Octopus Ink: What Does it Do?

A few years back, we explored the the mechanics of how octopus inking works. To recap, octopuses have an ink sac located near their digestive system, and when necessary, they can eject ink out of the sac accompanied by a burst of water to serve as a smokescreen to confuse predators while the octopus swims away.

Octopuses have two main methods of inking. The first type is the one with which we are most familiar. The octopus will squirt a large cloud of ink, then make a quick getaway, leaving behind a predator befuddled by the inky smokescreen. Sometimes though, the octopus will release several small clouds of ink approximately the same size as the octopus itself meant to be pseudomorphs or "false bodies" that serve as decoys to confuse the predator. What's interesting is that the composition of these smaller ink "bodies" differs from that of one large ink cloud as they contain greater amounts of mucus, thereby allowing them to hold their form longer while the octopus - or cephalopod - escapes.

This method, commonly referred to as "blanch-ink-jet maneuver", is so effective a variety of species have been witnessed attacking the false bodies.

Wait - it gets better! There is some evidence to suggest that certain chemical compounds found in octopus ink actually suppress or disable certain predators' chemosensory systems, leading scientists to believe that octopus ink is much more than a mere smokescreen.

Cephalopod ink has been shown to contain several chemicals with some varieties depending on the species. The primary components are melanin and mucus. Tyrosinase, dopamine and L-DOPA, and small amounts of amino acids, including taurine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, alanine and lysine are also known constituents of octopus ink.

While there is still much research to be done, recent evidence suggests that cephalopod ink is toxic to tumor cells.

We have a long way to go to uncover the many mysteries shrouding the octopus, so please join us as we continue to explore and celebrate everything octopus.

Cephalopod Ink Handmade Pottery

Funny things happen when I go deep into the wild of the world wide web in search of everything octopus. Sometimes I find myself falling down the rabbit hole, searching for one topic and ending up on another entirely. Today's post is the result of one fruitful fall, if I do say so myself. CephalopodInk.com is a handmade ceramics shop and gallery owned and operated by Tanya Casteel who disocvered her love of oceanic creatures when she moved from Kansas to Maine at age 19.

Artist Bio from CephalopodInk.com

I'm a full-time ceramic artist in Fuquay-Varina, NC (near Raleigh) My background in photography, my interest in science, and love of the ocean all informs my work. Each item is individually handmade, making them one of a kind. They are decorated with aquatic decal graphics that I make myself. The decals are applied last and fired in a kiln (during a 3rd firing) which transfers the iron-oxide pigment into the glaze; making it part of the glaze. The images will NOT come off! I also make all the glazes myself. My pottery is food, microwave, and dishwasher safe.

Now wait till you see the beautiful wares Tanya has created and sells on Etsy.com...Naturally, I want one of everything octofied.

Octopus Cup, $25

Cuttlefish Plate, $50

Octopus Bowl, $32

Octopus Mug, $32

Squid Tiny Bowl, $18

Tentacle Wall Art, $135

...and there's lots more where that came from! In addition to featuring some fine cephalopods, Cephalopod Ink also features a fun variety of ocean life including seahorses, eels, whales, coral and more. Check out Etsy.com/Shop/CephalopodInk for the full line of Cephalopod Ink ceramics.

Noise in Oceans Leads to "Severe Acoustic Trauma" in Octopus, Squid

Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
April 12, 2011

Researchers have documented for years how noise pollution impacts dolphins in whales, but a new study in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment finds that even low intensity noise can severely injure cephalopods, which include octopus, squid, and cuttlefish. The injuries are bad enough to possibly lead to stranding and death, thereby providing a feasible explanation for a number of recent strandings, including giant squid washing ashore in Spain.

"This is the first study indicating a severe impact on invertebrates, an extended group of marine species that are not known to rely on sound for living," says Michel André, Technical University of Catalonia in Barcelona, in a press release.

