The Dumbo Octopus
Soaring through the deep seas.
I first saw the Dumbo Octopus on a deep sea documentary and as a child I was more interested in it’s name rather than it’s form. It’s named after the main character of the often forgotten Disney animated film, Dumbo, for reasons you could probably guess.
From then till now my fascination with these rare, deep sea lifeforms gestated.
They are not a singular species but rather a genus. A genus being, “a class of things that have common characteristics and that can be divided into subordinate kinds.” and yes, I had to look that up. There is no shame in ignorance, only in willfully remaining ignorant.
To date, there are fifteen known species of the Dumbo Octopus. However with technology ever advancing and the expanse of the sea, that number will surely change.
Below is a drawing of our adorable deep sea traveler.
As you can see it gets it’s name due to the adorable flippers on the sides of its head. Wait a moment for it gets even cuter. Those flippers swing to and fro, slowly propelling our friend through the ocean depths.
It uses it’s arms to steer it’s self. A ship sailing through the dark and frigid ocean depths. They, like most octopuses, live a solitary life.
STATISTICS
- Genus, Family or Species: Genus
- Biome: Deep Open Ocean
- Ocean: Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, possibly more
- Preys On: Pelagic Invertebrates(Krill, Jellyfish, Copepods)
- Eaten By: Sharks, Dolphins, Tuna, Other diving fish
- IUCN Red List: Least Concern
Dumbo Octopus are a rare sight. Given the massive scale of the ocean, rarer still is it for two potential mates to cross each other’s paths. In order to circumvent this mating supply chain issue, the female dumbo octopus have evolved how they handle their eggs and even the male’s sperm.
The females carry eggs at different stages of development inside them, at all times. Once the mating process has finished, the female is able to store the male’s sperm for extended periods of time.
It gets stranger.
The female dumbo octopus will transfer the sperm to their most developed eggs once they have found an area with the correct conditions for reproduction.
Then they plant their newly fertilized eggs either on the ocean floor or attached to rocks and other hard, sturdy surfaces.
This is an incredible process. The female Dumbo Octopus are able to decide when they give birth and they can even orchestrate the flow of sperm in order to direct it to the appropriate eggs. This masterful control of the creation of life happens entirely within their bodies.
Not bad for creatures that on average measure between 7.9 to 12 inches in length.
Natural predators are as rare as the dumbo octopus at the ocean’s frigid bottom. As a result these octopuses do not have an ink sac. Their life consists of hoovering up any food they come across while steering themselves through the void. Hoping to find either a mate or a safe place to lay their offspring.
Due to this nomadic nature, dumbo octopus have been found as far as the Philippines, the Gulf Of Mexico and even New Zealand. Which is about as remote as you can get.
The Dumbo Octopus can even reside within the Java Trench at 21,000 feet deep. This genus is by far the deepest living of all octopuses.
As stated before due to living in a completely different environment from the average octopus, there are noticeable differences between itself and other eight armed sea dwellers.
Culturally, our favorite ear propelled friend, is a no show. Many have confused the little purple octopus -Pearl- from the 2003 Disney animated film “Finding Nemo”, for a dumbo octopus. I regret to inform you all that this is not the case.
Pearl is a flapjack octopus. Flapjack octopuses belong to the Opisthoteuthis genus, where as dumbo octopus are the Grimpoteuthis genus.
Though they all belong to the Opisthoteuthidae family. It’s all word salad for, “We are related but we are not the same thing.”
My light internet searches didn’t turn up any more mentions of the dumbo octopus, whether it be in literature or any other story telling medium. They are solitary animals that don’t make much out of anything.
And so my little piece, on an animal that’s long enchanted me, comes to an end. Learning that these critters really do use their ears like flippers to swim, really made them live up to their famous name.
Though I maybe done writing, the story of the dumbo octopus is not over. As recent as May of 2016, a new species of dumbo octopus had been discovered.
Biologist Alexander Ziegler of Friedrich Wilhelm University in Bonn, Germany, had been aboard a German survey ship when the mysterious creature had been caught in one of the ships nets.
Alexander and Christina Sagorny, a doctoral student in Ziegler’s lab, named the new species Grimpteuthis imperator or better known as Emperor Dumbo.
With it’s long and slender head bearing resemblance to an imperial crown, no name could be more fitting. Though it was the location in which it was found, the Emperor Seamounts, where it gets it’s name from.
Now our time has come to an end but there are still more animals that need to be written about. Where I go next not even I know for certain.
