Amphioctopus marginatus, also known as the coconut octopus and veined octopus, is a medium-sized cephalopod belonging to the genus Amphioctopus. It is found in tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean.

The coconut octopus is usually 3 inches (8 centimeters) long, extending to 6 inches (15 centimeters) long including the arms which usually feature light colored suckers to contrast with the overall dark colors of the rest of the octopus.

An octopus would dig up the two halves of a coconut shell, then use them as protective shielding when stopping in exposed areas or when resting in sediment.

Now veined octopuses, Amphioctopus marginatus, have been filmed picking up coconut halves from the seabed to use as hiding places when they feel threatened.

Octopus spotted using coconuts as shelter in first sign of tool use among invertebrates. Australian scientists have discovered an octopus in Indonesia that collects coconut shells for shelter, unusually sophisticated behaviour that researchers believe is the first evidence of tool use in an invertebrate animal.

The coconut octopus does not produce any form of bioluminescence. In other words, it is just a matter of sharp color contrast, the coconut octopus does not really glow.

1. Simple Coconut Shell Plant Pot. The first, easiest and simplest idea to consider is simply using half coconut shells as plant pots.
2. Hanging or Vertical Coconut Shell Planters.
3. Bird Feeder.
4. Coconut Shell Basket.
5. Coconut Shell Bowl.
6. Simple But Effective Ladle.
7. Candle Holder.
8. Coconut Shell Jewelery.

Octopus vulgaris can drill both gastropod and bivalve shells in less than two hours (Arnold & Arnold, 1969; Nixon, 1980), which is rather fast compared to other molluscan shell-borers, some of which take as long as 134 hours to drill and eat an oyster (Fretter & Graham, 1962).

When walking, these octopuses use the outer halves of their two back arms like tank treads, alternately laying down a sucker edge and rolling it along the ground. In Indonesia, for example, the coconut octopus looks like a coconut tiptoeing along the ocean bottom, six of its arms wrapped tightly around its body.

pen
Squid are mollusks like clams and oysters but they have no shells on the outside of their bodies! They have a shell inside their bodies called a pen.

The reason? The loss of shells made the ancient relatives of the modern-day octopus, squid and cuttlefish nimbler, a feature that likely helped these animals catch prey and evade predators, Vinther said. Cephalopods move by compressing their bodies and jetting water out of a funnel.

IUCN has not evaluated the conservation status of a coconut octopus. Predators like great white sharks, viper fish and bigger octopuses hunt them in the sea. Seafood lovers also enjoy eating coconut octopus like other shell fish.

The octopus’s behavior in the video resembles another octopus we wrote about in 2015, which carried two halves of a coconut shell across the sea floor. Since an octopus is unprotected when it hunts prey, a shell can provide more safety, even if it’s cumbersome to lug around.

Indeed, the coconut octopus is known to collect coconut shells or sea shells on the sea bed and uses the pieces to protect itself. This octopus species typically grows up to six inches long, including the length of its tentacles, making the empty cocoons of halved coconuts and sea shells the perfect hiding spot.

Known as “leafies,” these creatures are kings of camouflage, living among kelp and seaweed in the waters off south and east Australia. The flowing protrusions may look like functioning appendages, but the leafy seadragon uses thin, nearly transparent fins to propel itself through the water.

In 2009, the first study on the coconut octopus was officially published in the journal Current Biology after two Australian scientists captured the coconut octopus’ ingenious use of coconuts on camera.