Watch This Hungry Octopus Change Color as It Dreams About Eating a Crab

We’ve all dreamt about eating a delicious meal but imagine if someone could actually see your dreams! With this octopus, they can. Even though she is asleep, this octopus is going through the color changes associated with eating. At the start, she is white and is simply asleep but then she dreams she has spotted a crab. Her color changes to orange as she anticipates her meal and then darker as she dreams she is leaving the bottom of the ocean. Next, she adopts her camouflage mode as she dreams she has just caught a crab and does not want to be disturbed as she is eating it.

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Why Do Octopuses Change Color?

Octopuses (as well as squid and cuttlefishes) have the ability to change their color in a split second. As soft-bodied animals who are vulnerable to attack by predators, they use this as a means of defense. It enables them to hide from predators. Octopuses can also change their texture so that they blend in with rocks and corals. Some even impersonate other marine species. The mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) can make itself look like a sea snake!

They also use color changes to warn off predators – bright colors are often a warning in nature. Colors are also used to communicate with other octopuses – often to attract a mate.

How Do Octopuses Change Color?

These animals have thousands of color-changing cells just below the surface of their skin. The special cells are called chromatophores and they are responsible for the remarkable color changes. At the center of each chromatophore is an elastic sack full of pigment. By using tiny muscles to contract around the sacks, the octopus can control which color dominates on their skin.

What Do octopuses Normally Eat?

There are over 300 different species of octopus so their diet varies by their size and by where they live. They are found all over the world and can be grouped into 13 families. Some are under an inch across whereas others have a diameter reaching 30 feet. All of them have eight arms and they are all cephalopod mollusks. Some live in deep water but many are found in intertidal zones.

Octopuses are carnivores and need to hunt other creatures to stay alive. Most of them feed on crabs so it is no wonder that the octopus in this clip was dreaming about that particular crustacean. Having said that, lobsters are also on the menu for many octopuses and some eat plankton, prawns, and fish.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Olga Visavi/Shutterstock.com