Wunderpus photogenicus
| Wunderpus photogenicus | ||||||||||||
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Wunderpus photogenicus |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Wunderpus | ||||||||||||
| Hochberg , Norman & Finn , 2006 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Wunderpus photogenicus | ||||||||||||
| Hochberg, Norman & Finn, 2006 |
Wunderpus photogenicus is a type of cephalopod from the family of the real octopus (Octopodidae). The genus Wunderpus is monotypical with W. photogenicus as the only species. The octopus has been found in shallow waters off Bali , North Sulawesi , the Philippines and East Vanuatu . It was scientifically described in 2006.
description
Wunderpus photogenicus is a long-armed species, characterized by small eyes on elongated stems, a long, conical protuberance (papilla) above each eye and a conspicuous solid color pattern of white bars and spots on a brown-red background. He has sharply defined white spots on his coat and ring-shaped stripes on his arms. In Wunderpus the bright white line at the base of the suction cups is missing, as occurs in the same colored Thaumoctopus mimicus ("Mimic Octopus"), with which W. photogenicus is often confused. Both can have variable patterns of activity. Wunderpus photogenicus tends to stir up sand caves at dusk and is a twilight hunter; Thaumoctopus mimicus , however, is diurnal. Young animals can be identified by their unique chromatophore patterns.
Occurrence
Wunderpus photogenicus has so far only been discovered off the Indomalay coast. Deposits are Malaysia, Vanuatu , Papua New Guinea , Indonesia and the north of the Philippines. Its habitat is soft sediment in shallow waters (typically less than 20 meters deep).
behavior
The species is still little explored. It is known that these animals are predatory. They prefer to hunt at dusk. Their diet consists of small fish and crustaceans. As a rule, they catch their prey by burying their bodies in the soft sand and only allowing two tips of their tentacles to peek out, designed to mimic small worms. If a victim approaches, he comes out of the sand in a flash. To ward off predators, W. photogenicus has a whole range of possibilities for imitation. Poisonous animals are preferably imitated. To z. B. to imitate a lionfish , the arms are spread. He also mimics other animals around him, such as sea snakes and various fish.
Close-up of the Wunderpus
Arrangement of the white markings on the back of the coat on five different specimens
literature
- FG Hochberg, Mark D. Norman, Julian Finn: Wunderpus photogenicus n. Gen. And sp., A new octopus from the shallow waters of the Indo-Malayan Archipelago (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) . Molluscan Research 26 (3), 2006: pp. 128–140 ( online ; PDF; 825 kB)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e F. G. Hochberg, Mark D. Norman, Julian Finn: Wunderpus photogenicus n. Gen. And sp., A new octopus from the shallow waters of the Indo-Malayan Archipelago (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) . Molluscan Research 26 (3), 2006: pp. 128–140 ( online ; PDF; 825 kB)
- ↑ CL Huffard, B. Gentry and D. Gentry: Description of the paralarvae of Wunderpus photogenicus . Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 57 (1), 2009: 109-112.