The Master of Disguise
The impossible claim The mimic octopus doesn’t hide — it becomes other animals. Flatfish, lionfish, sea snakes: it picks its disguise to match the threat. The verified facts The mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus, discovered as a species only in 1998) lives on the open sandy bottoms of Indonesia — where there is nowhere to hide. So instead of hiding, it impersonates other animals. It changes shape, color and movement: pressing its arms flat to glide like a soles flatfish, fanning its arms to flare like a venomous lionfish, and tucking six arms into a banded coil that sways like a banded sea snake — a snake that eats octopuses It chooses the disguise that matches the threat: damselfish attacking it get chased by a fake snake; it wears that snake costume until they leave It has been observed impersonating up to 15 different species — the only known animal that imitates multiple species in the wild It can mimic the behavior too, not just the shape — including moving in the style of the animal it’s pretending to be Watch 🎬 See the Short on YouTube — The Master of Disguise ...