Octopuses are one of the most fascinating creatures
The octopus is probably one of the most fascinating ocean creatures, they have 8 arms, a bulbous head, and are super intelligent. They are boneless and can squeeze in and out of really tight spaces, they have 3 hearts, blue blood, and 9 brains. They can squirt ink, use tools and instantly change colors and textures. Basically, they are endlessly fascinating.
Octopuses come in many sizes, the smallest species is smaller than an inch while the giant pacific octopus can easily grow to be 16 feet long and weigh around 100 pounds. The largest on record was more than 30 feet in length and came in at a whopping 600 pounds. Octopuses live in oceans all over the world but most live near shores and on reefs.
One of the coolest things about octopuses is their ability to change color and texture. Octopuses alter their color to hide and match their surroundings. They can turn blue, gray, red, pink, brown or green. Some are able to flex their bodies to resemble more dangerous animals, such as eels and lionfish, and many can change the texture of their skin from smooth to bumpy. They are able to swim by sucking water into their bodies and then shoot it out of their siphons which allows them to blast away from predators, but many prefer to ‘walk’ or crawl along the seafloor. I have observed an octopus changing its color and texture to mimic kelp where it is difficult to tell the difference between the two.
Here are some cool things about octopuses:
- Octopuses have been observed using tools
- They can change the color of their body in 3/10’s of a second
- Their suckers are really strong, each sucker can live at least 20x its weight and on average, each arm has 240 suckers
- All octopuses contain venom but only the blue-ringed octopus has enough to paralyze an adult in a number of seconds.
