Unknown Phylum. Any suggestions?

[CapnNemo]

In all seriousness, if this is indeed a ceph, could it be mimicking behavior? Looks like a sea-slug, looks like a bottle-nose (and that's who it was swimming with, right?)... Could that be possible? We know that the "mimic" and wunderpus themselves have some pretty incredible mimicking capabilities. Might other species of ceph have this ability?

Just asking!

I was only joking when I asked if it was mimicking a dolphin, but I guess octos can mimic sea snakes, flatfish, indeed all manner of non-ceph like creatures, is this the first recorded mammal-mimic?



...I'll still get my coat shall I?

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Thanks, Steve, but what's that porish-looking spot visible in this picture on this site? In Fig.1, the spot's position on the head relative to the visible corner of the mantle opening matches up with similar-looking structures on the mystery critter. So, if that isn't a water pore on Haliphron's head, what is it? I don't want to confuse the issue or lead with improper nomenclature.

Cheers,
Clem

This really had me scratching my head Adam. I've looked at those pics 100 times, and thought about it all day. I can only guess that one of them is an eye aperture (slumped), and the other a tear in the mantle.

They're not water pores that's for sure (I would hope).

 

[Clem]

Ah, freezer rash.

If this is Tremoctopus, and I lean that way now...then it is doing something that we've not seen before - possibly something to do with reproduction, brooding eggs/an egg mass, or feeding. Then again, it could be as someone suggested earlier, a defensive mode - arms withdrawn because of the dolphins nearby.

There are two instances of female Tremoctopus taken at the surface with egg masses that I know of, one in South African waters, the other in Hawaiian waters. In the SA example, the eggs mass was within the arm web; I don't know if the Hawaiian example's egg mass was located within the web or or the mantle cavity. I thought the odd migratory lump (what Ms. Penry calls the "melon") visible in two of the pics might be a shifting gas bubble trapped in the upper mantle cavity, but if this animal is Tremoctopus and female, perhaps the lump is an egg mass being moved out of the body. Now, about that shnozzle: it's located about where an octopus's gonads would be. If this is a female octopus well along in the brooding cycle, might the enlarged ovary poke out the end of the mantle as the female works to express the eggs?

Attached is a new profile of the animal, in a posture derived from the third photo.

Cheers,
Clem

 

[Steve O'Shea]

I just received a pm from Gwen, who, as a consequence of this thread, thinks all octopus folk are slightly mad

No update on the new footage/stills front yet.

 

[Tintenfisch]

and we're still standing around, hands in pockets, saying "Huh."

If only we'd had the opportunity to try the time-honored poke-it-with-a-stick line of investigation...

 

[Architeuthoceras]

MAD ? uS?

 

[OB]

Mad, I tell you, mahahahahad!!! Clem, love the artwork! I wish I had the time...

 

[tonmo]

I just received a pm from Gwen, who, as a consequence of this thread, thinks all octopus folk are slightly mad

That's us...

No update on the new footage/stills front yet.

Standing by!

 

[OB]

Any thoughts in the mean while on Adam and Steve's excellent suggestion we might be seeing egg hoarding in action, explaining the tucked in arm posture? If that's indeed arms, I'm seeing?

 

[CapnNemo]

Could it perhaps be in a feeding position, perhaps having trouble dealing with whatever it's eating so has all arms tucked in trying to sort it out, and had 'surfaced' to cause the prey distress and perhaps enable the ceph to get a grip on the prey or reject it?

There is a lot of 'perhaps' in there.

Clem said there were two Tremoctopus taken from the surface with egg masses, were they in good health? Is it normal for Tremoctopus to be at the surface with her eggs?

 

[OB]

The one on the white shark trust (Michael Scholl) website appeared to be alive and kicking, even following handling and spending some uncomfortable hours in an improvised tank on board.

It's interesting to note the egg cluster being held between the dorsal pairs, further adding credence to the Clem/O'Shea theory.

Please note overall coloration being non-iridescent, ventral orange colour and zebra pattern on arm pair #2 webbing, once more

 

[OB]

And with regards to the absence of a "blanket": watch this Incredible Footage

Plus another nice little photo...

 

[Clem]

...there were two Tremoctopus taken from the surface with egg masses, were they in good health? Is it normal for Tremoctopus to be at the surface with her eggs?

Capn, the Hawaiian example is discussed in detail at TOL, here. "Mostly dead" was its condition when found. As for surfacing being normal Trem brooding behavior, I can't say (don't know enough).

And with regards to the absence of a "blanket": watch this Incredible Footage

Ob, that is incredible footage, but I was not prepared for the loud, relentlessly upbeat sounds of a Japanese chat show.

 

[OB]

I switched off the sound, btw...

 

[Clem]

If only we'd had the opportunity to try the time-honored poke-it-with-a-stick line of investigation...