other animals also has another advantage, it helps to gain access to prey. For an instance, it imitates a crab in color and movement so that other crabs won't notice a predator in their midst. And when it gets close enough, the mimic octopus will launch a sneak attack upon its prey and take it down without a fight. Mimic octopuses, Thaumoctopus mimicus, are found in muddy river bottoms and estuaries and its diet most likely consists of small crustaceans and fish.

The world's greatest master of disguise, mimic octopus, continues to climb its spot to the top as the most deceptive creature in the animal kingdom.

As for us, this may serve as a lesson to learn to adapt, become not deceptive but wise and intelligent in all aspects of our lives. Thank you for reading Steemians! I hope you learned something. Follow me @shairanada for more interesting posts.

References:
https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2016/04/01/why-the-mimic-octopus-is-the-ultimate-master-of-disguise/
http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=260
http://www.octopusworlds.com/mimic-octopus/