Friday Cephalopod: Standing tall!
Category: Cephalopods • Organisms
Posted on: May 23, 2008 11:53 AM, by PZ Myers
Octopus cyanea
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
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Octopus cyanea
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Comments
That's a handsome fish.
Posted by: Christianjb | May 23, 2008 12:00 PM
Just beatiful... im going to find some info about it...
Posted by: Miguel Opazo | May 23, 2008 12:07 PM
He just needs one of his swords to look like the most awesome conqueror.
Also, riding on a steed might boost the effect.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/2kxyc7
Posted by: Glen Davidson | May 23, 2008 12:09 PM
The Dennett of cephalopods.
Posted by: danley | May 23, 2008 12:41 PM
I know it's his body, but he still makes me think of W.C. Fields.
Posted by: Sili | May 23, 2008 12:44 PM
This beast (and my handy 1925 book of similes) inspires me to write: "Like a sudden flash of memory or spirit kindling up the mind of an old man, the octopus shed a glory upon the scene, in which its departed youth and freshness seemed to live again!"
Posted by: Eximious Jones | May 23, 2008 12:45 PM
PZ: I thought of you last night. (((Wife))) and I were at Target and they have household implements in the shape of animals. A monkey peeler (that sounds, um, wrong?), a toucan can opener (more room for double entendre's there), a hedgehog scrubber, and, last but not least, an octopus scrubber. It looks a lot like the one above, except it sits on a round set of scrub bristles.
I like your cephalopod photos. And thanks for fighting the good fight.
Posted by: (((Billy))) | May 23, 2008 12:58 PM
Gorgeous!
Posted by: Peter Vaht | May 23, 2008 1:00 PM
Reminds me of these guys:
http://images.wikia.com/muppet/images/d/d4/YipYip.jpg
Posted by: Ethan K | May 23, 2008 1:12 PM
Want to buy an octopus? Let's see some ID first
Posted by: Reginald Selkirk | May 23, 2008 1:29 PM
The Octopus Project
Posted by: Reginald Selkirk | May 23, 2008 1:33 PM
Posted by: Reginald Selkirk | May 23, 2008 1:37 PM
Haha! Good call, danley!
Posted by: avekid | May 23, 2008 1:41 PM
Loooove this picture
Posted by: Kraken | May 23, 2008 2:03 PM
Newly added to the list of my favorite cephalopods, after learning about them at the Maui Ocean Center last week. Lovely image, thank you for sharing!
Posted by: Illucian | May 23, 2008 2:15 PM
Its got a face only PZ could love.. and even he has trouble.
Posted by: Stuart Weinstein | May 23, 2008 2:48 PM
Ok, this has inspired me to do something similar, except with my favorites, the onychophorans.
http://shegeek1000101.livejournal.com/31017.html
Posted by: Mena | May 23, 2008 3:16 PM
Why is this species called "Cyanea"? Shouldn't it be "Erythrorea"
Posted by: Amplexus | May 23, 2008 3:19 PM
Shouldn't it be O. cyaneus in the first place? Or have I missed something?
Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | May 23, 2008 5:00 PM
Reminds me of a friend's Airedale. He sits and looks at you just like that, especially if you ignore him :)
Posted by: John Phillips, FCD | May 23, 2008 7:54 PM
Just beautiful. She (in spite of a lack of evidence one way or the other I'm assuming it's a she) is just amazing. And Reginald #12, as much as I've enjoyed octopus sushi, I have to admit I've always had qualms about eating an animal that--from what I've heard--is quite intelligent.
Posted by: Christopher Waldrop | May 23, 2008 8:12 PM
@ 21:
Then I assume you don't eat pork either? Pigs are supposedly in the top ten for nonhuman intelligence. C'mon, everyone knows the smarter an animal is, the more delicious it is.
Posted by: Ethan | May 23, 2008 9:30 PM
I think it's a She too. I'm picturing the cephalopodean version of Hooters, and this is one of the totally hot waitresses, a former Miss Coral Reef finalist.
Posted by: Hank Fox | May 23, 2008 10:48 PM
Is that thing standing up out of the water?
Posted by: Monado | May 23, 2008 10:54 PM
Is that thing standing up out of the water?
ah, i see what you mean.
No.
even an octo has limits, and with no bones, they don't look like that when out of water.
Posted by: Ichthyic | May 23, 2008 10:59 PM
Oh, he/she looks like they're standing there wearing a pair of little polka dotted fluffy slippers. Kind of reminds me of my dad standing at the doorway when I was 17 and had missed 10 o'clock curfew.
Posted by: Bride of Shrek | May 24, 2008 8:09 AM
I feel there should be a bottle of beer grasped in his tentacle, and he should be slurring something like "You gotta proplum...?"
Posted by: IsThatLatin | May 24, 2008 11:49 AM