Researchers subjected four species of cephalopods—European squid (Loligo vulgaris), common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis), common octopus (Octopus vulgaris), and Southern shortfin squid (Illex coindeti)—to low intensity and low frequency sounds (between 50 and 400 Hertz) for two hours. Following the noise exposure, researchers found damage to species' statocysts, which are sensory organs that balance the cephalopods. Inside the statocysts hair cells had ruptured, nerve fibers had swelled, and some statocysts even suffered lesions. These holes continued to grow larger hours after exposure.

The European octopus, and other cephalopods, are more sensitive to even low-frequency sounds than researchers expected. Photo by: Gewöhnlicher Krake. “We expected some lesions after noise exposure but not the level of trauma that we found. What we found was typical of what you might find in mammals after violent, high intensity sound exposure,” André told The Great Beyond.

Given the low intensity of the sounds used in the experiment, researchers believe the 'louder' sounds encountered in the ocean would significantly impair squids, octopi, and cuttlefish.

"The impact of continuous, high intensity noise pollution in the oceans could be considerable. For example, we can predict that, since the statocyst is responsible for balance and spatial orientation, noise-induced damage to this structure would likely affect the cephalopod's ability to hunt, evade predators and even reproduce; in other words, this would not be compatible with life," André explains.

Underwater noise pollution is caused by offshore drilling—and other excavation activities that use seismic surveys to locate deposits—cargo transportation, industrial fishing, and even recreational boating. Studies have shown that some marine animals actually become louder to be heard when confronted with deafening sounds in their environment.

"It left us with several questions," André says, "is noise pollution capable of impacting the entire web of ocean life? What other effects is noise having on marine life, beyond damage to auditory reception systems? And just how widespread and invasive is sound pollution in the marine environment?"

Squiddly Diddly Octopus Cartoon

A while back an Everything Octopus reader challenged me to find an old black and white octopus cartoon. In my search, I came across some unexpected and fun toons that I thought you might enjoy, including Hanna-Barbera's famous ceph, Squiddly Diddly.


Squiddly Diddly, who looks more octopus than squid, made his TV debut in 1965 on the Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show. An octopus after my own heart, Diddly is an aspiring musician who has the extraordinary ability to play multiple instruments at once. Diddly is confined to a life at Bubbleland, which is an amusement park similar to Sea World. In search of stardom, Diddly continually attempts to break out of Bubbleland, however his escapes are always foiled by the park's administrator, Chief Winchley.


Squiddly Diddly also made appearances on several other cartoons including Yogi's Gang, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, and Sealab 2021.

Happy Cephalopodmas Contest!

In celebration of Cephalopodmas, Everything Octopus is holding a contest for our Followers. Entry is simple, and the prize is pretty special...an Octopus Ornament, perfect for your Cephalopodmas tree or just a festive decoration for your home. After scouring the internet for the best octopus ornaments, I still felt that this little orange eight-armed ball of love reigned supreme.


To Enter...

1) You must be a Follower of Everything Octopus. If you're not already a Follower, go to the right hand side of the page and click "Follow" under the "Follow the Octopus" headline. You'll automatically get Everything Octopus updates and be part of a fun ceph-loving community!

2) Comment on this post and tell us your favorite species of Octopus. Common name or scientific name, it's all good. If you really wanna' have fun with it, tell us WHY it's your favorite species.

If you're like me and need to see everything before you can pick one, then click here to see all the Species we've featured on Everything Octopus thus far.

3) In your comment, include where you want to see more octopus...maybe you want more octopus clothing, octopus jewelry, octopus lamps, octopus cars, octopus art, octopus books, octopus blankets, octopus anything! Tell us what you want more of!

***Be sure to include your email address in your comment, so that we may contact you and tell you you've WON! If your email is not included in your blogger profile (meaning that we can click on your name in the comment box to access it), then please add it to your comment.***

The winner will be selected by a raffle, meaning that if 50 people post comments, we'll randomly draw a number between 1 and 50, and the commenter that corresponds with that number is the winner. One entry per person, please.

