409 Dive Log Australasia December 24

quite how many legs it owns, our baby octopus that is still hiding in her mother’s den needs to find some food. Octopus such as the mimic oc topus put their name to good use and can disguise them selves as up to 15 different fish and other creatures. Other oc topus rely on their camouflag ing skills to make them highly effective at not only avoiding predators but to ambush their prey whilst in disguise. These skills not only allow the octopus to change colour but even

change the texture of their skin, allowing them to blend in per fectly and hide from their prey. Having such a large brain means that in captivity, sometimes octopus end up causing a bit of trouble when looking for food. In one lab in America, fish started going missing from other tanks. The staff set up a camera overnight to see what was happening and were amazed to find their resident octopus escaping his own tank each night, opening other tanks, climbing in, catching and eating the fish, closing the lid again and then hiding the evidence in his own tank! They are also able to solve mazes and complete tricky tasks to get food rewards. In the wild, giant pacific octopus show ingenious problem solving skills that allow them to take ad vantage of humans. Fishermen in the North Pacific will often pull up empty crab pots that have been poached of their catch by the pacific octopus. These problem solving skills and adept ness at getting in and out of very small containers makes crab pots a very easy target! After our little reef octopus has successfully caught some food in either a legitimate or possibly sneaky way, the tables may potentially turn. Many species will hunt octopus if given the chance and yet again, it is their extreme intelli gence that prevents them from becoming dinner time and time again.

Octopus crawling over weed

Tool use is a huge evolutionary step in intelli gence and is usually credited to the great apes. However, there are a few other animals in the world that can use tools like crows and of course, our octopus. Tool use can be used to find food, but in the octopus’s world, it is most often used for protection from predators. One example that stands out is the coconut octopus in Asia. As the name suggests, they will find themselves empty coconut shells, carry them to a safer place on the reef, dig them into the sand and then use them as protection, hiding inside the two halves.

Octopus

DIVE LOG Australasia #409 - December ‘24 57

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