Mimic octopus or wonderpus?

I saw this little guy (or girl ) in Lembeh and I thought it was a mimic but I find it too brown and I am not sure... any help?

Thank you very much!!

Wonderpus IMO.

Wunderpus always have bands like in your pic, even if they change color. Mimic may or may not have bands. They seem to be a bit more versitile.

I can't see the picture!

Alex

I can't see the picture!

 

Alex

Hello Alex!

I don´t know why the pic changed its link ....

The wide "webbing" makes one think it's a wonderpus. However, this and the banding aren't always the decider. I saw this guy in Lembeh;

The wide webbing and wide bands made me think wonderpus. Then, it ran off like this;

I would say this one was a definite Mimic.

So, in answer, hard to say!

Hey David,

That's a Wonderpus.

Alex

Yes, agree with Alex. Dave's is definitely a wonderpus and Allison's is a mimic. The fastest way I tell is that the mimic has a thin white margin edging its legs, and the wonderpus does not. To me, they look distinctively different when I watch them in the water, but it's hard to describe.

isn't the main difference that on the wonderpuss the eyes and 'head' are on a stalk, whereas on the mimic it is much shorter. I would agree that Allison's is a mimic.

its a gorgeous shot

Great Wonderpus shot indeed !

Just noticed something in that pic: How come 2 of the arms are so much smaller compared to the others?

Any speficic reason/function?

It may be regeneration from a lost arm, although some octopus species have specialised arms for transferring sperm - they are usually smaller. In this example though i'd go for regeneration

Yes, agree with Alex. Dave's is definitely a wonderpus and Allison's is a mimic. The fastest way I tell is that the mimic has a thin white margin edging its legs, and the wonderpus does not. To me, they look distinctively different when I watch them in the water, but it's hard to describe.

In the process of trying to identify our images from Bali I've read the paper by Hochberg et al (2006) describing the wonderpus. They give a list of features that distinguish between a wonderpus and a mimic. The most useful (least subtle) ones are:

1. Shape of papilla above each eye

wonderpus: inflated and blunt-tipped

mimic: very elongate and finely pointed

2. Number of suckers on the long arms

wonderpus: up to 233

mimic: up to 283

3. Color pattern

wonderpus: well-defined, round white spot at rear tip of mantle

mimic: less well-defined, U-shaped white patch at rear tip of mantle

Feature 2 would be problematic working in the field or from a photo, but 1 and 3 should be do-able. I don't know how reliable the papilla shape is (how variable are they in each species?) but it seems to me that this criterion alone identifies Dave's as a wonderpus and Allison's as a mimic.

The paper doesn't mention width of webbing or white margins on the arms as distinguishing features, but they may not have examined enough specimens.

Les

Thank you very much!!