46 
THE CORAL TRIANGLE: HEARST BIODIVERSITY EXPEDITION 
revealing their own commensal shrimp and squat lobsters hiding amongst the ‘feathers’. Venomous 
predators like Lionfish, Stonefish and Seagoblins hide in the muck waiting patiently for their next 
meal. Ambush predators like the Stargazer lie mostly buried in the silt, with only their skeletal face 
showing as they wait for an unlucky fish to swim over their vacuum-like mouths. 
One of the major goals for the Steinhart Aquariums during the expedition was the collection 
of the Coconut, or Veined Octopus, Amphioctopus marginatus that inhabits these shallow muck 
areas. The Coconut octopus captured media attention twice in the last few years, first walking only 
on two legs across the bottom of the sea while looking like a coconut, and more recently, as a can¬ 
didate for possible tool use due to the octopus spreading itself over coconut shell “bowls,” raising 
the whole assembly to amble on eight ‘stilted’ arms across the seafloor. This little octopus is plen¬ 
tiful in the Philippines. Furthermore, it’s personable, tenacious, and has an amusing habit of using 
found objects as temporary homes, making it a great display animal. Clay pots, bottles, tin cans, 
clam and scallop shells are all used as mobile homes for these octopus, complete with doors to 
close themselves in tightly and safely. These eight armed mollusks also will defend their homes, 
batting away anything that comes too close; even pushing a probing finger away with surprising 
strength. Sometimes they extend their arms and crawl around in the muck with their temporary 
home on their back, as if they are transforming into snails. This octopus has never been on display 
before in the US, and perhaps not anywhere in the world (though it may be possible that is has been 
displayed in Japan) and is not available from commercial collectors, so we were very eager to col¬ 
lect specimens, put them on public view, and work on captive breeding behind the scenes. 
It is important to mention that as a cephalopod enthusiast, I have been wanting to work with 
this species for well over a decade. They aren’t available in the trade, but I had been lucky enough 
to have observed them in the wild, and the idea of being able to work with them in captivity made 
giddy. So, when we entered the water around Anilao Pier just as the sun was going down I was 
brimming with anticipation. After 15 minutes we found no sign of octopus and I started to get 
depressed. This is the love hate relationship I have with muck diving — it is really like a safari 
because it is very possible that you will not see what you are looking for . . . even if it’s only a few 
feet away from you. When you dive to look at reefs, well, the reefs are kind of hard to miss. The 
muck, however, is by nature a more challenging landscape, and everything there is trying to not be 
seen. We kept searching. After another 15 minutes or so, we adjusted, and suddenly we saw 
Coconut octopus everywhere. We found sizes, as small as my thumb nail all the way to the size of 
a soft ball. We collected a variety of specimens and then enjoyed the dive by catching crabs and 
feeding them to other octopus. 
There were some recreational divers in the area looking a little lost in the dark and muck. Matt 
and I, flushed with success, led 
one one of them over to a 
coconut octopus that had made 
its home in some shells. We fig¬ 
ured that we would catch a crab 
and feed the octopus so this diver 
could get some interesting video. 
We motioned for him to stay with 
the octopus and went searching 
for prey. Turns out we were gone 
about 10 minutes, but the diver 
was still where we left him. 
Good! His wait would be worth 
Figure 7: So many Acros, so little time. 
