What Is Camouflage and Who Can Do It?
You will be surprised by how many animals use camouflage. Octopuses do this by changing the color of their skin depending on their environment. However, they can go one better and actually alter the texture as well. They use small muscles under their skin to make it look bumpy or smooth, depending on where they are. Next to a textured underwater plant, they will become bumpy but against the ocean floor they will be smooth. So, what about that spectacular color change? They do this using unique skin cells that have a variety of pigments. Their skin has three layers of chromatophores (organs containing pigment sacs) and each layer contains xanthommatin particles which are able to bounce back different colors. The top layer produces yellow, the middle reflects red and the bottom layer produce brown – these can be combined by altering the chromatophores to produce a range of colors needed to mimic the environment. Considering that octopuses are color blind, this is even more incredible! There are plenty of other animals that use camouflage but the stand-out feature of octopuses is the speed with which this can happen. It takes just a fraction of a second to switch from one hue to another.
Amazing Octopus Camouflage
The instantaneous, constant and wide ranging color and texture changes of this octopus are unbelievable. It is impossible to take your eyes off this video and just when you think it has reached its peak – it gets better. Amazingly, this guy genuinely seems to be enjoying showing off! He is making no attempt to get away and hide and is, instead, showing off his moves in the most magnificent fashion. You can also marvel at the incredible body shapes and structures of this ancient creature. Octopuses have graced our seas for over 300 million years and they look like a descendent of an ancient sea monster. Yet, they are one of the most intelligent animals on the planet, they have nine brains and work out puzzles just like a human. Maybe we have more in common with them than we would care to admit! . Next up: Watch Octopuses Pull Off Impossibly Good Camouflage In Underwater Video Shark vs Octopus: Who Would Win in a Fight? How Many Hearts Does an Octopus Have?
