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Advanced Adaptation
Many animals have evolved some form of defensive mimicry ability to thwart predators. Certain insects, for example, are sometimes able to frighten off attackers by spreading their wings, which look like the eyes of a predatory bird when positioned correctly. However, most animals can only mimic one or two other animals. The mimic octopus can resemble over a dozen, changing its coloration, texture, shape, and behavior to perfectly match the animal that it is copying. In addition, the octopus is also capable of deciding which creature to impersonate, based on the nature of a nearby threat. The octopus can mimic poisonous sea anemones, jellyfish, starfish, stingrays and others, but its three most common adaptations are that of the venomous sole, the lionfish and the sea snake.
Sole Adaptation
Unlike the sole fish that one would find at a seafood restaurant, the sole of the mimic octopus's natural habitat are highly poisonous to predators. The mimic octopus takes advantage of this fact when it needs to glide along the ocean floor. By pulling its arms together to form a leaf shape, it takes on the shape of the venomous sole. It then completes the disguise by waving its body in an undulating motion, while using its jet propulsion to move itself forward.
Lionfish Adaptation
When the sea floor is not particularly safe for the mimic octopus, it also has the option to travel a bit higher. Most octopuses avoid going very high off the ocean floor, as traveling in the open ocean leaves them vulnerable to attacks from all sides. This is why the mimic octopus changes its coloration and flares out its tentacles, letting them drag behind its body. By doing this, the mimic takes on the characteristics of the lionfish. The tips of the lionfish's fins are spiky and filled with a potent venom that can kill most attackers, and this adaptation allows the octopus to swim the open waters untouched.
Sea Snake Adaptation
The sea snake adaptation is used by the mimic octopus only when it is being attacked by territorial damselfish (which can happen regularly in its habitat). Upon being attacked, the octopus will burrow down into the sand or find a nearby hole. It covers its head and retracts six of its arms while changing its coloration to black and yellow stripes. It then moves its two exposed arms in opposite directions, so that the black-and-yellow striping and the undulating movement causes the damselfish to think that a sea snake, one of its natural predators, has appeared.