The eye and siphon of an East Pacific red octopus (Octopus rubescens) photographed in Montana de Oro State Park, California, USA

by marlin harms

Daily Cephalopod #96

REMAKE: here!

I LOVE OCTOPODS RAHH RAHHHHHHHHH EYAHH… I also love tf2…. Hence….

species and seperate version under cut!

Scout (Common Octopus)

Soldier (East Pacific red octopus)

Pyro (Flapjack octopus)

Demoman (Glowing Sucker Octopus)

Heavy (Giant Pacific Octopus)

Engineer (Coconut Octopus)

Sniper (Māori Octopus)

Medic (Ghost Octopus)

Spy (Mimic Octopus)

everything is to scale!

East Pacific Red Octopus Fun fact: This species of octopus has excellent eyesight

List of cephlapods:

-Blue ringed Octopus

-Nothern pygmy Squid

-Giant Pacific Octopus

-Colossal Squid

-Giant Squid

-Dumbo Octopus

-Blanket Octopus

-Caribbean reef Octopus

-East Pacific red Octopus

-Mimic Octopus

-Coconut Octopus

-Seven armed Octopus

-Japanese flying Squid

-Umbrella Squid

-Pacific Bobtail Squid

-Firefly Squid

-Tropical bobtail Squid

-Glass Squid

my son's siblings. all tha cepholopods, my beloveds...

Since it’s still mermay- I’m thinking ‘bout stobotnik again cause brainrot.

Robotnik is definitely an octopus. What kind I can’t decide, either a mimic octopus or east pacific red octopus. Either would his vibe.

Stone is either a stonefish (cause pun) or an orca whale. Both are underestimated but very dangerous. Leaning towards the orca because Robotnik will hold Stone and shake him and with the Stonefish he might get hurt. But it could also then make sense for the whole push yourself against the wall scene.

Either way Robotnik is a magic user and of course hates everyone but has contracts with the kingdom he lives on the outskirts of.

EMERALD CITY / EVERGREEN STATE / FOGHORN NITES & THE SNOWS OF TAHOMA

Hey again! Here we are in the new year, 2024, how time has gone ticking… The 4th anniversary of the great plague is on us, disorientingly, and life has hobbled on, with fresh catastrophes of the zeitgeist gathering on the year's horizon like so many sloppy thunderclouds. On the other hand, the year looks pretty harmonious from a numerological point of view, doesn't it? Strap in kiddies, we're bout to find out.

As for me, I'm entering month four of living on the West Coast, bout time I shared a bit about what that's been like. Grand! Feeling quite good about things. Not the most interesting time storywise - a blend of introverted busywork and vulnerable newness, I reckon - well, but let's keep this structured. First off, why Seattle?

If you want to understand it at a glance, open up Google Maps, search for "Seattle", click on the Layers button, and set it to "terrain". Then zoom out a little. Water first, jagged water and islands and passes, the jigsaw logic of the Puget Sound - or the Salish Sea, if you'd like the name to encompass a bit more water as well as its rightful human heirs. There's whales in that water, orcas, dolphins, seals, all manner of fish and scuttling things, and down in the depths of the sound - frighteningly deep, 450 feet on average, a fjord estuary carved by glaciers - down in the deep there are giant pacific octopus, the biggest ones there are, them big red 'uns. Zoom out a little further and you see how the mountains lay. To the west the Olympics, a vast protected area with alpine landscapes up top and temperate rainforests further below in the mountainshadows that catch the wet sea air. These forests are of the fluorescent-green, moss-matted, soggy, mushroomy, enchanted variety, with a damp mossy smell that soothes instantaneously. Head further west to the Pacific coast and you get to the wild shoreline with huge craggy rock formations that meet the forest in a thin driftwoody strip swarmed with seals and albatross. If you travel east out of Seattle you'll run into the Cascade Mountains, more wild & spread-out still, with snowy peaks and misty passes and good ol burly redneck America within an hour's drive of the soft prosperity of the big city, allowing for both cuddlin' and cussin' types of mood within close proximity, as well as winter sports and mountain hikes, and beyond those mountains you'll find the desert, oddly enough. To the south you have a goddam snow-covered volcano, Mt Rainier, or old Tahoma we'll call her, the vastness of which will stop you in your tracks on any day clear enough to bring her out.

