Who’s Mimicking Whom? Jawfish Hitches Ride on Mimic Octopus

In just the last decade, the mimic octopus has been crowned the king of mimicry, turning from lionfish to eel to flatfish in the blink of an eye. But a new video (see below) reveals that the mimicker has become the mimicked.

In the video by researcher Godehard Kopp,  a black-marble jawfish leaves the safety of his sandy hole to hitch a ride on the similarly colored octopus.

"It's a pretty unique observation of mimicry-- most of the time, a mimicking animal doesn't actually follow the model it is mimicking," said researcher Luiz Rocha. "But the mimicry wouldn't work otherwise for this jawfish."

While the discovery of unique interactions like this is what makes the ocean special to many divers and photographers, researchers warn it may not last much longer without human action.

“Unfortunately, reefs in the Coral Triangle area of southeast Asia are rapidly declining mostly due to harmful human activities," said Rocha. "We may lose species involved in unique interactions like this even before we get to know them."