HI Day Octopus 1

Underwater Photography by Jay Torborg

"Hawaiian Day Octopus #1"

The Hawaiian Day Octopus (Octopus cyanea) is the most common octopus in Hawaii. A member of the same phylum as the clam (Mollusca), octopuses are noted for their remarkable intelligence, their ability to change color instantly, the cloud of ink they release to cover their exit, and their ability to compress themselves through tiny cracks. Octopuses mate by transfer sperm using a special arm (its hectocotylus arm) to insert the sperm into the female�s mantle cavity. After the females lay their eggs, the females of many octopus species then guard them until they hatch. In most species, the octopus mates once, when about a year old, then dies.

This particular specimen was startled by some divers and lunged from one coral head to another right in front of my camera. I had been shooting macro shots so my lens was set to f22 which resulted in great depth of field and a background that was almost pitch black.

Photographed with a Nikon N90s in a Sea&Sea NX90 housing with two Ikelite 200 strobes. Nikon 60mm f2.8 macro lens. Fuji Provia 100F transparency film scanned with a Nikon LS-2000.