BSCI-3254 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Blue-Ringed Octopus, Chromatophore, Garter Snake
28 Nov 2017
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Document Summary
Camouflage: usually used as a defense mechanism to blend into its background so its predators cannot eat it. Cephalopod categories: octopus, squid, cuttlefish, nautilus: outer shell that is very different from the other cephalopods, and can"t actually camouflage, other animals: share feeding properties. Feeding: beak: similar to fingernails, but harder, radula: analogous to a human tongue; has individual minute teeth that scrape and cut through small pieces of food, modified salivary glands filled with poisons. Only the blue ringed octopus is dangerous to humans - ttx. Similar to the garter snake, in which the newt has ttx which prevents the ability for voltage-gated na channels to work. Ink: escape tactic, each species produces slightly differently colored inks. Generally octopuses produce black ink, squid ink is blue-black, and cuttlefish ink is a shade of brown. Masters of camouflage: squid can blend into kelp/ seaweed areas.
