The Mimic Octopus

The Mimic Octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) is an amazing creature that was discovered really only a few years ago (1998 to be exact). It gets its name due to it's awesome ability to pretty much LITERALLY shape shift and impersonate a variety of different creatures other than itself as a form of camouflage. Believe it or not, I actually first learned about this animal on a kids show known as Octonauts (for more information here OR if you want to know about the books that the television series is based on, click here. Trust me, it's awesome and you and your potential children will love i.t)

Habitat Range

This creature is found almost exclusively found in the waters of Indonesia and Malaysia.

                (Photo Source: http://www.divernet.com)

Characteristics  

The mimic octopus uses a jet of water through its funnel to help it to glide over the sand while searching for its prey (namely crab, small fish, and worms). Like its fellow octopuses, the mimic octopus's body is made of muscle, without spine or armor. It is not obviously poisonous which makes it ideal prey for much larger, deep water carnivores like barracuda or small sharks.

Oscar Winning Performance? 

If there were ever an Oscar for Best Actor in an Underwater Shape Shifting Performance, this animal would win. Period.

Remember those big bad predators I mentioned earlier? Well, sometimes they are a little hard to get away from, and that is where the mimic octopus's awesome impersonation skills come in handy as it cannot squirt ink like other octopuses can. I have a distinct feeling that just having text here is not going to do this animal any sort of justice so here is some video that I managed to find of the mimic octopus in action. The video depicts the octopus's amazing shape shifting abilities along with some of the animals that it shifts into. Prepare to be amazed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os6HD-sCRn8 (There is also some narration with the video as well)

And just because I want to show everyone how awesome Octonauts really is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuDA8KSQDI8. This from the original version that airs over in England, but the show also airs on Disney Jr. here in the United States.

(Photo Source: http://www.palscience.com)

Conservation Status: 

The mimic octopus is not currently listed as endangered, but some biologists do worry that because of the attention this creature has been getting thanks to forms of media such as the Internet it may eventually become just that. There is apparently a pretty steep bounty placed on the mimic octopus by private collectors and some worry that this could cause a decrease in the creature's numbers.

Recently, there was an article on The Cephalopod Page by Dr. Roy Caldwell that describes the problem:


"There is no question that the mimic octopus and its relatives such as wunderpus are remarkable animals ... However, as the animals become better known, they are also becoming more desirable for public aquarists, scientists and hobbyists alike. The pressures to acquire and attempt to keep and display them are rapidly increasing. It is not uncommon to see requests for such animals and often the amount of money offered for them is staggering - $100 and up. At this point, I think we should all take a deep breath and think seriously about the biology of this species, what such bounties are likely to mean for its survival, and what motivates us to want a mimic for our very own."

The link to the full article can be found here.

Want to learn more? 

As mentioned before, it seems that mimics are growing quite popular, which may actually prove detrimental to their numbers in the wild so I felt like it was important to try and find a link that would help educate those that were even remotely curious about what the risks were exactly when it came to the exotic pet trade:

Facts about the Exotic Pet Trade (You can thank Animal Planet for the article)