Recently, researchers have discovered the existence of an extremely unique type of octopus. The species, known as the Indo-Malayan octopus, has the ability to alter its shape, form, and color pattern to mimic or imitate other sea creatures in order to avoid predation (2). The discovery of the mimic octopus is noteworthy because no other type of cephalopod is known to have impersonation abilities. The octopus is also not limited to one imitation. Researchers have observed up to eight different formations. The alternations occur depending upon the appetite, surrounding environment, and proximity of predators the octopus encounters (1). In analyzing the formations, behaviors, and predators of the mimic octopus, it is important to isolate the origins of this exclusive, and highly intelligent defense mechanism. Is this means of protection or evolutionary development, one that allows the cephalopod a better means of survival? Or is this the result of observed behaviors where the mimic octopus becomes aware of the relations occurring in the environment, and successfully imitates a species based upon their ability to subsist when dealing with dangerous predators?
The existence of mimic octopi is restricted to the islands of Indonesia, specifically off the coasts off Solawesi, and Bali (3). Surprisingly, the octopi have been viewed during the daylight hours, generally residing near sand tunnels, and holes (1). The octopi enjoy these mounds because they provide a significant source of food, including small worms, fish, and crustaceans. The octopus utilizes its arms to feel for prey, and then captures the food through the use of expanded webs. However, when the animal is attempting to hide itself from possible enemies, the Indo-Malayan octopus can transform itself into a variety of organisms, including fish, sea snakes, and anemones. If the octopus observes a cluster of damselfishes, it will change into a lionfish by swimming above the ocean floor, with arms extended beyond the body (2). The lionfish is known to possess poisonous spikes, which successfully deter the damselfish from preying upon the mimic octopus. Another possible transformation includes the sole fish. The octopus is able to propel itself in a similar manner by forming a leaf-shaped arm that moves it across the ocean floor effortlessly. The octopus's arms are also useful in impersonating the sea snake. Two arms are waved around to appear like a pair of snakes, while the other six are hidden from view. The octopus also changes its color and creates yellow and dark bands across the exposed arms.
In the lab the isopods were observed in a way to where behavior and structures could be properly recorded. The isopods were revealed to two dissimilar scenarios, normal temperature water vs. warm temperature water, to calculate which environment was most preferred. In each distinct scenario ten isopods were placed ten a choice chamber, one side being normal temperature (26.7celsius) and the other being warm temperature (43.3 celsius) , and observed for a total of ten minutes with thirty second intervals which was when we recorded our observations. After observations, it was seen that normal conditions was the most preferred environment by the isopods. In the scenario the Isopods exhibited taxis behavior, which is behavior caused by factors such as light, temperature, water and such. Nothing physical, but rather environmental.
Cephalopods are known to be exceptionally intelligent by invertebrate standards and in some respects even rival “higher” vertebrates. These animals have many highly evolved sensory and processing organs that allow them to gain a greater understanding of their environment and their place within it. Due to their advanced structures, many of which are analogous to vertebrate structures, and abilities they have been widely studied. Their methods of learning have been of prime interest and many experiments have been conducted to determine the different ways in which octopuses can learn. From these experiments four main kinds of learning have been identified in octopuses: associative learning, special learning,
A jellyfish’s unique body structure helps it move, feed, and protect itself. Their body is known as the bell. During the bell stage, medusa, the jellyfish is mobile and is specialized for swimming. But in some Cnidarians, the bell stage only occurs in the embryo stage ("Phyla Cnidaria, Platyhelminthes, and Nematoda"). The medusa then produces an egg, which grows into a polyp (vase stage) which is sessile (or immobile) life. Jellyfish do not have a back or front, left or right. They don’t have a heart, head, legs, or fins (Zimmer). They have a stomach pouch to hold food, the bell (body), oral arms which bring the captured food to the mouth, tentacles which sting and kill prey, a mouth connected to digestive structures to digest food, and gonads which are reproductive organs. Jellyfish are also 95% water (Northeaster University).
