cephalopod of the day: telescope octopus

hello slimy friends, hello!

i want to dedicate today's blog to a more niche cepha that isn't very well known. the telescope octopus is a somewhat recently discovered species of glass octopus that resides in indian and pacific oceans.

these guys are the only known octopus species with tubular eyes, meaning that their eyes are naturally cylindrical. barreleye fish, for example, also have tubular eyes. the telescope octopus is thus forced to look upwards, which is handy for identifying prey and predators alike.



it has been theorized that these and fellow glass octopi experience a "frozen" stage in larval development, hence their transparent and infantile appearance. however, very little is known about the telescope octopus and its relatives, and they may simply remain transparent due to a lack of need to develop pigmentation to protect their skin from solar radiation.