Super Suckers: The Giant Pacific Octopus and Other Cephalopods of the Pacific CoastIs there a more bizarre-looking animal in the sea than the octopus? A baggy, boneless body surmounted by a pair of soulless eyes and fleshy horns. Eight snake-like arms with hundreds of suction cups, a stubby funnel projecting like a left-over piece of fire hose... not to mention its three hearts and blue blood. The word cuddly doesn't spring to mind when contemplating these creatures but all are superbly mobile and beguilingly clever. This book is the culmination of more than forty years of undersea photography and study of the most impressive octopus on the Pacific coast, the giant Pacific octopus. This fascinating monster of the deep--the largest known octopus species in the world--is a master of disguise that can mimic not only the colour but also the texture of its surroundings. It can alter its shape so effectively that small specimens have escaped captivity by slithering down aquarium filter pipes. Wet, cold and slimy, it hunts and pulls apart hardshell crabs. Normally shy, it may interact with divers it comes to recognize. It can learn how to pry open a food container and remember the technique for the next feeding. Groundbreaking research and previously unpublished biological behaviours are presented along with octopus legends, anecdotes from aquarists and divers and colour photographs of the giant Pacific octopus and other cephalopods found along the Pacific coast, including the Humboldt squid and ruby octopus. |
Common terms and phrases
Alaska ammonites animals aquarists beak behaviour bite breath captured cephalopods chromatophores cific octopus coast colour crab crawl creatures cuttlefishes Danny dens digging clams dive divers Doug eggs eight arms encounter eyes female film fishery fishes funnel giant Pacific octopus giant squid gills hatch Humboldt squid hunting invertebrate live look male giant Pacific mantle marine mating metres mimic octopus Miss Octopus molluscs move nautilus Neil McDaniel Opposite Neon flying squids nesting observed ocean octo Octopus dofleini octopus wrestling oxygen Pacific red octopus paralarvae Photo Fred Bavendam Photo Jim Cosgrove Photo Neil McDaniel photograph plankton predator prey puses radial span radula Raven red octopus rock Royal BC Museum scallops scuba sea otters Seattle Aquarium shell skin smoothskin octopus species of octopuses specimen spermatophore stubby squid suckers surface swimming tentacles topus traps underwater Vancouver Aquarium Vancouver Island Victoria weighed