Video and Slideshow: Reflections on Aquarium's new "Tentacles," as it wraps around imagination. | Blogs | montereycountynow.com

While some of its cousins can change color, contour and texture in a blink, the chambered nautilus hasn't changed much at all—for 500 million years. Nic Coury▲

The broadclub cuttlefish is a master of distraction, hypnotizing prey with colored bands that ripple along its skin and then—boom—two club-like arms ensnare its prey in a flash, and the morsel's game is over. ©Monterey Bay Aquarium/Randy Wilder▲

Aquarist Bret Grasse, a cuttlefish specialist, adds stumpy cuttlefish to the dome tank near the conclusion of the Tentacles exhibit. “I’m biased,” he says, “but I think they are the most unbelievable group of animals in the world.” Mark C. Anderson▲

The day octopus can change both its color and texture to match surrounding corals—and disappear in broad daylight. Mark C. Anderson▲

The male giant Pacific octopus comes complemented by some 2,000 suction cups. Randy Wilder▲

An MBA diver in the husbandry department prepares a tank for an undisclosed creature. The staff will keep more backup species than any other previous exhibit because of the short life cycles and limited breeding habits cephalopods keep, including tanks waiting for deep-sea and rare discoveries found with Monterey Bay Research Aquarium ROVs. Mark C. Anderson▲

An interactive exhibit invites visitors to crank up the jet propulsion on replica squid. Mark C. Anderson▲

Bigfin reef squid can grow to 13 inches long. While other squid roll solo, bigfin school when predators approach to appear larger. ©Monterey Bay Aquarium/Randy Wilder▲

MBA interpretive pros prep the screens that will show visitors' selfie videos, done with octopus patterns overlaying human faces with stripes, colors and splotches according to their expressions. Mark C. Anderson▲

Aquarist I Alicia Bitondo tests giant Pacific octopus intelligence, while it tests hers. (c)Monterey Bay Aquarium/Randy Wilder▲

The dwarf cuttlefish, aka the stumpy-spined or pigmy cuttlefish, is a small but mighty hunter that effortlessly blends in with coral, rocks or sand, a miniature, camouflaged terror of the seafloor. ©Monterey Bay Aquarium/Randy Wilder▲

The flamboyant cuttlefish likes to walk on the sand with its arms and fins, and don't expect it to back down from a fight. It's also a sucker for shows of color, a mini-cephalopod-lava lamp that goes from yellow or maroon to red or white. ©Monterey Bay Aquarium/Randy Wilder▲

The wonderpus octopus takes a modest pose belying its shape-shifting superpowers. ©Monterey Bay Aquarium/Randy Wilder▲

Mark C. Anderson

Apr 9, 2014

Otters look at you with the curiosity and temerity of a watery dog.

Sunfish, seemingly, with some confusion.

These bigfin reef squid, part of the newest piece of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's world-class menagerie, do it with some wisdom—or at least the hungry eye of a predator that, as one veteran staffer says, "would eat you if it could."

Tentacles, opening this Saturday (April 12), is the brand-new special exhibit that brings visitors eye to eye with a range of cephalopods—octopus, cuttlefish and squid—assembled in unprecedented quantity and diversity.

It is worth looking at closely.

Here's a partial peek at the new residents of the wing that previously held The Secret Lives of Seahorses, from the biggest and most suction-cupped octopus in the ocean (Pacific octopus) to the littlest and stubbiest cuttlefish in the reef (stumpy cuttlefish).

Check out the slideshow above right for more images and eight-legged info.

Read the Weekly cover story "Superhero Squid" for another dose.

Then there's this, a look at the "kinetic" sculptor Nemo Gould who put together conservation-inspired messages around the threats cephalopods like the nautilus, octopus and cuttlefish face with found materials:

Another nice Aquarium-produced piece talks to the aquarists who made it happen, and is required viewing for any budding cephalopod sensei:

Finally, a riveting and ribald BuzzFeed-funky look at the wondrous cuttlefish that's approaching 5 million views in just a week, thanks in large part to footage and expertise furnished by the Monterey Bay Aquarium:

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