The mimic octopus is one of the superstars of Indonesia’s Lembeh Strait.

What's Behind Its Name: It's pretty obvious — to trick predators, they mimic the behavior of other marine animals, such as sea snakes, lionfish, eels, stingrays and jellyfish.

Size: They are rather small, growing to an average length of 2 feet.

Habitat and Range: Primarily found in Southeast Asia, most live off Indonesia's island of Sulawesi. They seem to prefer this region's warm, muddy waters.

Did You Know? The female dies as soon as she gives birth; young mimic octopuses have to fend for themselves as soon as they hatch.

Christian Loader's Tips for Photographing Mimic Octopuses:

Using a 50mm lens at f/1.4 was tricky to control with such a razor-thin depth-of-field, but I carefully focused on its eyes, and fired off a couple of shots while it wriggled over the seabed.

Behind the Shot
Camera: Nikon D300
Housing: Nexus
Lens: Nikkor 50mm
Strobes: No strobes (natural light and manual white balance only)
Settings: f/1.4, 1/640 sec, ISO 100

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