Tremoctopus or blanket octopus is a pelagic octopus that inhabits open water, often at great depths.
The fluttery pennants of tissue that trail behind them are a defence mechanism. When attacked, they shed like a lizards tail, tangling in the face of their attacker like a newspaper on the windshield. Its an amazing adaptation and the fact that it results in such a beautoful appearance is just a bonus for the rest of us.
In South Florida – we had 5 sightings of Tremocotpus violaceous (all females) starting in February including Key largo, Key Biscayne, and South beach all with photos or video. We had one tremoctopus gelatus (again female) in early 2008. more great images and some taxonomic info at
http://tolweb.org/Tremoctopus
Great stuff Tom, thanks!
You forget that they are argonautoids.
ALL OF WHICH HAVE DETACHABLE PENISES.
You posted this on Dec. 2, I shared it on my site with credit and link to deep sea news the same day. On Dec.3rd Io9 did a piece on the blanket octopus. I read a hell of a lot of science news each day and I know they got the idea from you guys. I contacted Io9, confronted them and asked for them to give you credit. They edited their post and gave you credit.
http://io9.com/5864791/the-blanket-octopus-one-of-the-most-alien-animals-to-swim-the-earth/
my post wasn’t very in depth but here it is anyway.
http://astronasty.blogspot.com/2011/12/rockets-and-octopi.html
Thanks DJ!
Wow, you rock! Thanks for sticking up for us!
amazing, beautiful, inspirational! Thanks friend!
amazing, I’m amazed with this beautiful creature! However if I see it under water, I would go nuts! Thanks for beautiful video.