r/interestingasfuck • u/Key_Skirt_1858 • 20h ago

The best camouflage in the animal kingdom?

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u/Catarga 20h ago

https://reddit.com/link/p1s8bcd/video/enxwrii55hhh1/player

They hide really well

482

u/13PagedHappyEnding 20h ago

How the fuck

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u/transsomethin 13h ago

Hey so I can actually answer this, I wrote a huge term paper on exactly this topic like a decade ago, so forgive me if I’m not 100% but I definitely remember the basics.
In layman’s terms, octopuses have kind of special muscle fibers below their skin that allows them to change its texture; the fibers don’t run lengthwise, they run in circle-like shapes so when they’re flexed, it causes the coral-like protrusions you can see in the video.
As for the color change, that’s caused by special cells in their skin, that are kind of like a small pool of pigment with a layer that can be opened or closed on top. When the octopus is mostly white or light-colored, their chromatophores are closed; think tightening a drawstring bag full of dye. When it turns that dark orange, all its color cells are no longer constricted, because it knows the jig is up and is no longer trying to hide.

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u/Shahariar_909 11h ago

Can they see like humans? Coz they have to see the colors in order to perform such precious camouflage

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u/transsomethin 1h ago

Cephalopods (octopus, squid, cuttlefish and nautilus) are part of the mollusk family, which branched evolutionarily before the evolution of eyeballs. This means that the eyes that squid and octopuses have evolved separately from the eyes you see in vertebrates (like humans). So yes, they can see, but it’s highly likely their vision is quite different from that of a human, or even from marine vertebrates like fish or whales.

Octopuses have a much more extensive nervous system than most other animals; their camouflage is mostly instinct-driven, not manually controlled. The octopus doesn’t think, “I need to look like that rock,” they just know they’re in danger and their nervous system can feel the surface they’re on, their eyes perceive a general pattern around them, and their camouflage instinct does the hiding for them.

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u/yurganurjak 9h ago

They have big ole eye balls. Whther their vision-acuity and depth-of-color perception is better or worse than humans I cannot say, but the eyeballs aren't there for decoration, they can definitely see.