The contest will run until Friday, December 17th at 11:59pm PST, and the winner will be announced on Saturday, December 18th. Have fun and good luck!!!

Ancient Octopus Mystery Resolved

By Rosalind Pidcock
Science reporter, BBC News

May 19, 2010


Trapped air in the shells of rare octopuses is the key to their survival in the deep sea, say scientists.

Females of the argonaut family (Argonautidae) release trapped air from their shells to control very precisely their movement through the water.

This ability has puzzled naturalists for over 2,000 years, dating back to observations made by Aristotle in 300 BC.

Research published in the Royal Society journal, Proceedings B, finally explains why it may have evolved.

The Australian researchers describe how the mechanism enables the creatures to conserve energy, avoid predators and protect eggs during the brooding stage.

The study, led by Dr Julian Finn of Museum Victoria in Melbourne, is the first to observe directly how this unique species of octopus captures air at the sea surface and uses it to its advantage.

"It wasn't until I actually got an argonaut in the water that I really saw the true marvel of these animals," said Dr Finn.

Unlike any other species of octopus, the female argonaut, which can be up to 50cm (20 inches) in length, makes itself a paper-thin shell. It secretes this shell, made of calcium carbonate, from two web structures on the sides of its body.

The males are much smaller, typically only a centimetre in length, and do not produce shells.

Mythical Creatures
Air pockets have been observed before within the shells of both wild and captive argonauts, also known as "paper nautiluses", but their origin and purpose has until now been a mystery.

"This mythical story began around the time of Aristotle that the argonaut female actually lived in the shell and raised those webs as sails as she sailed across the ocean," explained Dr Finn.

The new findings show that the female argonaut takes in air at the sea surface through a funnel as it rotates its shell anti-clockwise. It then seals off an air pocket in the top, or apex, of the shell using a second webbed pair of tentacles.

As it dives to depths of up to 750m (almost half a mile) below the surface, it adjusts the amount of air in its shell to match its own density with that of the seawater, keeping it "neutrally buoyant" and enabling it to swim effortlessly.

This contrasts with most other cephalopods - the class of animals that includes octopuses, squid and cuttlefish - which expend vast amounts of energy to maintain their position.

Underwater Control
The female argonaut can also counteract the considerable weight of its eggs, which it releases into its shell during the reproductive period, to carefully avoid bumping them on the sea floor.

By keeping a safe position in mid-water, argonauts can also steer clear of disturbance by surface waves and predators from above, such as birds.

Once believed to hinder the females, it is now thought that argonauts evolved this remarkable mechanism from ancestors that lived on the seafloor, allowing the species to expand its range into mid-depths.

"The female argonaut knows exactly what she was doing. Underwater she was completely in control," added Dr Finn.

Video: Cuttlefish Eats Octopus!

Picture it: You're diving; you find your favorite specimen to study - the octopus; you're filming; then WHAM! - a cuttlefish comes up and snatches your octopus away!

That's exactly what happens in the video below - it's pretty wild!

Tentacled Invasion of the California Coast!

It's not often that I write about anything other than octopuses on this blog, but then again, it's not often that cephalopods make headlines like this!

From: www.cbs5.com, March 6, 2009

Invasion of Squid Along the California Coast
It may seem like something out of a horror movie, but giant squid have invaded key fishing areas in the Pacific, gobbling up everything they can find.

Off the California coast, its been getting harder to catch big fish like salmon — but a whole lot easier to hook a deep sea monster, the Humboldt Squid.

The population of the Humboldt Squid, which has huge 6-feet-long tentacles and weighs up to 100 pounds, has soared along the California coast line.

The giant Squid's usual territory from Chile to Mexico has expanded dramatically over the last seven years. Once rarely seen off California, they are now strong arming their way toward dominance.

