Let’s Meet Dumbo; the Big-Eared Octopus who Lives in Extreme Depths! [Amazing Creatures of the Deep]
After the (bit) intimidating Wolf Eels I thought I should introduce you to one of the sweetest creatures I have seen.
Meet the Dumbo Octopuses
As you might have guessed. Dumbo octopuses are named after the Disney Elephant Character. Their Scientific Name is Grimpoteuthis and they were first described back in 1990.
How does Dumbo Octopus look like?
Dumbo is usually orange with a soft body and has 8 arms. Two fins that look like ears are located on his bell-like head. The males & females are different in terns of their suckers’ length.
They have big eyes that do not see very well in the dark ocean.
Where can I find a Dumbo Octopus?
Apparently these interesting critters are found in every ocean in the world. However as they are living in great depths of around 3000 to 4000 meters, it not possible to spot them in the shallow waters.
What do the Dumbo Octopuses feed on?
These Octopuses do not have the ‘tooth-covered’ tongue as most of its relative species, so they swallow their prey whole. They are pretty much eating anything they can find in the deep ocean, like copepods, isopods, worms and other species that usually crawl the bottom of the ocean.
How & when do Dumbo Octopuses reproduce?
There is no known mating season. The mating occurs when the male gives the female a sperm packet, which the female keeps and uses fertilizing the eggs, when the environmental conditions are optimal.
Eggs are stored inside her body and when they reach maturity, they are released and left to develop on their own.
How long do they live?
The lifespan of the Dumbo Octopus is between 3 and 5 years.
Anything else we should know about Dumbo Octopuses?
They do not have many predators in the depths that they live, and they produce no ink (it wouldn’t help any way in the dark)
They have been spotted having a variety of colours, white, red, orange or pink. Apparently they can camouflage themselves, changing the color of their ‘skin’.
How big are the Dumbo Octopuses?
Most of them are small, usually at around 20 cm (8 inches) but the largest caught was 180 centimeters (5.9 feet) long!
I really hope you enjoyed this post and these cute videos! I wish you all a smooth, easy going new week!
If you enjoy science topics, you might want to read about ... the moon by @NetM or about .. fire spinning around by @ruth-girl or perhaps about hapiness.. by @shimster or about World's first minister of loniness by @unshakeable
Source: Encyclopedia of Life
Source: Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Source: Amazing Beautiful World
Source: Softschools
Source: Wikipedia
Source: Youtube by EVNautilus
Source: Youtube by EVNautilus
Source: OceanExplorer Noaa.gov
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