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Octopuses are soft-bodied marine mollusk. They are part of a class of organisms called cephalopods that also includes animals like squid and cuttlefish. Around 300 species of octopuses are recognized. They are bilaterally symmetrical invertebrates with eight arms surrounding their mouth. Although all octopuses share many things in common, their size, location, hunting, swimming, and mating habits can vary widely depending on the species. There is so much that is not yet known about these unique creatures. With their complex nervous system, they are among the most intelligent of all invertebrates.
They can be found in all of the world's oceans. Most species live in relatively shallow areas in tropical and temperate waters. Some live in extreme environments such as near hydrothermal vents thousands of feet below the surface. Others live in deep frigid polar waters. Most inhabit the seafloor on sandy bottoms, coral reefs, or tide pools, while others live a pelagic lifestyle at sea. Most species have no internal shell and the only hard part of their body is their parrot-like beak, allowing them to ooze through tiny cracks.
All are venomous, but only the blue-ringed octopus is known to be deadly to humans by releasing their powerful paralyzing toxin with their bite. Depending on the species, they may grow to be less than an inch or in the case of the giant Pacific octopus, reach a maximum reported length of 30 feet across. The interior of their arms is covered with adhesive suckers. The suckers allow the octopus to cling to and manipulate objects.
Their arms can even taste what they touch. Some deep-sea species also have webbing along their arms. Each octopus has three hearts. One heart pumps blood around their body, while the other two hearts pump blood through their gills. Their blood is copper-based instead of iron-based, making their blood blue. The copper-based blood is more efficient at transporting oxygen when ocean temperatures are low and oxygen is limited. Octopuses have a siphon that they can use for things like respiration, swimming by jet propulsion, and discharging ink. Some species have large fins that they rely on for swimming.
They have good memory and problem-solving abilities. The majority of their neurons are located in their arms. Each arm can move independently of one another. They can navigate through mazes and open jars from the inside and out. They are very sensitive to the ocean's pH, which may cause them to be negatively impacted by ocean acidification in the future. Plenty of animals like to prey on octopuses. This includes animals like sharks, barracudas, moray eels, groupers, seals, and birds. To survive, octopuses have multiple lines of defense.
Species that live on the seafloor can camouflage themselves by changing what they look like instantaneously. They do this by expanding and contracting tiny pigment sacs in their skin called chromatophores. They can also change their skin's texture. Some species, like the mimic octopus, can even camouflage themselves and take on the behavior of an animal that is less palatable, like a lionfish. If an octopus knows that they are in trouble, they can confuse their predator and make a quick escape by squirting a jet of ink. The ink also dulls the predator's sense of smell. If they do happen to lose an arm, it can be regrown.
Nocturnal and deep-sea octopuses tend to not have the same efficiency of color-changing displays as bottom-dwelling daytime octopuses, and they're more likely to remain one color. Some deep-sea octopuses have bioluminescent spots. An octopus's diet typically consists of crabs, mollusk, and fish. Some species crawl along the ocean floor, sticking their arms into small openings to search for food. They may pull the shells of their prey apart or drill a hole through the shell and inject their venomous saliva. The entrance of their home is often marked by piles of discarded shells.
An octopus's home is typically a den that they build from rocks or simply a crevice on the seafloor. They might even make a door for their den by pulling a rock into place once they are inside. Some species live in shells, and others hide in sand. Most species live solitary lives, only seeking company when it's time to mate. Their color-changing abilities can also be used to communicate with other octopuses. Most species only mate once and then die shortly after, only living a year or two.
Typically, males transfer sperm by inserting a specially modified arm called the hectocotylus into the mantle cavity of the female. The male dies shortly after mating. The female carefully takes care of and guards her eggs until they hatch. She aerates the eggs and keeps them clean. Females usually do not feed during this time. Egg quantity and size varies by species. A female octopus may lay anywhere from 50 large eggs to tens of thousands of small eggs.
