Hapalochlaena fasciata
Figure from Cephalopods: A World Guide (amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), by Mark Norman.
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More articles by PZ Myers can be found on Freethoughtblogs at the new Pharyngula!
Friday Cephalopod: Pretty as a bruise
Category: Cephalopods • Organisms
Posted on: May 8, 2009 12:37 PM, by PZ Myers
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Comments
Posted by: Lorkas | May 8, 2009 12:45 PM
Mesmerizing
Posted by: Glen Davidson | May 8, 2009 12:48 PM
Looks fierce--and poisonous.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/6mb592
Posted by: James F | May 8, 2009 12:50 PM
That needs to be an album title.
Posted by: Brock | May 8, 2009 12:54 PM
Who barbecued my octopus?! Those look like weird grill marks. Very pretty though.
Posted by: Chris Davis
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May 8, 2009 1:01 PM
I have this blog entirely to thank for turning a mild background interest into a deepening admiration and affection for these splendid beasties.
Time to petition Pixar to raise the consciousness of the world.
Posted by: skyotter | May 8, 2009 1:01 PM
i shoulda posted my o/t Star Trek movie comment in this thread =/
Posted by: Jared Cormier
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May 8, 2009 1:03 PM
Glen, it is very poisonous... Not sure which blue-ringed octopod it is, but they are all so pretty.
Posted by: puseaus | May 8, 2009 1:10 PM
He looks 99% gay...
Posted by: SaraJ
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May 8, 2009 1:11 PM
I want to love the little guy, I really do, but he just looks way to spider-y for me. And I hate spiders... a lot.
Posted by: Mike Haubrich, FCD
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May 8, 2009 1:12 PM
From your post title I thought it would be Hematoma fasciata.
Posted by: James | May 8, 2009 1:21 PM
From Chris Browns aquarium?
Wait, that joke may be a little lowbrow for this sit.
Posted by: Anonymous | May 8, 2009 1:21 PM
Chris Davis, you should check out the short animation Oktapodi if you haven't already. It's way more fun than anything Pixar's come out with lately.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=badHUNl2HXU
Posted by: E.V. | May 8, 2009 1:46 PM
Odd effect of the skin texture/coloring - she looks furry.
Posted by: TheNewAtheist
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May 8, 2009 1:54 PM
PZ, did you this?? http://tinyurl.com/pcu2m5 What are your thoughts? Seems like that would be unconstitutional, but I'm not lawyer.
Posted by: Sigmund | May 8, 2009 2:06 PM
Speaking of slimy spineless bottom dwellers, it seems that Fox news have a new biology expert.
http://sandwalk.blogspot.com/2009/05/biology-textbooks-are-wrong.html
Posted by: Scott from Oregon | May 8, 2009 2:09 PM
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_12286425
(A link to more religious inanity in Colorado...)
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | May 8, 2009 2:15 PM
holy shit.
I mean really. Holy shit.
Are the religious taking cues from child moslest.... oh.
Never mind.
Posted by: Holbach
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May 8, 2009 2:16 PM
This one should have had a tattoo on one arm with a human brandishing a trident to match the human leg with the octopus brandishing a scimitar on the May 5 post.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | May 8, 2009 2:18 PM
grrr stupid blank line block quote stupid sb grumble grumble
Posted by: Holbach
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May 8, 2009 2:23 PM
Rev.BigDumbChimp @ 17
Sort of immaterial if they do or don't believe in a god. Slime is slime, whether directed by a god or not.
Posted by: charley
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May 8, 2009 3:19 PM
If that were my kid I would push for attempted kidnapping charges.
Posted by: Chris Davis
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May 8, 2009 3:23 PM
@Anon #12: Thanks so much for that. I'd actually seen it before, but forgotten it. Nice to see it again.
It's a worthy film, but it seems to that Pixar has the muscle and systems to make ockies at least as adorable and reach a wider audience with a full-length feature. If they can make a romance between a trash-compactor and an (utterly lickable) iBot plausible and endearing, they could make the world into cephalophiles.
Posted by: me2 | May 8, 2009 3:26 PM
This is my favourite species, I think they're gorgeous - which is why I chose to have it tattooed around my navel.
They're really beautiful.
Posted by: JBlilie | May 8, 2009 3:30 PM
Religious stoopidity in MN:
http://www.mankatofreepress.com/local/local_story_127221828.html?start:int=15
Posted by: Richard Harris
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May 8, 2009 3:44 PM
Bah, humbug! There's only one crittur here. Now, if you wanna see 'em by the dozen .... http://www.treasureislandsweets.co.uk/acatalog/mint_humbugs.jpg
Posted by: JBlilie | May 8, 2009 3:53 PM
mea @23
Did you contribute to Carl Zimmer's gallery of science tatoos?
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/science-tattoo-emporium/
Posted by: Peter McKellar | May 8, 2009 3:58 PM
I thought capital crimes must be handled by the police and district attorney - its not like someone has to make a complaint for a murder to be investigated. Surely the police are required by law to go around and investigate. If it was my kid I would be screaming to know why the church kidnappers are not already arrested and trying to plead their way off death row....
Posted by: Rob | May 8, 2009 4:06 PM
Speaking of cephalopods, I was wondering if you've seen the Nazi Squid yet...
http://rathergood.com/nazi_squid
Posted by: Noadi | May 8, 2009 4:23 PM
Ah the blue ringed octopus, so pretty, so small, and can kill you in 15 minutes. One of my favorite cephalopods.
