Behold: An Octopus with a Shell!

Behold: an octopus with a shell! Known as an argonaut, this octopus lives in the open ocean rather than on the sea floor. Females build paper-thin shells to protect their eggs. They live in warmer waters to the south. Summertime currents sometimes bring surface-dwelling warm-water species like this up into the transition zone of the Central Coast, says Howard/Berry Chair of Malacology Henry Chaney PhD. This argonaut was found washed up on a local beach in late August. She didn’t survive long after being beached, but her memory will live on, preserved in the Invertebrate Zoology Collections as an embodied record of her journey to our shore.

If you’ve ever dreamed of being a museum educator, we are hosting a Volunteer Educator Open House on September 16th at the Museum from 10–11:30 am. Come learn how you can make a community impact inspiring curiosity and the joy of discovery among our younger generations.