Caribbean reef octopus - Most Intelligent invertebrate

The Caribbean reef octopus is unlike any reef species you may see on a dive. Just recently while diving at one of Tobago's Dive spots, 'Black Jack Hole', off Little Tobago, I nearly missed an opportunity to see an octopus neatly camouflaged among coral.

Thankfully, my very diligent dive buddy, Laura, pointed at the evasive sea creature, and I kept staring for a moment totally confused and wondered, why is she pointing at some rocks?!? Then I saw the something wink at me! I almost jumped out of my wetsuit because at this point I was about 6 inches away from it.



You see an octopus underwater can change its colour ranging from red to green and even its texture from rough to smooth. It can even hide within coral crevices although its eight arms can grow up to 60cm or 24 inches in length.

This highly intelligent act of camouflage is a survival mechanism since the reef octopus needs to avoid detection by predators such as sharks and stingrays.

---

Return from Caribbean Reef Octopus to Caribbean Scuba Diving Vacations Home Page