The Mimic Octopus - impersonates jellyfish, flatfish and snake and mystery shapes.
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- The mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) is a species of octopus from the Indo-Pacific region that is able to impersonate a wide variety of other marine animals. It is noteworthy for being able to change its coloring and contort its body to take on the appearance and behavior of several animals, including the lionfish, jellyfish, sea snake, a shrimp, a crab, and others. This new-to-science cephalopod is a master impersonator and can switch between its disguises rapidly.
the fact that some of the mimics haven’t yet been recognized is fascinating to me… imagine its mimicking an animal not discovered yet
What an interesting thought!
That's both awsome and horrifying
I think it just tried to change into everything in it's repertoire so that you leave him alone haha
This is fascinating. They're really smart to be able-not just-changing colors, shapes, and behavior, but they also know exactly WHEN to impersonate something based on their circumstances. They may have the ability to actually do complex decision making.
Anyway, great video Indoona! New sub here!
Yes - I think we underestimate the diferently intelligent animals on this planet
I find them truly fascinating to watch I thought the mimic guise looked like a sting ray
@karenpriebe4135 that would be a formidable animal to mimic if you wanted to scare off potential predators!
It's not just color or behaviour, this is clearly advanced intellingence.
Remeber just a century back, white scientists used to claim blacks were different species
Extraordinary creatures. I stopped eating calamari once i realised how clever and sentient they are.
True - interesting how intelligence rating is the gauge of what people are happy to eat
One of those imitations was definitely, the Hamburglar.
Sounds like a dangerous creature!
😂😂😂
There is 100% advanced alien octopus races out there.
Interesting you should say that. There is a scientific peer reviewed paper from 2018 giving grounds for alien viruses being added to octopus genes. It’s a fringe theory of course from people who see evidence for Panspermia- transfer of life across the universe- but interesting even so. The octopus genome has more protein coding genes than humans and is very able at something called gene editing- making substitutions in the base pairs of DNA - ultimately having the genetic equipment to change its evolutionary development with more flexibility than other creatures. And scientists in that paper argue it makes them more able to take on fragments of alien viruses- if you believe that such viruses get into Earth’s atmosphere from space - I will do a vid on it. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0079610718300798 - thanks for interesting comment!
I dreamed a few times of huge standing Octopus caring eggs looking at me, these dreams came out of nowhere. Took ivermectin and i never have this dream again
I’m convinced that if octopi were social and survived mating they would be one of the most dominant animals on the planet
Give them a few million more years !
They reach an amazing level of intelligence and sophistication in a usually very brief life. I think it has to be mostly inherited but they’re also incredibly curious too.
I am curious if they would ever attempt to mimic a human and if they did, how would it look
That’s a lovely thought
octodad
4:30 "nothing to see here , i'm just a rock"
Coolest creature ever
Amazing yes
How could photographer resist playing with Mimic Octopus? After few photos I would leave camera (to someone) and start making weird shapes and moves, to see would he mimic me. Or mimic something he thinks would scare me? In my childhood we played a "mimic game", only without changing our colours. Could I make an Octo laugh at me, play with me, get offended IF I MIMIC HIM? Could I catch Octo's interest? There are friendly octopuses, are you sure this one just wants you to go away?
I think you are right that there’s lots more to know about the mind of the mimic octopus and yes it would be tempting to try and communicate with it. Similar experiments have been done with dolphins using underwater video to play back dolphin behaviour to them and note the responses. I would not be surprised that this is possible if a researcher were to spend months or years studying the mimic octopus. Yes I have had octopuses come to me while diving as if curious. There are ethical concerns with this sort of experiment and I think the best way would be to do it in the wild in shallow water in Sulawesi, Indonesia being careful not to disturb the animals too much ( so just watching interactions between octopus predators and prey) but the video playback might not be too interventionist. I would try a big mirror first - that could be interesting.
Okay now I feel stupid!!! But I am in love with this animal!!! It shows me that I still have so much to learn about everything!!!
Me too
Maybe the Mimic Octopus is telling us there is extra terrestrial life in the sea, or a species that only they have come across…
Funny you should mention that as there is a science paper from 2018 that suggests octopuses are so strange they had other influences than Earth bound evolution - as unlikely as it sounds they put forward a theory that they were infected by alien viruses from space that became inserted into their DNA. It’s controversial but I am doing a video about it: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0079610718300798
Adaptation and evolution are truly amazing.
