Mimic Octopus

Mimic Octopus

Images taken at Lembeh, Indonesia

The mimic has a white edge along the arms, while the wonderpus does not. The mimic has white dots going down the length of each arm and a white “v” marking on the body (as does the white-v and the brown mimic, which are in the mimic family). On a wonderpus the pattern of the white markings on the body differ with each individual.

The stripes on the mimic are not defined, while the stripes on a wonderpus are clear-cut. The mimic tends to be larger and more muscular compared to the wonderpus. A mimic can make its stripes disappear and look brown or mottled, while a wonderpus can change its colour tone from yellow / orange through to dark brown / black, but the stripes will always be apparent. If you find a striped octopus eating at a den, it should be a mimic.

Mimics catch their prey and take it back to a hole in the sand to eat, while wonderpus usually eat on the go.