And then there's Seattle itself, an introvertedly wacky revolutionary western boomtown obsessed with fish, filled with naturelovers, and recently becrusted with a lot of dinky glass skyscrapers and a two-decade spigot of digital tech money. Moving here feels similar to moving to New York in the way that the locals will unanimously report that it used to be a lot better, and also in the way you're quietly thinking damn - even better? as they tell you. The city has been transformed by tech money, tis true, the rents are frightful, the weird ones are struggling, and soulless commerce is tightening its cords and rising up glassy & alien … sure … But at the same time her personality is still very distinct, and all that new prosperity seems to express itself quite gently, it's like the Norway of the USA, with a sane feeling to the infrastructure and investment and a good deal of compassion in the social policies. The bus drivers will wave you on for free while you're rummaging for money. Your bills come with information on subsidies and plans if you can't pay them. The tenant protection laws are a distant dream for New Yorkers. Much of this thanks to the socialists and anarchists and union organizers and eco-warriors protesting and picketing and recruiting on streetcorners with a seriousness that'd be hard to imagine in wacky individualist NYC. It's a town in suspense between many energies. Out in the open the political tone is heavily left - it's almost comically inclusive of whatever type of individual weirdness you'd like to express - but structurally speaking the money rules, and always wins, and like in all of the USA's great cash engines, life gets harder every day that you're not making enough of it.

But in fairness, coming from NYC it feels downright cuddly with what a warm welcome I've had. The busking has been just grand. No interference from the law whatsoever, a few gentle nudges from businessowners to turn it down or point the other way, and mostly a huge wave of enthusiasm and generosity from whoever happens by. It's good vibes! The music scene - the art scene in general - has had some knocks, esp the covid period hit hard & long out here, the place still feels in recovery - but that has given me the gratifying feeling that for a change I'm in a place where demand for music is larger than supply.

Delightful circles out here, too. I made my first set of friends busking at Pike Place Market, a surprisingly big complex & wonderfully situated by the water, a tourist trap in some ways but also a geniune place of congress & free expression chock full of artists & freethinkers & a century of ghosts. Shoutout to Alex Rasmussen, who introduced me to a number of circles, venues, and open mics. Shoutout as well to the Conor Byrne open mic and its host, Sheldon, who has been going out of his way to plug me into the local folk scene. I just had my first proper Seattle indoor show there last Wednesday and it was lovely. Huge grin to everyone who came out. Scary to start a city fresh wondering if you're gonna draw. It went good! There'll be more shows! It's looking sustainable!

Which is a relief, because I was worried about sustaining the house we landed in, a weird miracle… We didn't exactly save on rent compared with Bed-Stuy, but still… Two floors! And a basement! Bats living in the attic, praise be! A quiet self-enclosed feeling, but close to the center … Incredible ! We'll see if it lasts - knock on wood - plenty of wood to knock on - hope it doesn't come loose. But it's just grand. Ten minutes on foot and you're swimming with the seals. The great fogs & drizzles come pattering down around us over the eaves. Two enormous overgrown douglas firs, hated by the landlord, grow out of the neighbor's yard and sort of envelop the house in a big green dusk. The shingles and the gutters hang loose. It's lovely! I've always wanted to live in a creaky wooden house by the sea. As I mentioned in my earlier post, we spent much of our first few months here just getting it shipshape - painting, repairing, finding furniture. I've been decking out my studio room. A separate studio room! Bless, bless!

So for the rest of the winter the idea is to let the dust settle a lil, get smart, get fit, study the banana slug, learn more medieval frog songs, and hopefully write a couple tunes meanwhile … For songwriting updates, you might like to follow along on Patreon!

Over & out, big grin, R.

TAKOYAKI: A GIANT OCTOPUS

STRAY KIDS “S-CLASS” MV THEORY

The octopus is a marine mollusk and a member of the class Cephalopoda, more commonly called cephalopods. Cephalopoda means “head foot” in Greek, and in this class of organisms, the head and feet are merged. A ring of eight equally-long arms surround the head. They use their arms to “walk” on seafloor. The undersides of the arms are covered with suction cups that are very sensitive to touch and taste. The sack-like body is perched atop the head, which has two complex and sensitive eyes, while the mouth is on the underside. Octopuses have a hard beak, which they use to pierce the shells of crustacean prey.

Octopuses have three functioning hearts. Two of the hearts work exclusively to move blood to the gills, while the third pumps blood through the rest of the body. Rather than iron-based blood, their blood is copper-based, which is more efficient at transporting oxygen at low temperatures and makes their blood blue in color.

Octopuses are solitary creatures excellent at camouflaging and concealing themselves. They are about 90 percent muscle, and because they lack bones, they can fit through very small spaces. Their skin contains cells called chromatophores that allow the octopus to change color and pattern. They are believed to be quite intelligent—capable of learning, using tools, and remembering locations.