Dumbo the elephant who flies by flapping his ears is probably one of everyone’s childhood memories. Well, the world is so large that it is not surprising that multiple creatures move by flapping their ears just like Dumbo. However, where this creature differs is they live in the depths of the ocean. They are classified into a family of Cephalopods, the octopus family. This creature is known as the deepest living of all octopus, Grimpoteuthis, also known as the Dumbo Octopus. Dumbo octopus is a type of octopus named after Walt Disney's famous character Dumbo the elephant because of the ear-like fins. Dumbo octopus live on the seafloor or slightly hover above it at a depth of 3000 to 4000m (9800 to 13000ft). They can be found in New Zealand,
The Pacific Northwest tree octopus is close to extinction! It needs our help, so please try to help it by reducing the amount of pollution you put into the air. It lives on the west coast of the Olympic Peninsula in North America. Their habitat is on the eastern side of the Olympic mountain range, close to the Hood Canal. (Lyle Zapato)
Flatworms belong to the phylum Platyhelminthes. They have the simplest body plan of all bilaterally symmetrical animals. They are called flatworms because their bodies are compressed. The mouth is the only opening into the digestive cavity the flatworms have. Food is taken in through this hole and wastes are discharged also through this hole. Flatworms have a well-defined nervous, muscular, excretory, and reproductive system. The flatworm distributes the food it digests through a digestive tube that branches throughout all of its body parts. The fact that the worm’s body is flat serves many purposes. It allows the worm to hid in small spaces, to fit into the opening of other animals if the worm is parasitic, and it means that all the cells are close enough to the surface for exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide with the environment (Meinkoth 399).
Humans have only discovered less than five percent of the ocean, while the ocean makes up seventy percent of our world. Even though we have explored so little of it, we have found very interesting creatures such as giant squids, yeti crabs, and zombie worms. None of these animals are similar in any way, not even their habitats, appearances, or diets. However they use these factors to be able to survive in sometimes extreme conditions.
The director continuously uses extreme close ups of the tiny, transparent organism in contrast to the victims being rescued to illustrate the image that coming in contact with this small animal can have such severe repercussions. They have also used footage of one of the Irukandji’s in captivity to more clearly show how skinny, long and transparent the tentacles are and that coming into contact with one of the tiny dots on one of its nearly invisible tentacles can lead to serious repercussions. The director also uses microscopic footage of a tentacle. This footage shows epic surges of matter exploding off of these small areas of the tentacle. This continues to embellish on the idea that the Irukandji jellyfish is a monster and a major threat to people in Southern
I chose an interesting artwork; Octopus Mom, a drawing that is displayed in the CityArts Factory in Orlando. The drawing is of a woman with eight arms in the form of an octopus. Octopus Mom has objects in each one of her eight arms, these objects included a belt, duster and an infant child. The drawing is in a wooden frame and is surrounded around a room full of aquatic drawings. The Octopus Mom was in the aquatic gallery; which was one of seven galleries, this gallery included fish and mermaid portraits, a jelly fish projection and fish tanks with real fish. Octopus Mom portrays the limitless capabilities, independence and nurturing nature of mothers.
you can see, the Electric Eel is a very intriguing sea creature, and a clear display of
The Axolotl, a crucially endangered neotenous species of mole salamander, has adapted to fit its environment so it can easily catch food and evade predators. The Axolotl’s habitat is the lake system of Xochimilco that is near Mexico City, Mexico. This shallow, fresh water lake complex has a temperature range of 6- 20°C and a pH of 7- 12. The complex also has the Axolotl’s primary food sources of mollusk, insect larvae, and other crustaceans. However, with the introduction of foreign species such as the Asian Carp and the African Tilapia, the Axolotl now has predators that may eat and threaten it, and it has competition for the animals it usually eats. Fortunately, the Axolotl has developed adaptations that aid it in catching food and evading predators. To help it catch food the Axolotl’s teeth are shaped like cones, so that its “vacuum” action of sucking in as much water in order to also eat food is aided by the shape of the teeth, which allow it to grip, rather than chew. To aid them in avoiding predators they are able to metamorphose so that they use their lungs more than their gill, which allows them to leave very toxic waters and the predators within. Another adaption that helps them deflect any predator is that they are able to regenerate body parts that have been lost, allowing them to stay as strong as possible. Axolotl’s have adaptations that aid their survival from predators in the lake complex Xochimilco that they reside in.