All things reproduce after their kind, ONLY. Genesis 1. Evolution is laughable…animals morphing into other animals is not science, but rather science fiction….science FICTION is the key word. What complete nonsense and jibberish. Even a toddler can understand how animals truly reproduce and identify falsehood. No animal has ever adapted into a completely different kind. No dog ever adapted into a fish. That’s SCIENCE FICTION. Unregenerate men seek to kick God out of His own creation. Only God can kick MAN out of His creation.
God did a great job programming the DNA on these huh..very impressive.
No doubt via the method called Natural Selection!
Good ole darwin
@@IndoonaOceans I didn't know Mr Natural Selection has such profound sense for aesthetics and humor.
Amen
This one time an octopus mimicked a mostly black football team that proceeded to record a video or 7 with my wife. Nature is amazing.
Not sure what to make of that but good luck!
All it has to do is stay looking like an Octopus and get some blue rings covering its body. What messes with a blue ringed Octopus?
Good point although I read that sometimes moray eels and even seals will give the blue ringed octopus a go. You may know that nature’s mimics who do not actually have venom - like hover flies - require a certain percentage of real venom counterparts in the same environment (wasps, bees) for it to work as a deterrent to birds etc because when there are too few really venomous similar looking animals around the effect is too dilute for it to work on the predators. So at the very least for your theory to work real toxic blue ringed octopus would have to have the same range as the mimics - not sure they do? biologywise.com/batesian-mimicry-vs-mullerian-mimicry#:~:text=This%20is%20an%20example%20of,look%20similar%20to%20each%20other.
@@IndoonaOceans right - good point- maybe mimic a puffer fish? Too bad it can mimic a human- they scare away almost anything. Hahaha Humans are certainly the most destructive.
Woah I didn't even know they could change colours
Thought they always had the black and white stripe on and were limited to black and white for its color changing pigment
Well, I haveb't discussed it with the family yet - but we all agree that the first one is a free dinner at Americatown
This is the most fascinating thing I ever watched. These animals don't even think articulately like us, but in a way or another, they watch predators knowing that they bring fear, and modify their body to look and act like them, all this without having a language for articulating their thought process
Yes knowing the minds of others as this octopus seems to do is a big step on the intelligence scale!
Octopi have eight “mini-brains”, one in each tentacle, called “ganglia” which allow them to act both independently and in coordination with the others and the brain. Note that these ganglia aren’t capable of higher thought, just movement and basic sensations, but this means the octopus really only needs to worry about what it wants to mimic and the tentacles could take care of the rest.
perhaps one of the unidentified shapes was a seaturtle or some ray? other than that nothing strikes my mind with a big, round, dark, moving object.
Yes turtle shell - good idea!
You can't mention the Wonderpuss and not have a video about the Wonderpuss.
There is a brief shot of one in there but I’ll look for more footage and see what I can do
I've seen one mimic a rock/. stone fish . They are VERY poisonous so that would be handy
Hello Indoona, in a stroke of luck I finally found a scientific article that addresses the dragonfish bioluminescence that we discussed a few months ago! it's not about the one we saw in the NHK video but, one of the species the researcher did observe was Idiacanthus Antrostomus (which is either the one you filmed or at the very least is in the same genus). It's worth reading in full bc it answers some of our questions and I know I definitely can't do it justice in a single CZcams comment.
Just look up Luminescent Silhouetting of Stomiatoid Fishes by William T O'day
That's brilliant - thanks so much for getting back to me I will study it. - maybe it will be the inspiration for another video here!
@@IndoonaOceans oh yes it is definitely video worthy
Is the black color with thick tentacles meant to mimic a mantra ray?
I’ve watched a few videos and one used that to intimidate a crab.
It’s a good idea - no one knows exactly but I’ll try and find the clip you mentioned ( or similar)
@@IndoonaOceans Getty Images TV and the video is about a minute and a half long
@@jimzamerski great - I will check it out
There could be forms it mimics in an instinctual way from the things ancient octopi mimed. A leftover active gene maybe
Yes although that implies the instinct that you talk about has been encoded in the DNA of the gene line. I think they only live a few years so that suggests they are either quick learners or as you say instinctive
I hope the footage of the octopus and the diver only makes it appear the diver is extremely close while he or she kept a respectful distance. No photo or video is worth stressing out a wild creature.
It’s archive I bought in but yes it’s important to be respectful- although underwater photography often means getting close without stressing the animal- being alert to that is key
bro has the entire ocean to swim away to
@elliot_rat In theory but it probably likes home best like all of us!
@@IndoonaOceans Well said!
Right, no amount of yet discovered knowledge is worth stressing a fish out for.
Not to mention the bazillions of fish we suffocate and eat...
