
Habitat: pelagic zones of subtropical and tropical oceans
Status: Not evaluated
What’s funny about these creatures is their pronounced sexual dimorphism – females can grow to over 2 meters in length whereas the teeny males only reach around a few centimeters!
Blanket octopuses also have a few tricks up their sleeves. The creatures are immune to the venom of Portuguese Man o’ War and will actually rip off the jellyfish’s tentacles and carry them around for their own defense.
The most impressive defense mechanism though stems from the Blanket Octopuses lack of ink. Instead of using ink to scare off predators, the female (when threatened) will unfurl her large net-like membranes which billow gracefully in the water behind her. This “blanket” greatly increases her apparent size and I’m sure scares the bajeezes out of any potential predator.
Check out this great video of the Blanket Octopus unfurling her “blanket” and swimming about: