 |
|
| A Legend of the Deep |
1 | 2 |
In Tahiti, it is called Rogo-tumu, a tentacled sea demon who drags unsuspecting seafarers to the ocean bottom. In the Bahamas, legends abound of the Lusca, a giant sea creature that can squeeze through the smallest cracks and change color in the blink of an eye. Along the ancient Mediterranean Sea, people spoke in reverent tones of Yamm, a sea god of many heads and legs who ruled over his watery realm.
Tall tales? Perhaps. But all are based on a remarkable real animal: the octopus.
NATURE's THE OCTOPUS SHOW helps viewers get their tentacles around this amazingly
talented but little-understood creature. It follows the efforts of Mike DeGruy,
a dedicated wildlife photographer, to capture these acrobatic but often shy animals
on film, both in a laboratory-built "octopus gymnasium" and in the wild, deep
sea. His quest pays off with riveting -- and rare -- footage of octopuses at work
and at play.
It's not surprising that octopuses have captivated both filmmakers and mythmakers alike. With their bulbous, floppy heads, big eyes, and long tentacles lined with suction cups, octopuses are attention-getting. But their looks aren't the only thing that are striking. Octopuses also exhibit behaviors -- from neon-bright flashing skin colors to breathtaking jet-propelled swims -- that have made scientists sit up and take notice.
Only in recent years, however, have researchers begun to better understand these animals, which are members of an ancient group of animals called cephalopods. The other members of the group -- squid, cuttlefish, and the chambered nautilus -- typically have some kind of external or internal shell (in squids it's a pencil-shaped internal structure called a pen). But the over 250 known species of octopuses appear to have completely lost their hard parts, evolving instead into a firm but flexible sack of tissues.
The flexibility pays off. As NATURE's THE OCTOPUS SHOW illustrates, octopuses can squeeze into amazingly small spaces to hunt or avoid predators. Captive animals have been known to hide themselves in soft drink cans, aspirin bottles, and even under the plastic floors of aquaria. The ability to fit in a tight spot pays off when hunting, as octopuses can chase small crabs, shrimp, and fish into even tiny cracks, coaxing them out with their long tentacles.
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
A Legend of the Deep
Discover octopus ingenuity |
|
 |
|
 |
|
Sea Chameleons
An octopus can be a master of disguise |
|
|
|
 |
|
Cephalapod Quiz
All about octopi, squid, cuttlefish, and more |
|
|
|
 |
|
Resources
Web links and books about cephalopods |
|
|
 
|
