This isn't the first time Shackleton has been spotted in such a way. Shackleton said she considers herself fortunate to have been in the water at the perfect time to snap a photograph of the magnificent creature. Related Article: Spotted Owls Now Safer as Previous Plans to Reduce Habitats are Struck Down A Stunning Occurrence Because it spends most of its life in the open ocean, it's significantly rarer to see one on a reef. Shackleton believes the octopus has only been seen three times in the region before hers. The blanket octopus' distinctive habit of carrying blue-bottle stingers for self-defense is likely to have contributed to the enormous disparity between the sexes. The display can be shed by females who develop it to evade predators. Males also lack the shimmering "blanket" that makes the blanket octopus so appealing. However, females may reach 2 meters in length. Males have only been spotted growing to around 2.4cm long. Related Article: Farmers are Luring Rare Cranes by Growing their Favorite Food Comparing Male and Female Octopus They are the "most severe example of sexual size-dimorphism in a non-microscopic animal" in the New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. Julian Finn, a senior curator of marine invertebrates at Museums Victoria, and colleagues observed a live male in the Ribbon Reefs, just north of the Great Barrier Reef, 21 years ago. Related Article: Did these Critically Endangered Gliding Marsupial Find a New Home to Live On? Blanket Octopus Sightingīlanket octopuses swimming around are an uncommon occurrence. "I kept hollering 'it's a blanket octopus!' through my snorkel." The excitement in my heart made it impossible to hold my breath as I dived down to film it." "I believed it was a young fish with long fins when I first saw it, but as it got closer, I realized it was a female blanket octopus, and I felt an amazing sensation of delight and excitement," she added. Video: Octopus Cameo in Jameson Irish Whiskey Comm.Jacinta Shackleton, a reef guide and marine biologist, noticed the technicolor marine mollusk off the shore of Lady Elliot Island in the Great Barrier Reef last week.Saying Goodbye to the Giant Pacific Octopus in Oregon.The male dies shortly afterwards while the female goes on to carry over 100,000 eggs that she keeps attached to her until they are ready to hatch. When it is time to mate, the male detaches its arm and lodges it into the female's mantle. The males have a detachable arm in which sperm is stored. Males and females look as though their two different species! Female Blanket Octopuses may grow in excess of two meters in length, whereas males only reach a few centimeters. Taking advantage of their immunity, Blanket Octopuses will rip off the Man o' war's tentacles and use them to defend themselves from attacks. Interestingly, Blanket Octopus is immune to the poison of the Portuguese man o' war, a jellyfish-like invertebrate known for its deadly venom. Instead, the Blanket Octopus will unfurl its blanket, making it look significantly larger and intimidating, with the intention of scaring off whatever threatens it. The "blanket" is a defense mechanism, and a handy one too, as Blanket Octopuses do not have ink to ward off predators. Sightings are rare, making the Blanket Octopus an elusive and mysterious species. These species can be found in the open seas of the Mediterranean as well as the North and South Atlantic Ocean. They are called so because of the transparent webbing connecting their dorsal and dorsolateral arms, which resembles a large a large flowing blanket. The four species are the Common Blanket Octopus, Gelatinous Blanket Octopus, Palmate Octopus, and Tremoctopus Robsoni. Blanket Octopus is the common name used to describe four species of octopus belonging to the Tremoctopus genus.
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