The tiny Hairy Octopus is one of the cutest creatures we have come across, and at around 5cm (2inch) long, you won’t want to blink or you might miss it.
This well disguised cephalopod gets it names from the long ‘hairy’ tissue covering its tiny little body and, to the untrained eye you may easily mistake the hairy octopus for an orangutan crab or a tuft of algae floating along the sea floor. This master of camouflage can range in color from white, brown and vibrant red, either with or without patterns or spots.
Both the California adorabilis octopus and Wunderpus octopus have had their internet claim to fame, but we think the time is now for this floating little puffball of cuteness to take over the Internet one tentacle at a time!
However don’t all rush to your nearest dive site and start staring at red algae hoping for a glimpse of this holy grail species. For one people will think you’ve gone a little crazy just staring at the ground, and two the hairy octopus is only known to occur in the Lembeh strait off North-Sulawesi Island Indonesia.
For now you will have to settle with these images from the Lembeh Resort, and NAD-Lembeh. And, if like me you are at all sceptic that this really is an octopus, check out this video by Eco divers Resort Lembeh of the hairy octopus in action.
