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Happy 8/8! Can You Spot These 8 Hiding Octopuses?

We must wait patiently two more months until the official International Octopus Day. But August 8th (8/8) is reason enough to celebrate these awesome, eight-armed creatures.

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


We must wait patiently two more months until the official International Octopus Day. But August 8th (8/8) is reason enough to celebrate these awesome, eight-armed creatures.

But octopuses are the shy retiring type. With darn amazing camouflage. Even experienced underwater divers and scientists often have a difficult time spotting them (I sure did when I went looking for them as I researched my book).

So, in celebration of the unofficial day of the octopus (8/8), here are eight amazing octopuses hiding in plain sight. See if you can spot all of them!


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Learn more about the octopus’s incredible camouflage abilities in Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature In the Sea.

Illustration courtesy of Ivan Phillipsen

 

Katherine Harmon Courage is an independent science journalist and contributing editor for Scientific American. She is author of Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature in the Sea (Current, 2013) and Cultured: How Ancient Foods Feed Our Microbiome (Avery, 2019).

More by Katherine Harmon Courage