Eggs are usually laid in clusters. Shallow water octopuses typically lay their eggs in their den. Smaller octopuses may lay their eggs inside clam shells or rubbish. Some species may simply carry their eggs with them. Some even make up a coiled egg case to deposit and drift with their eggs. Upon hatching, octopus young may float to the surface to live as plankton until they grow large enough to settle. In species with larger eggs, the hatchlings start their life on the bottom right away.
Females die shortly after their eggs hatch. Octopuses have been around for millions of years. Due to their soft tissues, octopus fossils are hard to come by. The oldest described octopus fossil is about 296 million years old. In many parts of the world, eating octopus is considered a delicacy. They may be eaten raw, live, or cooked. The most frequently consumed octopus is the common octopus. The warty octopus is a moderate-sized deep-sea octopus species that is covered with raised bumps.
These octopuses are dark purplish-brown in color. They may be spotted out in the open on the seafloor or tucked into the cracks and crevices of rocks, often protecting batches of eggs. They are found in the deep water throughout the North Atlantic and the Arctic, most commonly between 3,300 and 6,600 ft. They have often been reported occurring in particular ecosystems, such as hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. Each of their arms has only one row of suckers. They have no ink sack. They can grow around 20 in.
Males have a modified arm called the hectocotylus. During reproduction, a male inserts his hectocotylus into a female's mantle cavity where fertilization occurs. Females deposit their large eggs in sheltered areas. They care for and protect the eggs. Males usually die shortly after spawning and females die after caring for their eggs for an extended period of time. Hatched young live for some time in the water column before they grow large and settle on the seafloor. The eggs of deep-sea octopuses take much longer to hatch than those of shallow-water octopuses.
A warty octopus is thought to brood her young for a similar length of time as that of the Pacific warty octopus, a similar species in the same genus. A Pacific warty octopus was observed caring for her eggs for over 4 years before they hatched. In 2016, at more than 2 and 1/2 mi below the ocean surface, a beam of light from an undersea exploration vehicle fell on a never-before-described octopus. The octopus, later nicknamed the Casper octopus due to its ghost-like appearance, was resting on a flat rock at the bottom of the ocean off the Hawaiian archipelago.
The Casper octopus is pale and lacks chromatophores, the pigmented cells that enable other octopuses to change color. The octopus's skin is slack with the whole body appearing less muscular than the typical octopus. The octopus has only one row of suckers on the underside of the arms, rather than the expected two rows. Years later, the Casper octopus still doesn't have a formal scientific name, even though multiple other Casper octopuses have been spotted at various deep locations in the Pacific since then. Describing a new species has traditionally required a physical specimen, known as a holotype, that can be preserved in a museum and referenced in the future.
No specimen of the Casper octopus has yet been collected, so the octopus continues to remain without a scientific name. And it is quite possible that the other Casper octopuses observed since 2016 may be part of a species complex, not just a single species. The seafloor off the coast of Hawaii, where the first octopus was spotted, has a mineral crust that's rich in iron and manganese. Similar octopuses have been spotted among fields of manganese nodules off the coast of Peru. With these observations, it seems that Casper octopuses are found in areas that are likely to get mined. Mining would destroy their homes. Manganese nodules on the seabed of the Pacific Ocean are important breeding grounds for deep-sea octopuses. Deep-sea
octopuses live longer than shallow-water octopuses. They only lay very few eggs and have extremely long reproductive cycles. Casper octopuses are thought to deposit their eggs onto sponges that only grow on manganese nodules. After an octopus has deposited its eggs, it wraps its whole body around the eggs. The octopus will stay put to protect its young for several years, not feeding, declining in health until the eggs hatch and it dies. Without a scientific name, it's difficult to add the Casper octopus to a list of endangered species or activate other legal mechanisms to protect these cephalopods.
