An octopus is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda. The order consists of 300 species and is grouped within the Cephalopoda class with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids.
Today we will spotlight some amazing facts known and unknown to many others about Octopuses.
1. An octopus has three hearts. Two peripheral hearts pump blood through the gills, picking up oxygen. A central heart then circulates the oxygenated blood to the rest of the body to provide energy for the muscles and other organs.
2. All octopuses are thought to have venom that comes from bacteria living inside them. While most don’t have enough poison to harm people, a bite from a small octopus can paralyse a human adult in minutes.
3. When an octopus is swimming, the heart that delivers blood to the other organs stops beating. This makes the octopus exhausted, which may be the reason that the octopus prefers to crawl.
4. Octopus can also change to pink, blue, grey, brown, or green to blend with their surroundings when they feel threatened. An octopus may also change colour as a way of communicating with others.
5. About two-thirds of an octopus’s neurons are located in its arms. This means the arm can taste, touch, and even act on its own accord, without input from the brain. Octopus’ arms regenerate fast if they are cut.
6. Octopuses are only found in salt water.
7. The oldest known octopus fossil is 628 million years old, which means octopuses have been around since before the dinosaurs.
8. Octopuses die shortly after mating and giving birth. The species practice “external fertilisation,” meaning that multiple males either insert their spermatophores directly into a tubular funnel that the female uses to breathe, or they hand her the sperm, which she always accepts. Afterwards, the males leave to die. The females can lay up to 400,000 eggs, which they guard. Once the eggs hatch, the female’s body undergoes “cellular suicide,” starting from the optic glands and rippling outward through her tissues and organs until she dies.
Octopuses remain one of the most intelligent, adaptable animals in the animal kingdom. They are truly one of nature’s most marvellous creatures.
