Shape-Shifting Octopuses Endangered by Blog Stardom?

Photo: Stephen Childs Flickr, Creative Commons

Today, a link soared to the top of the popular news aggregator Reddit, with the text "This is, by far, the world's coolest animal. Behold: The Mimic Octopus. It's hardly an exaggeration -- the mimic octopus is a cephalopod found in the waters around Southeast Asia, and it can literally shift its shape to mimic a number of other sea creatures, as you'll see in the video below. All this attention, however, has some biologists worried -- there's already a steep bounty placed on the mimic octopus from private collectors, and increased demand could endanger the rare animal. You can't blame folks for forwarding this link, though. I mean, seriously, look at this thing:

Article continues: Shape-Shifting Octopuses Endangered by Blog Stardom? (Video)