Octomania!
Posted on Dec 13, 2009 by bruce_moore
As I mentioned in the recent Critter Post #9, we've been seeing plenty of "hairy" octopus, but we've been lucky with bluering octopus as well. This post will deal with our eight-legged friends in further detail.
Over the past six years or so, the month of November has developed into the prime octopus viewing month. My two very best octopus dives were both in November and both with the same dive buddy - my friend Tom Sheldon, who used to always visit in November. On both those jumps, in consecutive Novembers, we spotted twelve individuals from five of the following six octopus species - mimic, wonderpus, white-v, bluering , mototi and veined. Both those dives were at TK3. But it is not always a given that November + TK3 = octopus. Last week I did a late afternoon dive there and between Atu and I we failed to find not only any octopus, but any Cephalopods at all!
In late September and early October we found bluerings at Nudi Falls and Air Prang. Then in Mid-October a large one was seen at Makawide 2 along with a wee one at Jari Jari by our keen-eyed and luck-bearing Swiss group. In November it was Tanjung Kubur's turn with Pintu Kolada also bearing blue-ringed fruit late in the month. And word from other guides had others seen on sites we seldom visited during that period: Critter Hunt and Nudi Falls, with the one at Makawide 2 showing up again. We have two species on show here, with one called a midring bluering octopus and according to Mark Norman's Cephalopods Of The World guide, it is only found here. I've put up three colour phases of a single specimen from Pintu Colada, showing how different it can look. I enjoyed seeing it turn yellow when on halimeda algae (perhaps they just can't "do" green).
In October wonderpus also became more frequently seen, but were balanced by less sightings of veined, white-v, brown mimic and mimic. That was just in general, as those species were being spotted, but not as frequently as in other months. We had night dives at Hairball where we would come across six or even a dozen long-armed chappies (white-v) or veined (coconut) familiars, but it wasn't the norm. Earlier in the year we would see up ten veined octos in any dive at Joleha (Air Bajo 2), but in October / November we'd see one or two, if any. But variety is the spice of life and we were finding plenty else to get excited about.
What folks call "hairy" octopus are, to me, three distinct species. There is the tiny, very red and very hairy octopus which can - and has - easily been confused with an orangutan crab. Then there is a longer-armed and somewhat larger (but still smaller and more delicate than all the other commonly-encountered odd species)"hairy" that can be various shades - yellow, brown, dark red - and tends to be in or near coral, but is most often seen in transit, out on rubble or sand slopes foraging. Then there is the largest and most muscular of the three species, which as you can see from the photos (I don't have recognizable snaps of the other two species) is distinct.
Out moving it shows the pointy body shape that sets it apart from other octopus species seen in the same environment. If on a light-coloured substrate can be a shade of tan with white stripes. In the open and on the move it often will be smooth and can be a dark shade with deep red stripes, showing a white stripe down the center of the body if bothered (see picture below). But once it is on a rock it will sprout a hirsute appearance, lighten up and blend in remarkably with purple and white patches.
I first saw one years ago at Pantai Parigi and it remains one of the two largest I have ever encountered. True to the species, it was shy and could vanish beneath a rock in an instant, but it was curious, and if not pestered, would come out on its own to see what we were looking at nearby. We saw him a few times until he just disappeared. Perhaps not coincidentally, on the first dive I did not find him under his rock, a guest later said she had seen a large flounder nearby swimming along with octopus legs trailing from its mouth! There were two at Nudi Retreat later during my time at Lembeh Resort, but I saw one of them once in around five tries and got no pictures. All of those specimens would swim along in a distinct fashion with their arms pointed upwards in a corkscrew pose.
In November two years ago I was out at Larry's Crack, in the shallows, with John and Donna Todt, when Hengki found a large one. We let it settle down and it began to forage, putting on quite a show. Of course I didn't have my camera! We left it after around 20 minutes as it continued to putter about. But we never saw it again. And only this year did I see any again.
My first one this year was late October at Tanjung Kubur. I only saw him twice in a number jumps and both sessions were brief. Earlier in the month our Swiss group saw one at Tanjung Slop and next door at Nudi Retreat and again, they managed to get one or two pictures at best before the octopus melted away under a rock. Other guides have seen them at various sites, so there must be quite a few around. We usually find them around 18-21 meters in depth and they seem to be more active in the morning. I had a session with one recently down deep at Makawide 1 and it just was not interested in "corkscrewing" its arms at all. One I have seen a few times at Makawide 2 would only occasionally show this body posture. I have seen them on my own and with groups of divers, but both situations don't necessarily induce them to show this interesting display. Hengki thinks that they do this when a possibly threatening fish is nearby, which would make sense. I believe there was / is one on our Black Sand House Reef, but I have only seen the eyes peering at me from its hole in a rock which has added pebbles around the opening (this style of "home"is unheard of from veined, wonderpus or any of the various sand octopus species). A very intriguing species.
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