NOAA's Reporter's Coral Reef Tip Sheet
May 12, 1997 - Week 19

Coral reefs are one of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet. Coral reef ecosystems provide habitat for thousands of known species of marine plants and animals. However, for each marine organism which has been discovered, described, named, and placed into an appropriate taxonomic category, there are estimated to be between 1 and 100 related species (depending upon the type of marine organism) which are still unknown. It is not surprising that the smaller, more cryptic groups of marine animals, such as flatworms or annelid worms, have not been studied in great detail. However, when one considers how little is known about higher-profile coral reef organisms, it becomes apparent that we have only uncovered the tip of the marine biodiversity iceberg.

Take coral reef octopuses for example. Dr. Mark Norman, an octopus expert at the University of Melbourne, recently returned from Singapore where he attended a biodiversity workshop on the South China Sea. "We have new octopus species coming out our ears on coral reefs throughout the Indo-West Pacific," reports Dr. Norman. "To give you an idea of the scale of the issue, we have recently recognized 40 species in northern Australian waters of which more than 30 are new to science. Examination of animals from New Caledonia found 30 species of which 26 are new. We have just published a paper on Philippine octopuses recognizing 26 species of which only four were previously correctly identified, and we have at least 30 new species occurring within Indonesian waters. These new species range from pygmies weighing less than a gram to 10 kg (22 lb) animals with 3-meter (10-foot) armspans. Over 50% of the harvested species remain undescribed or misidentified. We have undescribed species of the poisonous blue-ringed octopuses, as well as a large number of species from depths down to 1200 meters."

In this context, it is not surprising that American film producers Bill Macdonald and Susan Ritman recently discovered, videotaped and photographed what appears to be a previously undescribed species of octopus off the coast of northeastern Sulawesi, Indonesia. This octopus has the unusual ability to change its body shape to resemble other marine animals such as flatfish, lionfish, mantis shrimp, sea horses, crabs and brittle stars. A search of the scientific literature dating back to the mid-1850s is currently underway to determine if this is in fact a new species. If no previous description is found, a new name will be created. Until then, Macdonald and Ritman have dubbed their chameleonic discovery the "mimic octopus."

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