The Deep Sea Blanket Octopus

selim12 December 20, 2023 0 Comments

The Blanket Octopus, Tremoctopus is a group of pelagic cephalopods comprising four species that inhabit the surface to mid-waters of subtropical and tropical oceans. They are commonly known as blanket octopuses due to the blanket cover the female has over her tentacles with a giant body.

Scientific Name

Habitat

Diet

Tremoctopus

subtropical and tropical oceans

smaller fish

Animal Type

Octopus

Size

from 2.4 cm to more

than 2 meters (females).

Depth

Coral reefs(a few hundred meters below the surface)

Table of Contents

Where Blanket Octopus Live:

Blanket octopuses live in subtropical and tropical oceans in coral reefs hunting for food.

What Does A Blanket Octopus Look Like:

They call it blanket octopus for a reason; females can reach 2 meters whereas males are 2.4 cm. The most bizarre sexual dimorphism known in marine animals. Most of the body length is taking a blanket shape of the octopus itself.

Common Octopus Species:

There are 4 known species:

Robson’s blanket octopus(Tremoctopus robsonianus): Native to the South Pacific and New Zeeland.
Indo-Pacific violet blanket octopus(Tremoctopus gracilis, palmate octopus): Found from the coast of Japan to Australia.
Gelatinous blanket octopus(Tremoctopus gelatus): Native to Madagascar to the United States southeast coast.
Common blanket octopus(Tremoctopus violaceus): the most common species found in Western Africa,Europe, and North and South America.

Blanket Octopus Diet:

Their diet consists of smaller fish, copepods, zooplankton, and most of their prey can be found in or near coral reefs.

LifeSpan And Behaviour:

like other octopuses, it uses ink to protect itself from predators when attacked or threatened. It hides also on reefs. Another defense mechanism is that the female unfurls her large net-like membranes that spread out and billow in the water. Blanket octopuses are immune to the venomous Portuguese man o’ war. Males cut Portuguese man o’ war tentacles for defensive purposes and for hunting too. These Octopuses have been spotted mimicking other behaviors exhibited by other octopuses demonstrating high intelligence

Tremoctopus Mating & LifeCycle:

The male makes contact with the female during mating with its arm; males shortly die after mating, the arm is attached to a sausage-shaped calcareous secretion held at the base of the dorsal until egg development (they can carry more than 100.000 eggs). But usually, they will lay 900 eggs with the largest egg is about 11 mm in diameter. A female can carry many arms from different males.

Conservation Status:

They are really threatened by coral reef destruction and ocean pollution. Climate change and overfishing are threatening facts too.

Blanket Octopus Predators:

Despite their high manoeuvers and mobility, they are still hunted by larger fish(sharks) and whales.

blacktip reef shark predators like the tiger shark

Cool Facts About Blanket Octopus:

-Females are 40,000 times larger than males.

-They are very intelligent creatures.

-They have eight arms.

-They are immune to the deadly man o war.

-They move to a new location every two days.

Even coral reefs are heavily damaged making blanket octopus a threatened species,it manages to migrate to shelter waters for protection.

FAQ’s:

Are They poisonous?

no, but it can use the dangerous Portuguese man-o-war’s tentacles as weapons.

How rare is a blanket octopus?

They are considered rare and elusive, and it can be hard to estimate the population size for any of the four species.

Are they predator or prey?

The blanket octopus is both a predator and prey. It hunts for smaller fish and feeds on pteropod mollusks. It’s also threatened by bigger enemies like whales.

The blanket octopus is a creature of wonder truly in the deep ocean, only females display their magnificent blanket shape, and males are just little tiny creatures in comparison!