octopus id needed, mimics in egypt?

Hello, I wonder if you can help me out

Here is what appears to be mimic octopus i found at 16mtrs in the northern area of the gulf of Aqaba in Egypt. I found it to be imitating a feather star whilst lying on the sand. As i approached it started to move its arms as up into a curved position. it then started to disappear into a small hole / burrow in the sand. there have been a few other sightings in two other areas, all on sandy areas near to sea grass. The one i saw had an approximate arm span of 35cm, with a small head comparatively. The other sightings seem to all be smaller. All sightings have been on day dives as night diving is not allowed in this area.

Is this the same species as the Indonesian mimic octopus or a new one?

thanks for your time

john butler

Yes.

I have seen lots of pictures of mimic octopus taken in the waters of the Egyptian Red Sea. We got one sent to us from Abu Dabab recently by Yvonne Lode but it was shot on a compact at 400kb so it was too small to publish but it was such a lovely shot that even Alex would have been proud of it.

I think that they are there but not in the places that divers normally frequent. Muck-diving has yet to become popular in the Red Sea.