There is tremendous range in the size of octopus species found in U.S. waters. The giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini), found off the Pacific coast of the United States from California to Alaska, is the largest octopus species in the world. It has an arm span that can reach 14 feet (four meters). The common octopus (Octopus vulgaris), found along the east coast of the U.S., is much smaller, growing up to about three feet (0.9 meters). The red octopus (Octopus rubescens), found along the Pacific coast, grows to about 20 inches (51 centimeters).

Octopuses are found in every ocean of the world and along every coast of the United States. Octopuses live in coastal marine waters and spend much of their time in dens—small holes and crevices in rocks and coral. They are generally solitary and territorial. Moray eels, fish, seals, sperm whales, sea otters, and many birds prey on octopuses. Octopuses use several different strategies to evade predators—they camouflage themselves by quickly changing their skin color, they make colorful displays or eject ink to startle or confuse potential predators, they squeeze into small crevices to escape, and they quickly propel themselves through water.

Octopuses move using jet propulsion—they suck water into their mantle cavity, then quickly contract their muscles to force the water out through a narrow siphon, aiming the water to steer in a particular direction.

Educational Resources

Octopus Species That Can Be Kept as Pets

New Post has been published on https://www.petculiars.com/octopus-species-that-can-be-kept-as-pets/

Octopus Species That Can Be Kept as Pets

Octopuses are considered exotic pets. These animals are kept by only a few niche pet lovers, mainly because they are not as easy to keep as fish, for example. Some species of octopus can’t even be tamed at all. You will find below a list of octopus species that will be great pets to own.

First off, here’s an interesting thing about octopuses: THey have a brain that will be considerably bigger proportionally than that of most large animals. This alone is enough for this particular animal to be considerably smarter than many others, but it turns out that it also has neurons in its eight arms.

As you might expect, not a lot of people will think of an octopus when they are looking for a loving pet. This isn’t a surprise considering that many octopuses are very large in size, some are very poisonous, while most of them are very unpredictable and sometimes even aggressive. But experienced owners know that not all octopus species are the same and that some are actually pretty small in size and can be great pets if you know how to properly attend to their needs. As long as you place them in a decently sized aquarium or tank and feed them properly, taking care of them won’t be such a complicated task.

You might also like my articles on whether octopuses have bones and on great names for octopuses and squids.

You will notice that most octopuses will spend most of the day in their dens because they are nocturnal creatures. Most of them will also be able to change their shape and color at will. They won’t like other creatures in their tanks because they are solitary animals. They can be kept as pets pretty safely and easily if they have the needed living conditions. Keep in mind that this isn’t the case with all octopus species, so don’t just bring home one you found while snorkeling. There is only a handful you can actually own as pets. Below you will find out exactly what types of octopuses should you look for.

The Common Octopus The common octopus is also known as Octopus vulgaris. This species lives in tropical waters. This still is one of the most studied species of octopus. It will need a tank of around 50 gallons in capacity, if not more. It will usually eat any fish you place in its tank. It is an extensive muncher and will hold onto anything you throw in the tank, so don’t try to get your hand into the water to pet it. It is also very smart and might find ways of escaping the tank so be very careful about its movements.

East Pacific Red Octopus This species is also known as the Octopus rubescens, or, more commonly, the ruby octopus. You will find this mostly in shallow waters. Their color is usually either brown or red. This is one of the most intelligent species. This was actually the first invertebrate that scientists have managed to demonstrate it has individual personalities. Its size is also small. You can keep it it a smaller aquarium with a water temperature of anywhere between 60 and 65°F.

Atlantic Pygmy Octopus This creature is also known as the Octopus joubini. It can be kept in a very small tank, due to its small dimensions. Its size will also translate into a smaller price of acquisition. It will be really fun to watch in an aquarium due to the way in which it will change colors. Although it is a very playful and intelligent creature, it will also need its privacy and alone time. There are just some of the reasons why this particular creature is considered a great pet.

California two-spot Octopus This octopus is also known as the Octopus bimaculoides or more commonly the Bimac. This will be one of the most popular octopus species to own as a pet. An aquarium with a 50-gallon capacity should be enough for this species. It needs a water temperature of 59°F. One of the most visible features of this type of octopus is its eyespots on both sides of the head. It will be a great pet especially because it is a very friendly creature.

Algae Octopus This species of octopus is also known as the Abdopus aculeatus. These creatures are usually small in size and pretty active during the daytime. They won’t need a tank larger than 50 gallons and the water should be around 78°F for them to strive.