Some researchers are now exploring methods and technologies that would make it possible to describe species without requiring a physical specimen. These methods could help overcome the difficult hurdles to collection in the deep sea. The common octopus is an intelligent marine animal that is widely distributed in tropical and temperate ocean waters around the world. The octopuses inhabit waters from the surface to 660 ft deep in areas with rocks, coral reefs, or seagrass beds. Their head is bulbous with large eyes.
Using a network of pigment cells and specialized muscles in their skin, they can change to match the colors, patterns, and textures of their surroundings. Their soft body can squeeze into tiny cracks and crevices on the seafloor. They feed mainly on fish, crustaceans, and mollusks. Using its beak, a common octopus can break the shells of prey. The beak also possesses venom to subdue prey. Common octopuses are preyed on by large fish, such as eels, and marine mammals, such as bottlenose dolphins.
The octopuses can release a cloud of ink to distract predators. Their size is highly variable depending on their habitat. Some can grow up to 4.3 ft in length. The common octopus is highly valuable and frequently harvested for consumption. The major threat to this octopus species is unregulated fishing. Blanket octopuses inhabit tropical and temperate waters around the world. The four recognized species make up a genus of open ocean cephalopods that are typically found from the surface to midwater.
They are named for the broad web that connects four arms on each female octopus. Blanket octopuses are thought to display the greatest sexual dimorphism in the animal kingdom. Males only grow about 1 in long while females may be 6 ft long. Males are among the smallest of all octopuses while females are among the largest of all octopuses. Females can swim actively by undulating their arms and jetting water through their funnel but most of their time is spent floating passively hunting for small animals.
Females benefit from being large so they can produce more eggs. Being small allows males to reduce development time and mature earlier than females. They spend less time searching for food and more time searching for mates. Each mature male has a large modified reproductive arm called the hectocotylus. The arm is coiled within a spherical pouch. When males mate, the pouch ruptures. Then the arm is severed and passed to the female.
Males die shortly after mating. The female keeps the arm in her mantle cavity until she needs it for fertilizing her eggs. A female may store multiple arms from different males in her mantle cavity. Females can lay more than 100,000 eggs. They keep their eggs with them and brood them. The small eggs eventually hatch into miniature adults. Females die shortly after their eggs have hatched. Juveniles grow rapidly while drifting in the surface waters.
Males and immature females defend themselves using sections of stinging tentacles as weapons taken from the Portuguese man-of-war. The tentacles are held in the suckers of the two pairs of upper arms on the octopus. Female blanket octopuses can spread out their webbing to make themselves look bigger to predators. The webbing of the females can also be torn in order to distract predators leaving behind a blanket as a decoy. The seven-arm octopus is a mysterious giant deep-sea cephalopod that has a wide distribution in temperate and tropical marine waters.
The octopus can be found in the open ocean near continental shelves or near the sea floor. The body is very soft and gelatinous and not considered palatable to humans. The eyes are large and the short arms are connected by a deep web. Seven-arm octopuses are thought to be able to inhabit waters down to at least 4,100 ft deep. There is a large size difference between males and females. Females can grow massive to over 11 ft long. Males on the other hand only grow about 12 in long.
The octopuses are thought to feed on crustaceans, jellyfish, and salps. It is believed that they have a slow metabolism so they do not have to consume very much food. A seven-armed octopus was once observed holding a jellyfish after feeding on it, possibly to use the jellyfish as defense or for prey capture, since jellyfish tentacles are still capable of stinging after death. Contrary to their name, these octopuses do have eight arms. However, a male will keep his eighth arm enclosed in a sack close to his right eye, making it appear as if he has seven arms.
This eighth arm is used for mating. Males mate with females by completely releasing the enclosed arm, called the hectocotylus, and attaching it to the female. After spawning, the female broods her eggs, which are attached to the oral surface of the arm bases near the mouth. The wonderpus is a small-bodied octopus species with a spectacular pattern coloration. The body is a copper-brown color with white stripes and spots. The white spots on the head are unique to each animal. The body pattern is fixed, but the octopus can alter its color, shape, and movements to mimic venomous sea animals
such as a sea snake or a lionfish. They do this in order to deter predators. Their color pattern is most pronounced when they are disturbed or threatened. They are capable of purposely removing a wiggling arm to distract predators. The lost limb can eventually be regenerated. Wonderpus octopuses have small eyes atop long stalks. They inhabit the shallow tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific, usually no deeper than 66 ft.
