I JUST LOVE THESE!!

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They are just beautiful! Some of you may think they are indicative of a God force designing exquisite creatures, making man in it's own image. Others will argue it's natural selection that created such a MAGNIFICENT creature. I agree with Theory of Evolution. My question is, why so much blue on this particular species? There are many varieties, not all have this much color. What could have caused these genes to dominate?

The blue rings on this particular octopus are an example of aposematic (aka 'warning') coloration. It's basically the organism saying, 'if you mess with me, I'll f**k you up.' Blue-ringed octopuses can easily kill an adult human.

This particular one looks like it might have been subject to some color editing, though.

I kinda want to agree but at the same time I wonder if that's true since there are many creatures who are not venomous with similar markings, snakes for instance. Take Peruvian Milk snakes and Coral snakes. They look a lot alike yet the Coral snake is the only one that's venomous. Markings do not always indicate venom.

Thats mimicry. A common survival strategy. A less common nonvenomous creature will evolve similiar markings to a more common venomous creature in the same region. The predators will mistake it for the venomous look-a-like and not mess with it.

I kinda think it's more of an "intelligent adaptation" thing going on rather than biblical creationism or darwinian evolution thing.
It's as if the sum total of life & consciousness itself is taking a real-time active role in it's own growth and expansion. It more intelligent and more aware than we will ever be of course because the parts can not be greater than the whole.

I think there is some kind of "intelligent design" going on, but it's not some old guy with a beard planning out the entire universe on a drawing board before the fact. It's an intelligent design we are incapable of understanding.

But yeah, I love Cephalopods, all types. Truly amazing creatures.

what I like is the Mimic Octopus, a true shapeshifter.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-LTWFnGmeg[/youtube]

I saw a TV documentary the other day that featured that variety of octopus. The programme was the ten most venomous animals on the planet. The octopus isn't normally blue; it flashes blue as a warning which means - if you come closer or mess with it that it will sting you... and you will likely die.

Colours have various meanings in nature; some are warnings to predators and others are signals to potential mates to show health and virility.

Red usually means "f**k off."

It's just the most beautiful thing!

So, to test this mimicry theory we need to figure out which evolved first, the deadly, venomous snake or the less poisonous one? And what if the two aren't even connected and come from two completely different parts of the world yet look so similar. Of course the patterns are not exactly the same. The Coral snake has a unique sequence of colors.

Other snakes that are non-venomous mimic that color.Here the saying about the coral snake is"Red and yellow,kill a fellow,Red and black,friend of Jack."All snakes are most likely descended from Monitor lizards,venom a specialized salvia.Now known to be incredibly beneficial medically.
There are lots of medications that are derived from venom.

If you like that you should go to google images of "poison frogs".

I can't figure out how to post pictures with this old computer.

But the "dart poison" frogs of the Amazon all look like they were painted by

human artists on LSD- endless variety of bright colors- and whimsical uses

of dots and swirls on the same kermit-shaped canvas.

Poison Dart frogs get most of their toxin from what they eat,ants spiders,etc.When raised in captivity they are not as toxic.Like the Komodo Dragon,it gets the toxins from consuming what other dragons have eaten,Dragons raised in captivity do not have the toxins in their saliva.

I heard on TV docs that the komodo dragon just lets it's mouth get putrid from rotting food, and they why its bite is toxic.

I think there is some sea creature that eats jellyfish that somehow hoards the stinging cells of the jellyfish in its body for its own defence. Forget what creature it is.

The Komodo has several toxins in its saliva,all from being "inoculated"from eating what other Komodo's ate.They are very intelligent lizards.The locals have a "spell"that will keep the Komodo's from eating them but they don't share it.Komodos raised in captivity do not have the toxins in their saliva.

I think all creatures evolve beautiful color on their skin or plumage to attract, not to warn. Doesn't matter the species. When I saw that beautiful creature I just wanted to cuddle it.

I can understand the cuddling.Most people don't want to cuddle an alligator,but I think they look cuddly.But many animals do have red for a warning,red wasps,black widows,etc,maybe the color attracts mates but it is also a warning.Many toads and salamanders that are toxic have bright colors.My Korean fire Belly Toad has very vibrant colors on his underside to announce that he is toxic.They will do kind of a body curl(salamanders also)that show they are toxic.