Caribbean Reef Octopus The scientific name of this particular breed is Octopus briareus. The specimens of this breed will have a large mantel and long arms. This pet will also change its color to blend in with its surroundings. It will be moderately active during the day and considerably more active during the night and will prefer to live in warm waters. You will need a tank of around 50 to 75 gallons to keep this species of octopus in it. You should also set a temperature for the water at around 78°F. It is as friendly as an octopus can be.

Caribbean Dwarf Octopus This breed is also known as the Octopus mercatoris. This is a small octopus known as a dwarf specimen that will usually be found in the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea region. You will need an aquarium of about 30 gallons to accommodate this particular pet. When in the wild, it will spend most of its day in its cave. This means that it will be a good idea to build a den or an artificial cave inside the aquarium where it is kept. If you don’t want to just buy an artificial cave, you can get a glass jar and fill it with coconut shells or rocks with cervices for this purpose. The lifespan of this creature is anywhere between 8 and 10 months. Keep this octopus in water with a temperature of around 75°F to keep it healthy.

You should know that these creatures don’t have a long lifespan. They usually won’t live more than 10 months. Some species can even live to one or two years max. Even so, this is a very fascinating pet to own and you won’t get enough of watching it move in the tank. It will help you relax with its weird shape, its way of changing colors, and its intelligence.

Keep in mind that an octopus is still an exotic pet. This means that you should first make sure it is legal to own one in your state before getting it. Keeping an animal as a pet will also mean that you will force it out of its natural habitat, so it will be a lot sadder than if you were to leave it alone.

Giant Pacific Octopus - Wikipedia

East Pacific Red Octopus or Ruby Octopus - Wikipedia

Part 4 of the, “is it cute?” Saga. Once again, I ask you, is it cute? (East Pacific Red Octopus)

This is what I’ve been up to all summer.

wen-ciety reupload

this is a repost of the first essay from my website. 9/12/21.

OK this is the first manuscript thing ever cool. I'm gonna be talking about various aspects of the world in which Wence Boys is set. Many of these aren't that important to the story, but it's still fun to imagine what a world where (most) animals evolved into bigger, biped organisms.

First thing's first, there are absolutely 0 humans in this world; apes are still just apes, but more civilized. Secondly, microorganisms are still microorganisms, it would have to be some fucked up futuristic setting if they had working arms and legs - that said, there are plenty of Wence people who are less physically evolved than others, since (season 1 of) Wence Boys is meant to be set in 2019, hence the Boys being listed as slightly younger than they would be now. And I gotta clear this up - the world in which Wence Boys is set doesn't have a name, I'm not good with those, so let's just call it Earth2.

Take these two for example:

So Jeff is an East Pacific Red Octopus, he has 2 fully-evolved arms and 4 tentacle arms. This does not mean at some point he'll have 6 fully formed amrs with fingers and stuff, it's more of a generational thing. There are probably other octopuses with more fully formed arms, just not his bloodline - yet. Luciano's bloodline, for example, is very evolved! They're all super tall, lean, and can breathe on land, with his gills basically acting as "nostrils" on his neck.

Is this important? Not really. But it implies the existence of people without legs - just a fish tail (like a mermaid lol)! In that world this would probably be considered a disability on land, which means there would be accommodations to make Land more accessible, e.g wheelchairs. Similarly... water tanks for fish who cannot breathe on land, special glasses for colourblind dogs, etc. I don't know where I'm going with this, it's an interesting thought though.

So does that mean there's ableism? - not exactly: on an interspecies level, no; within a species, maybe. At least with physical handicaps, there isn't many issues - the animal kingdom is enormously diverse, there would have to be a hundred accommodations for communal areas to be accessible to *everyone*, not just the disabled. An example would be the delivery thing for giraffes in Zootopia. In short, no - Earth2 is a diverse world (there are roughly 9000 species of birds!), and so everyone is different and respects each other's differences and works towards a world where they can all coexist within 1 civilization.

The geography of Earth2 is the same as Earth. Unlike Earth, this USA is actually run by animals native to that area, with the exception of immigrants. Wence is the name of the state the Boys live in, the Earth equivalent would be California - meaning Wence Boys directly translates to California Boys.

Where do they get food? Here's the thing, when you die in Earth2, you're either chopped up and prepared for the markets, left to decompose somewhere, or donated to science. It is randomly selected by the folks at your city hall, some exceptions apply.

