You can hide, but you can’t run

A Blue Goatfish and a Pacific Day Octopus in the waters off Hawaii
A pair of Blue Goatfishes and a Pacific Day Octopus in the waters off Hawaii

I spotted this Pacific Day Octopus hunting with a pair of Blue Goatfishes. It’s quite common to see an arrangement like this in the water; there are benefits for both. But when a clumsy swimmer splashes into the picture, the situation changes. Goatfishes will swim away only if they feel threatened, but the octopus will settle somewhere and blend into the background.

However, it’s hard to disappear into the background when the fish keep nudging them to continue with the hunt. This octopus looked quite miffed about the situation until it finally gave up and shot off to hide elsewhere. The goatfishes followed, but the octopus found a crack to settle into, and the clumsy swimmer bid it a fond farewell!

9 thoughts on “You can hide, but you can’t run”

    1. Graham's avatarGraham Post author

      That’s actually a Red Pencil Urchin. They’re quite common around here and they add a definite jolt of color.

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