Page 107 - World of Animals - Book of Sharks & Ocean Predators

Mimic octopuses
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FAKE VS REAL Muscles at the skin’s
How their skin
muscles work

surface turns skin texture
from smooth to spiny. This
helps octopuses match
their background perfectly
and become almost
undetectable. If all else
fails, the octopus can swim
away and release a cloud
of ink to cover its escape.

Retractor muscles
LIONFISH
Erector muscles
Skin

Eerector muscles contract, pulling
skin into a new shape and retractor
muscles relax, drawing up the skin.

MANTIS
SHRIMP

Erectors then contract tightly to
elongate the octopus’s skin upwards
while retractors remain relaxed.

At this stage, erectors create skin
texture, by expanding the shapes
FLAT and areas of the individual muscles.
FISH
© Getty, Peters and Zabransky, Thinkstock

To flatten down again, retractors
work by contracting, pulling the
octopus’s skin flat once more.

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