1) You're food - your body is cut up, organs are harvested and off to the grocery store it is. People are still animals, so they still abide by food chains. Some animals cannibalize, others don't, however this is taboo now. Apex predators rarely get eaten, an exception might be whales, who are sometimes eaten by Orcas. Again, you could theoretically try eating something that would've eaten you thousands of years ago, but it would be pretty awkward, given they even sell it to you. This means there are *rarely* burial traditions for people, excluding apex predators.

2) You rot - this is the only occasion for burial traditions, you get put in the dirt and decompose. This is a control measure to keep the food chain balanced. Cremations are never a thing.

3) You're donated to science - there is no kind of consent form needed, the ethics pretty much stopped at corpses getting turned into food.

Since there isn't a statistic to the total number of animals there are in the world, I don't really have a frame of reference for what percentage of the global population of Earth2 is mincemeat.

That's it for now, I hope you had fun reading, lol.

Redraw of my old octopus mercs !

Species and flat colors version under cut !

Scout - Common Octopus

Soldier - East Pacific Red Octopus

Pyro - Flapjack Octopus

Demoman - Coconut Octopus

Heavy - Giant Pacific Octopus

Engineer - Southern Keeled Octopus

Sniper - Blue-Ringed Octopus

Medic - Caribbean Octopus

Spy - Mimic Octopus

Animal Crossing Fish Explained - Habitats #3

Brought to you by a marine biologist dreaming of a tropical vacation...

CLICK HERE FOR THE AC FISH EXPLAINED MASTERPOST!

We’re staying in the Neritic Zone, or nearshore, for a little bit. Like I said yesterday, the Neritic Zone has so many different types of bottom habitat, and this is because it is within the range in which light penetrates into the ocean (about 200 meters). This is important, because most ecosystems rely on plants or other photosynthesizing organisms to bridge the gap between the energy of the sun and life itself. Just like on land, there are certain habitats that do a better job of supporting and diversifying life than others. On land, those are rainforests. In the ocean, they are coral reefs.

I spoke about coral themselves when I went over the beach shells. Basically, you should know that corals are giant structures made up of tiny animals called coral polyps. Coral polyps are related to jellies and anemones in the phylum Cnidaria. They have a symbiotic, or mutual, relationship with special algae, called zooxanthellae, that live in their tissues. The algae photosynthesize and make food for the polyp, and the polyp is basically its house that ensures that, for as long as they both live, it has access to a great spot in the sun and is protected from predators that otherwise love to chow on algae. 

Coral reefs are the result of countless of these tiny animals settling on top of the empty shells past polyps have left behind over hundreds, thousands, millions of years. You can imagine that corals grow very slowly and only the thin, top layer is “alive” (and defending its turf, preventing other polyps from settling on it). 

^Little coral polyps filter feeding!

So, yeah. Corals are amazing and so beautiful. If you ever get the chance to dive or snorkel over a coral reef, you should. If you’re thinking about a tropical vacation after this pandemic goes away, you’ll be in the right place for corals anyway. Coral reefs, at least the shallow-water variety (there are deep sea corals, but they are beyond the scope of this tank), are exclusively in tropical seas. They require warm waters (but not too warm) and lots of sunlight to feed their algae friends. This means there are only a few places corals really thrive. We’ve all heard of The Great Barrier Reef on the east coast of Australia, but there are other barrier reefs around the world, including one here in the Western Hemisphere off the coast of Belize. Corals also thrive in the Red Sea near Egypt, around the Florida Keys, throughout Indonesia and The Philippines, Hawaii etc etc. They only cover 1% of the seafloor.

There are a bunch of different types of reef systems depending on the geology of the area, and some reefs have taken 30 million years to grow, as is the case for most atolls, like those in the Maldives. 

 Okay, so how much biodiversity do coral reefs support?

A LOT! Like...25% of marine species depend on a coral reef, either for their whole lives, or for just part of it.

Coral reefs not only support a lot of animals, but also humans. About 500 million people worldwide depend on coral reefs for their livelihoods and sustenance. 

ACNH’s coral reef is just gorgeous, and most likely represents an Indo-Pacific coral reef. The animals in this tank are:

Napoleonfish :: Clown Fish :: Butterflyfish :: Surgeonfish :: Spiny Lobster :: Sea Cucumber :: Flatworm :: Spotted Garden Eel :: Slate Pencil Urchin :: Mantis Shrimp :: Pearl Oyster :: Ribbon Eel :: Tiger Prawn :: Mussel :: Umbrella Octopus :: Sea Slug :: Sea Grapes :: Sea Anemone :: Gigas Giant Clam :: Lobster (who shouldn’t be in this damn tank)

And there you have it. Fascinating stuff, no?