The remarkable video shows the moment a young cephalopod emerges from its egg and changes color.
The footage, which was recorded at the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, shows a juvenile Caribbean reef octopus wriggling out from a flowerlike group of eggs.
Immediately upon emerging, the octopus changes its pigment and then shoots off in to the water within the blink of an eye.
According to aquarium spokesman Matthew Klepeisz, this immediate change in color could be due to either the stress of being born or a natural instinct to camouflage as quickly as possible.
The footage, which was originally uploaded on to Facebook, has been viewed over 1.4 million times.