October 8 is World Octopus Day, a good excuse to explore one of the stranger designs in nature. Dumbo octopuses live at great depths and propel themselves with fins that resemble ears, rather than depending on the rapid jetting familiar from many shallow-water octopuses.
Their bodies are adapted to extreme pressure and darkness. They are not merely cute versions of an aquarium octopus: they illustrate how the same broad animal plan can be reshaped for a radically different habitat.
Do this: watch a short deep-sea research video or compare several species. It is a genuinely odd bit of biological design inspiration.
