Mad as a Marine Biologist

paleontologue:

Fish mimics a mimic octopus

Here’s an overview of the paper:

The Mimic Octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) is a remarkable imitator, apparently assuming shape and behaviour similar to models as diverse as poisonous Lionfish, Soles and Sea Snakes (Norman et al. 2001). All of those models share in common stripped brown and beige or black and white colour patterns. During a diving trip to the Lembeh Strait (North Sulawesi, Indonesia) in July of 2011, the third author filmed a Mimic Octopus for about 15 min and recorded an unexpected relationship: the Black-Marble Jawfish (Stalix cf. histrio) followed the Mimic Octopus for several minutes, remaining very close to the octopus’ arms… The colour of the Jawfish matched the banded pattern and colour tone of the octopus.

This is the first case recorded of a jawfish involved in mimicry.

More information: Rocha LA, Ross R, Kopp G. 2011. Opportunistic mimicry by a jawfish. Coral Reefs.

Notes

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    OCEANCEPTION
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    That’s pretty awesome!
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  16. mad-as-a-marine-biologist reblogged this from paleontologue and added:
    This is the first case recorded of a jawfish involved in mimicry. More information: Rocha LA, Ross R, Kopp G. 2011....
  17. paleontologue posted this