Experiments in nonfiction
CREATIVE NONFICTION 63
The Rib Joint
an octopus protects itself by hiding in plain sight.
Lacking either an internal or external skeleton, and with
thousands of pigment-changing cells just below the surface
of its skin, in disguise, it can change not only its color but
also its texture and shape. An octopus can blend in with
almost anything: rough head of coral, spiny polyp cluster,
tunicate-ridden side of a sunken ship.
As two University of California–Berkeley biologists
discovered, one species of octopus disguises itself by wrap-
ping its six arms around its body and walking backward
on its two legs. Another octopus “coils its two front arms
and raises them in a pose that somewhat resembles algae.”
Without a rib cage to protect its three hearts, one particular
species known as the “mimic octopus” can shapeshift into a
sea snake, flounder, or lionfish.JULIA KOETS
JULIA KOETS is the winner
of the 2017 Red Hen
Press Nonfiction Award,
judged by Mark Doty, for
her forthcoming book, The
Rib Joint: A Memoir in
Essays (November 5,
2019). She is a visiting
assistant professor of
nonfiction at the University
of South Florida.
EXPLORING
THE BOUNDA
R
I
E
S