Colour-changing octopus besotted by pumpkin

A lovesick octopus is in for a real fright when he realises the object of his affections is a pumpkin. The eight-armed Casanova has become infatuated with the carved squash since it was placed in his tank at a Highland aquarium as part of the seasonal decorations. Now whenever staff at the Oban Scottish Sea Life Sanctuary try to replace the rotting pumpkin he changes his colour in a show of distress, turning from his usual deep red to a ghostly white.

Dennis Chamberlain, displays supervisor at the attraction, said colleagues were struggling to figure out how to tear the octopus – nicknamed Romeo – away from his unlikely sweetheart. “We put the pumpkin in the octopus tank this Halloween for a bit of fun for visitors, and to give him something new to interact with,” he said. “Octopuses love squeezing in and out of small spaces so we thought a carved pumpkin would be a great, quirky addition to his tank.



“The only problem is that under the water pumpkins go off quite quickly, and we’re having trouble taking it out of his tank to replace it. We have tried exchanging it several times, but he goes white with distress until the old one is placed back in. We’re sure he can tell the difference between the pumpkins.” Mr Chamberlain said lesser octopus, a cold-water species, are able to change their colour rapidly, depending on their emotions.

When they are scared or distressed they turn white, while a happy octopus will normally display a reddish-brown colour with some white speckles. Mr Chamberlain added: “When the old pumpkin is returned to the tank the octopus turns a lovely, deep, red-orange to show how happy he is. We’re not sure why he is so attached to this particular pumpkin – it could be he likes the orange colour, but that doesn’t explain why the other pumpkins don’t have the same effect as the first.”