The octopus is one of my favorite little sea creatures. I remember seeing and learning about the octopus from many different shows and movies. Most memorable to me was Finding Dory. The octopus was depicted as a clever and cunning escape artist and they are just that! Let us dive into the many fascinations of the octopus.
First and foremost, let’s clear up a common misconception: octopi is not the correct pluralization of octopus. I am not one to be super picky about grammar so I will still be saying octopi in real life (mostly because it’s more fun than saying octopuses). A bonus fun fact about the word octopus is that it means eight footed; very fitting!
With the grammar critique out of the war, we should examine the octopus’s body. They have many interesting quirks about their bodies, one of which is that they have three hearts! Each of these hearts actually have their own purpose; Two pump blood to their gills, while the other circulated blood to the organs. While we are on the somewhat grizzly topic of blood, octopuses have blue blood. The reason behind this is that they actually use copper-based hemocyanin for oxygen transport in their blood instead of using iron-based hemoglobin like most other fish and animals do. Octopuses have a very high metabolic rate and therefore have high oxygen needs. The hemocyanin that octopuses use is more effective in transporting oxygen at low oxygen concentrations and low temperatures.
One thing that octopus and squids are known for are the ink! They squirt out ink at predators, which most people, (including me until now) think is just to hide them from their predators, but in fact, is also used to physically harm their predators. The ink contains a chemical called tyrosinase, which causes blinding irritation and interrupts the enemy’s sense of smell and taste. Interestingly, if octopuses stay inside their ink cloud for too long they will end up dying. Their ink is not the only deadly part of an octopus’s arsenal; All species of octopus are venomous, however only the Blue Ringed Octopus is dangerous to humans. Octopuses inject paralysis-inducing venom into their prey through their beaks.
Remember how Finding Dory showed octopus as being smart and sly escape artists? Well, I’ll tell you why this is accurate. First off, octopuses have a lot of smarts, which at first glance, does not make much sense because their brain is not abnormally large. However – and this is the super interesting part – each one of their arms contains neurons. This enables them to be excellent multitaskers because each of their arms has a mind of their own! But what happens if they lose an arm? Not to worry; they can regenerate their arms (plus they have 7 more)! Octopus have been shown to have the ability to solve puzzles, use tools, and even open jars. The brains on octopuses are also shown while in the ocean. They show very interesting behavior when hunting and when escaping prey. They are able to change the color of their skins to almost perfectly match their surroundings through the use of special cells called chromatophores. Not only can they match their color, octopuses can even roughly match the texture of the surface they are trying to hide on! Somehow, even more impressively, they are able to make this change in under a second. Talk about some quick thinking!
Octopuses are definitely some very fascinating sea creatures. I hope you enjoyed reading about them and their wonderful curiosities!
This was fascinating to read about octopuses! I always thought the plural of octopus was octopi, but I think I’ll continue to say octopi in daily language, just like you. Another thing I found interesting was that octopuses can regrow their arms; this reminds me of worms and how you can cut them in half and have two functional worms. If I was a sea creature, I would not want to get in the way of a octopus.
Surprisingly, I didn’t know most of these facts about octopuses and its good that you cover some stuff about them. It was fascinating to read that they have 3 hearts, and each serve a different purpose! I find that very distinct as an creature and makes them unique. I also didn’t know that their ink was actually poisonous and it could harm a predator. I thought it was an distraction for the octopus to get away. I also find it interesting that they can regenerate an loss arm (although they do have 7 more haha). But finding out these things about octopuses was very cool and knowledgable.
First of all, I really appreciate your grammar clarification. I feel like I’ve had this debate 1000 times and never reached a resolution. It’s good to know that the plural of octopus is octopuses, even though it’s weird to say and I, like you, will probably revert to octopi. I was lucky enough to take a trip to the Caribbean where I learned how to Scuba dive, and saw many octopuses there. It was an incredible experience and definitely made me appreciate them and their unique qualities more. In particular, I’m interested in their ability to change color so quickly. Your blog made me wonder if other animals, like chameleons, use the same chromatophores to disguise themselves.
As a future veterinarian, I really appreciate your blog’s delve into the anatomy and physiology of the octopus–who knows, someone might bring in their pet octopus to me one day! It’s super cool that octopuses have blue blood due to the hemocyanin; I always thought that blue blood was a thing of myths. I also wasn’t aware that the ink they produce is toxic. Who knew it had more uses than providing cover (and a writing medium for us humans!).
Hi Dylan! When you learn about certain sea creatures, you sometimes wonder how those creatures came to be. Sea life is so interesting and it’s easy to lose yourself in thinking about how their evolutionary path led them to be the way they are. For example, seahorses are just such a unique sea creature and its a wonder how they evolved and adapted to become the way they are.
The octopus is a much more complex creature than society gives it credit for! I’m guilty of only knowing the basics about them and their characteristics, but now I feel that I have a better understanding how how they live and survive in such vast oceans. Previously, I had known about the deadly nature of the blue ringed octopus, but I didn’t know that was the only octopus that threatens humans. I also found it extremely interesting how octopuses could not just change their color, but can also match the texture of their environment to their skin as well!