never swam with an octopus or cuttlefish in the wild, swam with sepioteuthis twice, once was with a research team.

my favorites would probably have to be:

metasepia for the cuttles

sepioteuthis for the squid

bimaculoides for the octos

there are so many cute little (and big) bastards tho.

First you will feel nauseous. Your vision becomes hazy. Within seconds you are blind. You loose your sense of touch. You cannot speak or swallow. Three minutes later you are paralysed and unable to breath.

You knew that the blue-ringed octopus is extremely poisonous but how were you to know that this was one when its tiny parrot-like beak bit through your wetsuit. The last thing the victim sees are the blue rings - visible only when it is about to attack.

The blue-ringed octopus is the size of a golf ball but its poison is powerful enough to kill an adult human in minutes. There's no known antidote. The only treatment is hours of heart massage and artificial respiration until the poison has worked its way out of your system.

The poison is not injected but is contained in the octopus's saliva, which comes from two glands each as big as its brain. Poison from the one is used on its main prey, crabs, and is relatively harmless to humans. Poison from the other gland serves as defence against predators. The blue-ringed octopus either secretes the poison in the vicinity of its prey, waits until it is immobile and then devours it, or it jumps out and envelops the prey in its 8 tentacles and bites it.

There are two species of blue-ringed octopus: the Hapalochlaena lunulata, which is the larger and grows up to 20cm (8 in) across its stretched tentacles. The other, the Hapalochlaena maculosa, is small and more common, weighing a mere 28 grams (1 oz). They are found in the shallow coral and rock pools of Australia. And they're rather cute, being brown or yellow in colour. But don't pick one up - by the time you see the electric-blue rings, it's too late!
www.didyouknow.cd/animals/octopus.htm

love all-ways,
mem

Octopi are so smart and able to turn so many amazing colors and swim so gracefully, I am in awe of them.

I have to say that nature shows on TV illuminated the special qualities of the octopus to me. For instance there was this one which explained a scientific experiment in relation to the octopus's natural curiosity.

Several clear plexiglass enclosed mazes (tanks) were built. They were complicated with corkscrew shaped tubes and nifty stuff. They put an octo in each and without having to tempt them with food or anything, the octo's investigated the new space they had been put in. Just 'cause.

So cool! AND they also said that whenever they arrived in the morning a crab (kept in a different tank altogether) would be missing. Finally someone stayed the night, and witnessed an octopus who climbed out of it's tank, moved to the other tank, had a meal and returned to it's own tank! Wow!

And lots of other things that I won't ramble about!

Of all the reponses, no one mentioned the Nautilus!

Does anyone love him besides me?

I have loved the Nautilus ever since seeing him on one of Jacque Cousteau shows when I was a kid.

And I have several antique scientific publications on Nautilus pompilius from the turn of the century. And several shell specimens of the different species, including a near record size specimen of 9 3/4"- what a monster.

Nautilus lovers please speakup.

Matt

I don't know if I could pick a favorite, but I love this video of one:
youtube.com/watch

When a cuttlefish has lived in a tank around humans for a long time, it develops new mannerisms. It seems like they respond to hand gestures and facial expressions and such. has anyone else noticed this?

my favorite so far Vampyroteuthis infernalis. Although the nautilus follows , taking a close second place.