I mean one of the mimicing seems like a mantis shrimp
That’s a good idea - I hadn’t thought of that. One big question is how do they decide what to mimic next?
I think the mimicing depends on the type of prey and the predator. For example if we notice the mimicking of flatfish , it is trying to show its threat to its predators, while when it's mimicing a crab or a mantis shrimp , it's trying to lure its prey , inorder to stroke them when they are in its range . Similarly in the middle zone it pretends to be a jellyfish, to avoid the middle zone predators , while it fails in case of reptiles like turtles so, it imitates a lionfish . So , finally I want to say that out of the marvelous creatures present around us , this is one of miracles gifted to it by mother nature.
@@kayalavardhanbros7062 That's so amazing isn't it? ! It means that it is probably second guessing how the predator or prey will respond to its shapes and that therefore it knows a little about what it is like to get inside other creature's minds. How it learns is a mystery too - probably watching other mimic octopus - how else?
Yeah I agree with you, but I think similarily how we learn to behave from seeing our surroundings and our elders , similarly I think it also learns from its experience , surroundings and its neighbourly octopuses of its kind .
perhaps those few unidentified mimicries could've been sea slugs, since they can be dangerous as well
Great idea - the sea slugs or nudibranchs have lots of different shapes too
Fascinating stuff
It does seem this behavior is too complicated to be inherited but really almost has to be in dna. Short life spans it seems unlikely it could learn that stuff on its own that fast.
That’s very true. Sometimes I think we put them into our own frame of intelligence when in fact they might have a totally different outlook. Maybe they can learn fast too?
Until soon it can shape shift into a human.
There’s an idea! Would probably be more intelligent too.
This music was made perfect for this creature 😃
Does "Riddikulus!" work against them?
I do hope so. Laughter is the best way to defeat anything ( and Boggarts).
i think the unidentified one is a lobster with it's claws up
Good call!
One is the mantis shrimp
A...reminds me of a stingray
That would be a good one to imitate!
1998 was 25 years ago
True - although relatively recent I think is fair and surprising since at least 50 years after the invention of scuba. Personally I still think it’s 1983!
They are fascinating very intelligent
Yes makes you realise there is more to life on Earth than we know
purdy neat
Wonderpus is a wild name
It is certainly unusual. Like you I thought it was Wonder but I think people spell it Wunderpus which I would have thought isn’t as good?
Ah I know it’s German for wonder - they must have named it first
How does Mimic Octopus know that sea snake is venomous?
Without this knowledge, striped octopus looks way more dangerous then one of his striped legs floating around (a snake).
Good question- I think it doesn’t really know but if by mimicking the snake it survives then it will breed true and the trait will persist
God’s handiwork right here!!!!
is it edible ?
the trouble is you think you are cooking an octopus but then it changes into a lump of butter....
3:11 it’s octoPI.
People often write “octopi” instead because they assume that the plural noun is formed in the same way as Latin loanwords such as “fungus/fungi”. But “octopus” actually comes from Greek, where its original plural is “octopodes”. In English, it instead has the regular plural form “octopuses”.
www.scribbr.co.uk › faqs
What is the plural of "octopus"? - Scribbr
A or B maybe a lion fish?
That’s a really great thought- will compare
Sea Snail?
Good thinking- might do a side by side comparison video with these suggestions!
Maybe a stingray?
Nice idea - I should do a follow up video with more suggestions like these
“A” could be a snail?
Good one - will have another look. Not sure how on Earth they choose which one to do at any time!
who took these videos?
It’s stock footage from Videvo but I knew what it was as I have tried to film in Sulawesi at Kunkanan Bay where they can be found
real life mystique
Yes it’s pretty incredible isn’t it
the strange forms appear to be stingray or crabs too idk
Good idea
How do they learn what to do, when to do it?
I think it's genetic intelligence, passed down once conceived.
Much like baby spiders knowing how to build "perfect" webs.
Could be and a good observation about spiders and the complexity of their webs. It seems a lot to ask for genetics to make them adaptable to different predators and prey though.
@@IndoonaOceans
Ask genetics to make what adaptable, sir?
As for the observation, it's just logics and rational.
Especially due to their short lifespans.
4 years is not quite much to learn what they know, or should know, correct, sir?
Hence, it would be logical, intelligence in the Octopodæ Octopus and Sepioteuthis is from a genetic point highly probable?
At least, that's what I assume.
Like in Arachnidæ, where newly born can make nigh perfect webs, it is assumed, intelligence can be passed on.
Now, memory, for one, is not mere stored in the brain, like many assume.
