Welcome to Week 2 of the Sea Creature Of The Week blog. A blog where I write about a different fascinating sea creature every week, from proterozoic to holocene, extinct and extant, you'll find something interesting here. (let's try this for the 2nd time)

This Week's Sea Creature Is...

The Dumbo Octopus

Deemed the cutests species of octopus the Dumbo Octopus is one of the rarest species of octopus as well as living the deepest. It lives at depths of of at least 13,100 feet (4000 m) and it's possible there are Dumbo Octopi that live deeper. Because of the depths the octopus resides in its diet come from around ocean vent ecosystems or floating along in the current, the creatures it east from these habitats are sopods, bristle worms, amphipods, and planktonic creatures. Though one would assume it's depth makes it impervious to predators you'd be wrong, though the genus has few predators which include sharks, dolphin, and tuna. The Dumbo Octopus has an average life expectancy of 3-5 years.

The largest Dumbo Octopus ever recorded reached 5 feet 10 inches (1.8 m) but most species average from 8 to 12 inches (20-30 cm). Like all octopus species the Dumbo Octopus has the gift of camouflage, its able to change its colour and texture to blend into the ocean floor, though some species ear fins are a different colour. The Dumbo Octopus has been found in colours like red, white, brown, and pink. There have been 17 confirmed species of Dumbo Octopi, they have been found off the coasts of California, Oregon, Australia, the Azores, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, New Zealand, and the Gulf of Mexico. 

Because of the species short life span the Dumbo Octopus can lay up to 200,000 eggs at a time, scientists believe it can do this at anytime once it reaches sexual maturity. As you can guess the Dumbo Octopus got its name from the ear fins above each eye similar to Dumbo's ears from the 1941 movie of the same name. The Dumbo Octopus uses its ear fins to propel itself through the ocean and uses its short webbed arms/tentacles to steer, it is the only octopus species to move this way.

*layout made by IcyTea*

Next Week's Sea Creature Sneak Peek