What the rings are saying
The display is a request to stop. The rest of the animal is a short, ordinary life in the shallows, and it does not need a myth.
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Category: Field notes
Notes from the edge of the pool.
Camouflage, texture, and a little wall of stones
Chromatophores and skin papillae hide the animal. A pile of pebbles at a den mouth is a sign to stop digging.
Read the noteA day spent mostly out of sight
The working day is hiding, hunting, and keeping the rings off. Flight comes before the display, and the display comes before the bite.
Read the noteA palm-sized animal with the lights on
What this journal means by a ring octopus, and why the blue rings are a signal rather than a decoration.
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