Guess the cephalopod, Cendrawasih Bay

mucktopus

Haliphron Atlanticus
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Back online after 2.5 weeks on Cendrawasih Bay...
 

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hummm, since you show what appears to be an eye spot (ocellus) my limited exposure suggest octopus but the patterns look more cuttlefish. Can you at least tell us how much it is magnified? :biggrin2:
 
OK, the dark spot is not an ocellus (since there are multiples) and that looks like a large opening around the head so now I am thinking squid.
 
you tease! OK I'll go out on a limb and suggest Sepia latimanus the Broadclub Cuttlefish, which I believe is fairly common in that region and has been known to display those colour/patterns etc
 
yep! This male guarded the female as she laid eggs. She showed signs of senescence - some poor body pattern expression, some arm break-down, and slow movements. The coral head was full of eggs- she'd been pretty busy. He hung within a few meters. We didn't see any other males, but the dive was almost over when we came across them, so didn't have much time to observe. Alas- it wasn't that kind of dive trip.

One of trip's goals was to help the National Park assess tourism potential. Stellar photographers Burt Jones and Maurine Shimlock took the scooters and zipped around looking for good spots. The tough part of their task is- if they find one they have to keep going and look for the next. But I was able to get a little ceph time in (= slow moving) - some latimanus, S. papuensis, O. cyanea (all of which were nocturnal by the way!) and even a Wunderpus. Without luck we dove the type locality of Octopus membranaceous, which is a horrible mess taxonomically.
 

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