Posted by: PGPWNIT
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May 8, 2009 4:31 PM
Kinda phoned it in today, huh PZ?
just fucking with ya.
Posted by: sasqwatch
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May 8, 2009 4:50 PM
Put some clothes on it. Geez. Leaves nothing to the imagination.
Posted by: kamaka | May 8, 2009 4:51 PM
Religious stoopidity in MN:
http://www.mankatofreepress.com/local/local_story_127221828.html?start:int=15
I heard mom on the radio this morning, saying something like "if what we're doing wasn't working, my son wouldn't be sitting next to me".
Posted by: me2 | May 8, 2009 4:51 PM
JBlilie @ 26
No, I didn't - my tattoo isn't finished yet. ;-)
Posted by: sasqwatch
|
May 8, 2009 4:58 PM
"squidskrieg"... lol Damn good drummer on that Nazi squid vid. Randomly delicious.
Posted by: MakeTheMostOfLife | May 8, 2009 5:23 PM
Been scuba diving with them in Sydney!
Posted by: FierceGeekChick | May 8, 2009 5:24 PM
@ New Atheist #14
No, that isn't unconstitutional. It's a private school, so they aren't acting as agents of the state. As screwed up as it may be, the school is most likely within its rights. I believe that most private schools have parents sign a contract that states that the parents and students will abide by the school's rules and religious principles, no matter how archaic and messed up they may be. Going to the other school's prom is probably a violation of those rules. Crappy, but his parents chose to send him there.
Posted by: FierceGeekChick | May 8, 2009 5:26 PM
@ New Atheist #14
No, that isn't unconstitutional. It's a private school, so they aren't acting as agents of the state. As screwed up as it may be, the school is most likely within its rights. I believe that most private schools have parents sign a contract that states that the parents and students will abide by the school's rules and religious principles, no matter how archaic and messed up they may be. Going to the other school's prom is probably a violation of those rules. Crappy, but his parents chose to send him there.
Posted by: FierceGeekChick | May 8, 2009 5:28 PM
Argh! Sorry about the double post. I swear it looked like it hadn't gone through.
Posted by: Happy Tentacles
|
May 8, 2009 5:37 PM
Pretty and lethal at the same time! Cephaloporn doesn't get much more alluring!
Posted by: Peter McKellar | May 8, 2009 5:56 PM
where? Gordon's Bay is a favourite spot - many squid but not that many octopi that I saw. I haven't been diving for years now (or snorkelling for that matter) but Shelley Beach used to have a few small octopi (but not blue ringed)
Posted by: Peter McKellar | May 8, 2009 5:59 PM
sorry - Byron Bay/Shelley Beach - same diff ;) That should read SHELLY Beach.
Posted by: GeoffR
|
May 8, 2009 6:15 PM
we find beautiful examples of these in pools at low tide at Moreton Island, Queensland,Australia. When you disturb them the coloured rings flash vividly. Chilling to know that if they bite you they can easily kill.
Makes us worried about walking out to our boats through the shallows at night.
Posted by: puseaus | May 8, 2009 6:39 PM
Bet they don't think human toes look sexy enough to take a bite or kill.
Posted by: Monado | May 8, 2009 8:40 PM
They're not poisonous [to eat]; they're venomous [when they bite].
So if you wanted to be mean to the poor little critter, you could barbecue it.
Hmm--I wonder why sea critters aren't protected as we do for migratory birds?
Posted by: Monado | May 8, 2009 8:42 PM
Thanks for posting the Oktapodi link--the original one on the art films web site has expired. I'm off to paste this one into my old blog post.
Posted by: MadScientist
|
May 8, 2009 9:22 PM
Oooo - I love the blue decorations - can they change colors like the stripes on a cuttlefish's face?
Posted by: John S. Wilkins
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May 8, 2009 9:27 PM
Pretty little feller, isn't he? We used to play with these guys at the beach when I was a kid, until the kids started dying from the venomous bite and the newspapers started a scare campaign. If you let wildlife bite you then you deserve what you get, I reckon.
Posted by: James F | May 8, 2009 9:37 PM
#47
See Also: "Deserts: how to die in them," "The stick: second most useful thing ever," and "Poisonous and venomous arachnids, insects, animals, trees, shrubs, fish and sheep of Australia, volumes 1-42"
/Douglas Adams
Posted by: Aquaria | May 9, 2009 5:20 AM
So that's what happened to my mom's tiger print swimsuit!
Seriously, beautiful cephalopod. :::Swoon:::
Posted by: Samantha Vimes | May 9, 2009 7:15 AM
Thanks, Aquaria-- I'd been planning to ask how the octopus knew what a tiger looks like!
Posted by: eddie
|
May 9, 2009 6:21 PM
Thanks, James F, for the DA quote. I recently found an aussie horror flick on youtube where the sheep were deadly.
Can't find it now but recall it was way funnier tham The Cars That Ate Paris.
Posted by: GeoffR
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May 10, 2009 1:55 PM
"If you let wildlife bite you then you deserve what you get, I reckon."
I hear ya John,but death seems like a pretty harsh penalty for inadvertantly brushing against one of these little guys.