William Gilly of Stanford University said one thing is for sure, the squid are not picky eaters and right now millions of them are consuming whatever they can find off the California coast.

For fisherman, that means the tug on the end of the line may have tentacles
instead of fins.

Some marine experts said the one defense against this giant squid invasion may be to eat them as quickly as they are eating everything else.

BBC's Planet Earth features Octopuses

I just finished watching the entire BBC Planet Earth series and all I can say is, "Wow!" The series explores all aspects of our planet with magnificent film footage, enjoyable and educational narration, and a beautiful orchestral score. It was absolutely incredible from start to finish!

One of the fascinating creatures that our planet houses is the ever-elusive octopus. The Planet Earth camera crew caught some great footage of our favorite little guys in the "Shallow Seas" and "Ocean Deep" episodes. Other cephs get lovin' too - the vampire squid, common squid, nautilus, and cuttlefish all got screen time.

The BBC website has fact pages about some of the octopuses featured in the series, the mysterious Dumbo Octopus and the Giant Pacific Octopus. Go check 'em out!

Because I'm still in awe and not truly doing the DVD justice, here's a spot-on review by Jeff Shannon found on Amazon.com:

As of its release in early 2007, Planet Earth is quite simply the greatest nature/wildlife series ever produced. Following the similarly monumental achievement of The Blue Planet: Seas of Life, this astonishing 11-part BBC series is brilliantly narrated by Sir David Attenborough and sensibly organized so that each 50-minute episode covers a specific geographical region and/or wildlife habitat (mountains, caves, deserts, shallow seas, seasonal forests, etc.) until the entire planet has been magnificently represented by the most astonishing sights and sounds you'll ever experience from the comforts of home. The premiere episode, "From Pole to Pole," serves as a primer for things to come, placing the entire series in proper context and giving a general overview of what to expect from each individual episode. Without being overtly political, the series maintains a consistent and subtle emphasis on the urgent need for ongoing conservation, best illustrated by the plight of polar bears whose very behavior is changing (to accommodate life-threatening changes in their fast-melting habitat) in the wake of global warming--a phenomenon that this series appropriately presents as scientific fact. With this harsh reality as subtext, the series proceeds to accentuate the positive, delivering a seemingly endless variety of natural wonders, from the spectacular mating displays of New Guinea's various birds of paradise to a rare encounter with Siberia's nearly-extinct Amur Leopards, of which only 30 remain in the wild.

That's just a hint of the marvels on display. Accompanied by majestic orchestral scores by George Fenton, every episode is packed with images so beautiful or so forcefully impressive (and so perfectly photographed by the BBC's tenacious high-definition camera crews) that you'll be rendered speechless by the splendor of it all. You'll see a seal struggling to out-maneuver a Great White Shark; swimming macaques in the Ganges delta; massive flocks of snow geese numbering in the hundreds of thousands; an awesome night-vision sequence of lions attacking an elephant; the Colugo (or "flying lemur"--not really a lemur!) of the Philippines; a hunting alliance of fish and snakes on Indonesia's magnificent coral reef; the bioluminescent "vampire squid" of the deep oceans... these are just a few of countless highlights, masterfully filmed from every conceivable angle, with frequent use of super-slow-motion and amazing motion-controlled time-lapse cinematography, and narrated by Attenborough with his trademark combination of observational wit and informative authority. The result is a hugely entertaining series that doesn't flinch from the predatory realities of nature (death is a constant presence, without being off-putting).


At a time when the multiple threats of global warming should be obvious to all, let's give Sir David the last word, from the closing of Planet Earth's final episode: "We can now destroy or we can cherish--the choice is ours." --Jeff Shannon

This series is a "must-have" for anyone who has an interest in nature, our planet, and the many diverse and intriguing creatures it is home to. This would make a great holiday present too! I bought mine used and saved about $20 - you can too: Follow the link to Amazon.com to get your copy today.