The octopuses are typically found on soft sediment substrates where they occupy burrows. They emerge from their burrows to forage during dusk and dawn using their long thin arms. They feed on small crustaceans and fish. The wonderpus will extend and flare its arms over sand or coral rubble to trap its prey. It will also reach into holes to probe for food. This octopus wasn't until the 1980s. It wasn't officially described until 2006.
Females produce small eggs. Adults can reach a total length of over 9 in long. The wonderpus is frequently confused with its close relative, the mimic octopus, since it has a similar appearance. Because of their bright colors and media attention, wonderpus octopuses are caught and sold for aquariums at high prices. The webfoot octopus is a cephalopod that is an important fishery resource in northern coastal China. This species is mainly distributed along coastal areas of the western Pacific. It is commonly seen from Japanese waters to the China seas. The webfoot octopus is a coastal species found on sand and mud substrates down to 330 ft deep.
The arms can be two to three times the mantle length. Each eye is highlighted by a dark disk and one or two dark stripes emphasize the outline of the arms. This gives the illusion of a large face. Adults are slow moving, crawling along the seafloor, or burrowing into the sand. Females brood large eggs, about 3/10 of an inch in length, in the empty shells of bivalves. Since the eggs are large, there are relatively few.
There is a short incubation period. Embryos develop faster in warmer water temperatures. Hatchlings are large, and they resemble miniature adults, with only about 10 days spent as plankton before settling on the bottom. The hatchlings lack a true larval stage. In Japanese waters, reproduction takes place in the spring and fall. Adults grow up to 8 in, and reproduce only once. Their estimated lifespan is 6 months to a year. The webfoot octopus is harvested on a large scale, primarily as bycatch in coastal trawls.
They have a high nutritional value, and are sold for human consumption. There is not enough research to know how harvesting is affecting their populations. Because of their fast growth and reproduction, there is an interest to cultivate them commercially under controlled conditions. The dumbo octopus is a deep-sea cephalopod with a bell-shaped, semi-gelatinous body. There are around a dozen species. They live near the ocean floor in many places around the globe, at depths to about 23,000 ft deep, making them among the deepest known octopuses.
They live in very cold water, under intense pressure, with no sunlight. Two fins are located on their mantle. The fins resemble the ears of an elephant. Their arms are webbed. When floating with their tentacles flared out, they look like open umbrellas. They flap and wave their fins to hover above the ocean floor looking for crustaceans, worms, and other food. The octopus drops onto prey and eats it whole. Dumbo octopuses are cirrate octopuses, meaning that they belong to a group of deep-sea octopuses that have slender protrusions trailing from their suckers called cirri.
Some species have small gills and some have large gills. There is no breeding season. Females can store sperm for a long period of time after mating with a male. Females carry multiple eggs at different stages of development. When ready, they lay the large eggs on hard surfaces on the ocean floor. The eggs take a long time to develop and there is no evidence of parental care. They hatch as well-developed juveniles. The glass octopus is a rarely encountered deep-sea cephalopod.
They are found in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world's oceans from the surface to at least 3,300 ft deep. They were first described in 1918 based on specimens caught in the northern Atlantic. They live a pelagic lifestyle. Very little is known about their ecology. The glass octopus has a nearly transparent gelatinous body except for their digestive gland, optic nerves, and eyes. Their translucent body helps them remain less visible to predators. As they swim, they maintain their spindle-shaped digestive gland in a
vertical orientation to minimize shadows from below. They have oddly elongated eyes. The shape of their eyes reduces their peripheral vision. However, the elongated structure may keep them from being spotted from below by minimizing shadows. Each of their arms has one row of suckers. Their arms can be two to three times their body length. They are estimated to grow to about 18 in long. Video evidence suggests that the male envelops the female within his webs while mating.
