Octopus Facts
Octopus Facts
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Octopuses are one of the most interesting sea creatures. Name octopus is derived from a Greek language and it means eight-footed. There are over 200 species of octopuses and all of them live in oceans around the world, usually near the coral reefs. Octopuses are invertebrates, which mean that they are boneless. Because of that, octopus loses its shape when it is pulled out of the water.
| Interesting Octopus Facts: |
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| All octopuses have head, called mantle, surrounded with 8 arms, called tentacles. All vital organs are located in their head. |
| Their color and size is determined by their environment. Those that live in colder water will be much larger than those that live in tropical (warm) water. |
| Only hard structure in their body is beak which looks like a parrot beak. They use their beaks for eating. |
| Using strong suction cups (240 on each tentacle), they hunt crabs, mollusks and crayfish. |
| They have 3 hearts and their blood is blue in color. |
| Although they are invertebrates, they have incredibly developed nervous system and they can learn various things. Some experiments showed that they can solve puzzles, distinguish shapes and patterns. They can develop both short- and long-term memory. |
| Because of the highly developed nervous system, some people believe that octopuses feel the pain during operation and demand the use of anesthesia before surgery. |
| Octopuses are mainly famous for their ability to escape predators using various techniques. |
| They can change their color and texture of the skin to blend with environment and become invisible. |
| They will eject dark ink that will confuse the predators and give them a chance to escape. |
| If predator grabs them for any tentacle, they will reject it. Soon after, new tentacle will grow. |
| Some octopuses produce very potent toxin that can stun the prey or hurt a man. Most dangerous octopus is blue-ringed octopus that can kill few people at once. |
| Male octopus will die few months after mating. Female will survive until her eggs hatch. She will die of starvation, because she will not eat three months (time needed for eggs to hatch). |
| Female lay up to 150 000 eggs in a week. After hatching, small octopuses will float short period of time with plankton and then swim back to the bottom of the sea. |
| Octopuses live from few months to few years, depending on the species. |
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