It is stored allover one's body.
To prove this:
A woman, who had a heart transplant, suddenly had a craving for whiskey.
Odd, as she always had a dislike for the taste of good whiskey ... .
Upon looking deeper, it so happened, that the previous owner of the heart ... had a real taste for good whiskey.
And there are several cases like this recorded.
We do not even know half of what our brain is, or does.
Nor for the body in general, so it seems.
We do not even know exactly what intelligence is, for that matter.
Strange ... but true. :)
Also, thank you VERY much, for replying, good sir.
Forgot to mention this.
I like Auchentoshan single malt when I can get it actually and I’m pretty sure it’s my Scottish ancestry! Science of course never proves anything only supports or doesn’t a hypothesis about things. If many peer reviewed papers tend to suggest that a given hypothesis is true then that makes a consensus of opinion going with that hypothesis but one can never be completely certain about anything. That’s probably as it should be because life and the natural world are pretty complex.
what is octupuses isnt it octupi
I think it can be either
Octopuses is correct, Octopi comes from people what think Octopus is a Latin word, it’s Greek however, so Octopodes would make more sense.
Thank you - not sure it will catch on!
These guys can't be from earth
They do seem alien to us but I am sure we are to them too!
seastar
sea snake
Yes and the colours on its arms too are like seasnakes
A, lobster
Good idea - maybe it would be useful if I did some side by side pictures of comparisons in the community posts?
@@IndoonaOceansyes!!
Does it ever mimic humans?
It probably doesn’t see divers very often but in the last bit of this film it seems to rise up tall with the human presence. So I’d say it would give it a go if it saw enough divers
Interesting question though!
@@IndoonaOceans it is interesting. in Australia we have a bird called the lyrebird that imitates human made sounds with pinpoint accuracy. I would love to see one of these octopuses mimicking diving gear or a camera - that would be cool.
@@9000ckThank you for pointing out that all sorts of animals are mimics -hover flies mimic wasps and bees, a species of moth in Trinidad mimics lizards with patterns on its wings, starlings in the UK even mimic cell phone call tones sometimes and some orchids mimic bees for pollination- it’s a big thing in nature
Just "evolution" without any "creator".😂😂😂
I am convinced it is evolution even though it may seem impossible if we look at it in the context of our short lives. The issue is it has been going on for over three billion years and that’s a huge time of course and our lives only a single snapshot in that and so it’s difficult to actually see it as it happens. In the Origin of Species the first chapter is about the selective breeding of fancy pigeons favoured by hobbyists for certain traits. Darwin asked what would happen if it was nature doing the selection instead of breeders. Any trait that confers benefits to the offspring will tend to survive better and hence breed another generation that continues and amplifies those beneficial characteristics. This is evidenced by the fact that young in the majority of cases are produced as variations of their parents in greater numbers than needed with the idea that only some or just enough of those variations with useful key traits will survive the present environmental conditions to breed the next generation. Over many millions of years that has shaped countless generations of mimic octopus with the trait to be able to mimic predators and prey because it is evidently an incredibly successful one.That is a science hypothesis with demonstrable evidence and not a belief like religion, which BTW you can have of course AND agree with the findings of evolution. Darwin himself was devoutly religious in his life ( less so after his young daughter died and he lost belief) and the two are not mutually exclusive- a spiritual understanding as well as an understanding of the physical world, but the first based on belief and the second on evidence.
why couldn't a creator be intelligent enough to think of evolution??
Since these creatures have a relatively short lifespan (around 9 months in the wild) and their survival depends on many of these deceptive transformations, it points highly to the intelligent design of a creator. God has given these creatures the innate knowledge they need. I urge anyone viewing this to appreciate the beauty of the one true God of the Bible. If you don't know Jesus as your Savior I urge you to repent of sin and turn to Jesus the Son of God and trust him alone for the forgiveness of your sins and live for Him. God does not want anyone to go to hell but if your sins are not forgiven through trust in Jesus and grace alone, not works, then you won't withstand the judgement of sin. Turn to Jesus, the God of all creation made a way for you to live forever in heaven and know his amazing love there and also in this life.
I don’t personally subscribe to any of that but must agree that these animals are truly amazing
I'm afraid I'm from team Darwin but either way these animals are truly amazing.
Always got to make it religious 🙄
Forgive these nuts 🍒🍒🍒🍒🍒
C'e sempre da imparare
Indeed
It almost look like starfish or something??? 2:24
Yes good thought. I image it would try that so that unsuspecting prey might not notice. The really interesting thing is how it decides to be what and when - how it knows the context of its encounters.