Telescope Octopus

• It is the only octopus known to have tubular, telescopic eyes, aimed upwards to pick out the silhouettes of prey against the faint light coming from the surface.
• Its transparency is a camouflage strategy in a place with nowhere to hide.
• It is practically transparent, a camouflage common in the mesopelagic zone, where there is nowhere to hide and the only defence is not being seen.
• Its eyes are tubular and point upwards, not sideways: they search for the silhouettes of prey against the faint light coming down from the surface. It is the same solution found in several abyssal fishes.
• And those eyes can rotate, which lets it look forwards when needed without losing its vertical bearings.
• It has photophores that it probably uses to counter-illuminate itself and erase its own shadow.
• It is known almost solely from specimens caught in nets and from a handful of sightings by underwater vehicles.
• Its gelatinous body and reduced musculature are adaptations to an environment where food is scarce and saving energy comes first.

Skeleton type

Invertebrate - no rigid skeleton (mollusc)

Habitat and environment

Open mesopelagic waters, between 150 and 2,000 m deep

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (en): Telescope octopus