mimic octopus

plural mimic octopuses · nonstandard plural mimic octopusses · nonstandard plural mimic octopi · nonstandard plural mimic octopii · plural rare mimic octopodes

1. An Indo-Pacific octopus of species Thaumoctopus mimicus, capable of selectively impersonating several other species of marine life.

   The Mimic octopus, which was only discovered in 2005 in shallow Indonesian waters, can rapidly morph its body to resemble a flounder, a sea snake, a lionfish and almost anything else it sees.

   2012, Caspar Henderson, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, Granta Books, published 2013, page 229