09 10 2017 Z1zz (WS) Changing Chromatophores [Explored]

A Giant Pacific Octopus, (Enteroctopus dofleini), on the move in the tank at the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre, Sidney, BC.

 

It is in the process of changing it's skin colour. This is accomplished by controlling it's chromatophores, organs in the skin of many cephalopods which contain pigment sacs made more visible by radial muscles pulling the sac open, thereby making the pigment expand under the skin. This process occurs very quickly, and can allow a cephalopod to camouflage with it's surroundings, making it virtually invisible when it stops moving.

 

This is a wild specimen captured off the west coast of Vancouver Island and will spend only three months in the tank; less if it doesn't adapt well to it's new environment. The divers take exact notes on where it was located, so when released, it is returned to the territory from which it was 'borrowed'

 

Please don't use this image on websites, blogs, etc. without my permission.

Done