Finding your niche is one of the fastest way to be successful in life. Differentiating yourself and specializing at a position, place,or area is the key to success.
This applies to all living things, through evolution and hereditary traits, they form adaptive features that shapes the role they play in their environment. This included their unique lifestyle ,utilization of resources and their relationships. Octopus bimaculoides has curved a niche for itself.
Camouflaging attribute and niche of O. bimaculoides. Courtesy of Partial Pressure Productions https://vimeo.com/55454085
This video shows the undeniably incredible O. bimaculoides diving in the Southern California waters, easily identified by false bright blue eye spots on their side of their head. You can see the distinguished feature vanishing as to blend in its environment. Cephalopods can change the color and skin texture of soft tissue using chromatophores. The chromatophores in their skin tissue are expanded by muscle contraction ,initiated by light -sensitive receptors in eyes and skin.
The video also depicts O. bimaculoides hiding and camouflaging itself in a hole near a rocky site. It’s advantageous hiding spot became obvious, when a fish (prey) roamed around unalarmed.
In the last blog, we found out O. bimaculoides resided on the southern coast of California, Santa Barbara stretching to San Quintin, Mexico.(1) It is a marine benthic cephalopod who prefers rocky or muddy nearshore dens.These spots serve as great hideout for their nocturnal predator lifestyle. They stake out and hunt for crabs, oysters and small fish for food, hence controlling the population of small crustaceans and fishes. They serve as (prey) food for humans, seals, sea lion and larger fishes.(3)
Fun fact of the day
Octopus have blue blood due to hemocyanin. Unlike hemoglobin ,the iron based blood in humans,Hemocyanin is copper base . At extremely low temperatures and low oxygen levels, hemocyanin is better adapted to transport oxygen .
Joke of the day
What did the male octopus say to the female octopus?
I want to hold your hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand!
Reference
1. Forsythe,J.W & Hanlon, R.T.(1988) Effect of temperature on laboratory growth, reproduction and life span of Octopus bimaculoides. Marine Biology, Volume 98, Issue 3, pp 369–379.Viewed on 2/6/2018 at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF0039111
3. Ramirez,M. D. and Oakley T (1995)Eye-independent, light-activated chromatophore expansion (LACE) and expression of phototransduction genes in the skin of Octopus bimaculoides Journal of Experimental Biology 2015 218: 1513-1520; doi: 10.1242/jeb.110908. Retrieved online in 2/6/2018 at
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/218/10/1513
4. Stoskopf, M., & Oppenheim, B. (1996). Anatomic Features of Octopus bimaculoides and Octopus digueti. Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine, 27(1), 1-18. Retrieved online in 2/6/2018 at http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.gsu.edu/stable/pdf/20095538.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A03a2689a734e7ff763c1c3ad3964fcd8