They have a remarkable hunting method: they pounce on their prey and then use their beaks to kill it. While they look adorable on the outside, as predators, they are deadly. Like all the other octopus species, the Flapjack Octopus is also carnivorous. However, it is believed that they also live in the Bering sea, the sea of Okhotsk, and around the island of Honshu, Japan. Most of their specimens have been collected from the coasts of California and Japan. This is why it is difficult to be accurate about their whereabouts. Like we mentioned earlier, the species of Flapjack Octopuses are understudied. Their habitat ranges between the depth of 500-1500 meters.Īlthough the Flapjack Octopus can swim, they like to stay close to the ground of the sea in order to have easy access to food. While the new-born octopuses live 200 meters below the sea level, the adult ones like to go much deeper. The Flapjack Octopus loves to live in the depth of the ocean, where there is very little light. If you look at a Flapjack Octopus swimming from afar, it might look like an umbrella or a parachute floating in the ocean to you. Thus, when they spread their tentacles out, they appear to be like an umbrella.
Flapjack octopus skin#
Unlike other octopuses, these octopuses have a thin, web-like skin which joins each of their tentacles to the other at the edge. Umbrella octopuses have been named so because of their umbrella-like appearance during any kind of movement. Just like the Dumbo Octopus, the Flapjack Octopus also belongs to the family of Umbrella Octopus. The male Flapjack Octopuses are slightly larger in size than their female partners.įlapjack Octopus belongs to the Umbrella Octopus family Like the other finned octopus species, the Flapjack Octopus also has a single row of suckers on each of its tentacles. The liquid blinds the predator temporarily and gives the octopus time to swim away safely. The sac is filled with ink, which they eject with a burst of water whenever they feel threatened by a predator. The ink sacs in octopuses are located near digestive systems. Moreover, the Flapjack Octopus doesn’t have an ink sac, which is a common feature in most of the other coleoidea (cuttlefish, octopus, and squids). Therefore, the fins of the Flapjack Octopus distinguish it from the other octopus species. To most people, these might appear like ears, but they are actually fins. On the top of their mantles, right above their eyes, the Flapjack Octopus has two flappy structures. Due to their bulgy eyes, most aquatic animals can find their staring face quite intimidating. Their eyes are shaped like a kidney and bulge out of the socket like the eyes of the bovine animals. These octopuses have a transparent-looking skin and are found in three different colors: red, pinkish, and yellow-orangish.įlapjack Octopuses have prominent eyes that are larger than the other octopus species. The body of the Flapjack Octopus is shaped more or less like an egg and is spongy and gelatinous in texture. While the average size of octopuses ranges between 12 to 36 inches, the Flapjack Octopus has a mantle length of merely 7 inches. If you divide all the species of octopuses into different categories according to their size, the Flapjack Octopus will belong to the group of small octopuses. What does the Flapjack Octopus look like? Bush is a postdoctoral researcher at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, California, and has been working with the species for quite a while now.Īs far as their common name is concerned, the Flapjack Octopus has been named so due to its ability to flatten itself out so thin that it appears like a pancake or a flapjack.
While their scientific name is Opisthoteuthis Californiana, Stephanie Bush insists on changing it to “Opisthoteuthis Adorabilis” due to their adorable appearance. Berry was an American marine zoologist specializing in cephalopods who passed away in 1984. In 1949, the species of the Flapjack Octopus was first discovered by Samuel Stillman Berry.
To begin with, let us take a look at the table given below to know more about the background, nature, and physical specifications of the Flapjack Octopus.
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