Octopus
Animals

Facts about octopus

We found 41 facts about octopus

Very intelligent animals with amazing abilities

Octopuses are cephalopods with eight arms. So far, about 300 species of octopuses have been identified. The first octopuses appeared on Earth about 323 million years ago. Find out interesting facts about these amazing creatures.

Octopus
1
The oldest known octopus is Pohlsepia, which lived 296 million years ago.

Due to the soft body of these organisms, there are not many octopus fossils found.

2
Octopuses live in every ocean.

They live in different habitats depending on the species. Some octopuses live in the depths of the ocean and can be found at depths of 1000 meters. Others inhabit coral reefs or shallow tidal pools.

3
Most octopuses have great eyesight.

Octopuses have two eyes, one on each symmetrical part of their body. Color discrimination in these animals varies depending on the species.

4
There are species of octopuses that are practically blind.

Individuals with this feature are, for example, representatives of the species Cirrothauma murrayi.

5
There are round suction cups on the inner surfaces of octopus arms.

They use the phenomenon of adhesion to grip or manipulate objects.

6
Both octopuses and cuttlefish have the highest brain-to-body mass ratio among all invertebrates.
7
2/3 of an octopus's neurons are located in the animal's arm nerves.

The motor skills of these cephalopods are not managed by the brain but by their unique nervous system located in their legs.

8
Octopuses have 3 hearts.

Their circulatory system is a closed system with one systemic (main) heart, pumping blood through the animal's body, and 2-gill hearts, which are used to pump blood through the gills. The systemic heart of octopuses consists of one ventricle and two atria.

9
While swimming, the systemic or main heart stops working.

This causes the octopus to tire quickly and therefore the organisms prefer to move along the bottom using their arms.

10
Octopuses have the so-called siphon, i.e. the organ responsible for gas exchange, removal of metabolic waste, and secretion of ink.
11
Octopuses swim by throwing water under pressure through a siphon.
12
Octopuses can also breathe through their very thin skin.

According to research, while an octopus is resting, up to 41% of its oxygen needs can be met by cutaneous respiration.

13
In the mouth of an octopus, there is a grater called a radula.

The radula is made of chitin and its task is to crush food that has entered the mouth.

14
The mouth of an octopus begins with a beak typical of these animals.
15
Most octopuses are predators.

They feed mainly on crustaceans and polychaetes, although they do not despise other mollusks. The octopus menu also includes shrimp and fish.

16
The giant octopus feeds mainly on mussels and crabs.
17
When hunting crustaceans, octopuses paralyze them with their saliva and then crush them with their beak.
18
The protein hemocyanin is responsible for the blue color of octopus blood.
19
The equivalent of the kidneys in octopuses is the so-called nephridia.
20
Octopuses have a so-called black pouch.

This organ stores sepia, produced by a nearby gland. Octopuses use sepia to disorient a predator while escaping. They then spray a thick, characteristic black stain.

21
Most octopuses live only a few months, usually half a year.

After the offspring hatch, the octopus dies of hunger because, after the breeding period, the digestive glands of these animals are deactivated.

22
The lifespan of octopuses is directly influenced by the optic gland.

During research on octopuses, their visual glands were removed, and as a result, adults stopped guarding their offspring, began to eat again, and their lifespan increased significantly.

23
Octopuses are dioecious.
24
During mating season, octopuses can change their skin colors to signal to their partner that they want to mate.
25
Female octopuses can lay 10.000 to 70.000 eggs after fertilization.

They place them in rock crevices in the form of special strings of eggs. The eggs are then guarded for approximately 160 days when the baby octopuses hatch. In colder waters, octopus eggs can develop for up to 10 months.

26
Most octopuses hatch from eggs as paralarvae and function as plankton for the first weeks or months. These small octopuses feed on zooplankton, arthropod larvae, or copepods.
27
Octopuses are very intelligent.

During studies on these animals, the presence of both short and long-term memory was found.

28
Each octopus must gain experience on its own because immediately after hatching they are left by their parents.
29
The largest representative of octopuses is the Giant Octopus.

It was first described in 1910. The largest octopus of this species ever encountered weighed 272 kilograms and had an arm span of 9.6 meters. The giant octopus is also one of the most long-lived octopuses, it can live up to 5 years.

30
The world's smallest octopus is Octopus wolfi. Representatives of this species reach about 2.5 cm in length and weigh 1 gram.
31
Some octopuses use the phenomenon of bioluminescence to attract their prey. To do this, they use organs called photophores, which are located inside the suction cups.
32
From ancient times, octopuses were considered sea monsters. They appear in Norse mythology as the Kraken or Gorgons in Ancient Greece.
33
Most octopuses lead solitary lives, but we also encounter species that live in larger communities.
34
All octopuses are venomous animals, but only those from the genus Hapalochlaena have venom capable of killing humans.
35
Some species of octopuses, when attacked by a predator, can discard an arm that crawls along the bottom to distract the predator.
36
Octopuses of the species Thaumoctopus mimicus can use their flexible body and changing skin color to resemble other, more dangerous marine animals.
37
Octopuses of the species Amphioctopus marginatus collect coconut shells and use them to build their hiding places.
38
Octopuses can camouflage themselves.

Thanks to special cells in their skin, they can adjust their skin color to the environment like a chameleon. Camouflage is used by these animals both for hunting and hiding from predators.

39
In the Mediterranean and coastal areas of Asia, octopuses are a popular food.
40
According to the Hawaiian creation myth, the modern cosmos is the last of the previous universes emerging from the rubble, and octopuses are the only survivors of the previous universe.
41
Octopuses were already observed by Aristotle.

He noticed that they could change their skin color and identified their sexual organs.

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