This picture is a picture showing where your vertebrates are and your octopus. They show different kinds of blinds spots such as: cephalopod eyes. Cephalopod eyes are where the optic nerve approaches the receptors from behind the eye. This creates vertebrate eyes where nerve fibers block light creating a blind spot. The octopus eyes are where the nerve fibers completely block the light from the retina. Now that you have learned how our eyes work, and everything about our eyes, you are now considered an expert!
Arthropods are animals belonging to the phylum Arthropoda, which is the largest of all phyla in the Animal Kingdom, with more than one million species, making them almost 80% of the whole kingdom. These include insects, arachnids, crustaceans and many more, most of which are quite small, the biggest being the Japanese Spider Crab with a leg span of 3.5 meters and the smallest being the microscopic Plankton.
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura. The order Anura is broken down into 22 different families of frogs and toads. Although they belong to the same order, frogs and toads are different in a lot of ways. Some of the more distinct differences are their skin and where they live. Frogs usually have smooth moist skin and toads usually have dry watery looking skin. Frogs spend most of their lives in or near water and toads spend more time on land. Amphibian means "double life." Frogs and toads each have two parts to their lives: when they live on water and when they live land. A frog's life starts in the water when it is hatched from an egg as a tadpole. A tadpole looks very different from an adult frog. A tadpole has a tail, no limbs, and breathes through gills. After a while the tadpole goes through metamorphosis. During the change the frog grows limbs, the tail disappears, it uses lungs to breathe, and it doesn't have to live in water anymore. As a tadpole, the frog feeds mostly on vegetation. The tadpoles have a small rasping mouth suited especially for scraping algea from the bottom of ponds. Depending on the species, it can take a few weeks to a year or more for the tadpoles to become fully grown. Not all frogs hatch as tadpoles. Some species of frogs hatch as froglets. Froglets look just like adult frogs but are a lot smaller. Froglets don't go through a metamophosis. Most species that hatch as froglets are found in dry places. Frogs who live in dry places where rains are seasonal have to grow up quickly because a tadpole will die if their temporary pond dries up. Adult frogs can live in water or on land, but it always needs to be near water so its respiratory organs don't dry out.
Reptiles are vertebrate, or backboned animals constituting the class Reptilia and are characterized by a combination of features, none of which alone could separate all reptiles from all other animals.The characteristics of reptiles are numerous, therefore can not be explained in great detail in this report. In no special order, the characteristics of reptiles are: cold-bloodedness; the presence of lungs; direct development, without larval forms as in amphibians; a dry skin with scales but not feathers or hair; an amniote egg; internal fertilization; a three or four-chambered heart; two aortic arches (blood vessels) carrying blood from the heart to the body, unlike mammals and birds that only have one; a metanephric kidney; twelve pairs of cranial nerves; and skeletal features such as limbs with usually five clawed fingers or toes, at least two spinal bones associated with the pelvis, a single ball-and-socket connection at the head-neck joint instead of two, as in advanced amphibians and mammals, and an incomplete or complete partition along the roof of the mouth, separating the food and air passageways so that breathing can continue while food is being chewed. These and other traditional defining characteristics of reptiles have been subjected to considerable modification in recent times. The extinct flying reptiles, called pterosaurs or pterodactyls, are now thought to have been warm-blooded and covered with hair. Also, the dinosaurs are also now considered by many authorities to have been warm-blooded. The earliest known bird, archaeopteryx, is now regarded by many to have been a small dinosaur, despite its covering of feathers The extinct ancestors of the mammals, the therapsids, or mammallike reptiles, are also believed to have been warm-blooded and haired.