Arms spread to reveal the colourful webbing stretched between them, a female blanket octopus treats us to a spectacular threat display, staring us down with one of her two huge eyes.
At up to 2m in length, female blanket octopuses are at least ten thousand times heavier than the tiny 2cm-long males, which are little more than sperm-delivery pods.
It is one of the most extreme size disparities between males and females in the animal kingdom.
These cephalopods are apparently immune to the venom of the infamous Portuguese man o’war ‘jellyfish‘ and have been documented detaching their stinging tentacles and wielding them as weapons.
This article by Debbie Graham was first published by Discover Wildlife on 11 April 2026. Lead Image: Magnus Lundgren/Alamy.
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