Females are thought to brood their hundreds of eggs in their mantle cavity until hatching. The flapjack devil fish is an elusive octopus species that inhabits the cold, dark, deep sea on or near the seafloor. This octopus looks like something out of a cartoon with its gelatinous body and large eyes. Flapjack devil fish have primarily been recorded in the western North Atlantic Ocean, inhabiting a wide range of depths from around 900 to 7,400 ft deep. They use their ear-like fins for propulsion and steering, allowing them to gracefully flap through the water. Each fin is supported by an internal flexible cartilage that extends to the middle of the fin.
They have eight webbed arms, with each arm bearing a single line of suckers. Along their underside are fleshy filaments called cirri, which assist in sensing their surroundings. The suckers on their arms differ between males and females. Mature males have noticeably enlarged suckers at the base of their arms and the margin of their web. Their skin has clear window-like dots. The purpose of these dots isn't entirely certain, but they are suspected to help gather what little light penetrates the deep ocean.
Their diet mainly consists of small crustaceans and polychaete worms. They feed both during the day and at night. Males observed have matured at a smaller size than females. Flapjack devilfish continue growing after they reach sexual maturity. Unlike many other cephalopod species that have a single massive spawning event before dying, the flapjack devilfish has a continuous spawning process. Females steadily release one or two eggs over a lengthy period of time rather than in one large batch. They may release hundreds of eggs over multiple years. Eggs are thought to be laid singly on the seafloor and not brooded.
The genus Mu octopus contains around 28 known species that mostly inhabit deep waters. They are found in all oceans around the world from the equator to polar seas. They are typically small to medium in size compared to other octopus species. Females may be larger than males. They can inhabit depths down to at least 2.4 miles. These octopuses lack an ink sack. Their suckers form two rows down the arms. Their siphon is used for swimming by jet propulsion.
They feed on animals like fish, crustaceans, and brittle stars. They will also scavenge on fallen dead animals. Females lay large eggs. They attach their eggs to rocky outcrops and ledges. Males usually die shortly after spawning and females usually die after brooding their eggs. Female Mu octopus species have been observed to protect their eggs by positioning themselves with their arms wrapped upwards towards the head. Some Muusoctopus species have also been observed to brood their eggs near warmer
areas like low temperature hydrothermal vents, taking advantage of the rocks free of detritus and debris nearby thanks to the moving hydrothermal fluid. Hydrothermal vents are openings in the seafloor where heated mineral-rich water flows. One brooding area for these octopuses is 10,500 ft deep below the ocean surface off the central California coast in an area dubbed the Octopus Garden. The octopuses are located on a small hill near the base of Davidson Seamount. Here thousands of octopuses of the species Muusoctopus robustus, nicknamed the pearl octopus, can be observed nesting on the deep seafloor.
Warmth from the nearby underwater thermal springs accelerates the development of the octopus eggs. Scientists believe the shorter brooding period increases a hatchling octopus's odds for survival, reducing the risk of the developing octopus embryos to be injured or eaten by predators. The surrounding water temperature at 10,500 ft deep is about 35° Fahrenheit. However, the water temperature within the cracks and crevices of the Octopus Garden reaches nearly 51° Fahrenheit. The frigid temperatures of the deep sea slow the octopus metabolism as well as the rate of embryonic development, causing most deep-sea octopuses to have very long incubation periods compared to shallow warm-water octopuses. At the near-freezing
temperatures of their habitat, researchers expect pearl octopus eggs to take 5 to 8 years or longer to hatch. However, the warmer eggs at the Octopus Garden took only 2 years to hatch. The coconut octopus is a unique cephalopod found in the tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They typically inhabit shallow waters on sand and mud substrates down to about 620 ft deep. They prey on invertebrates like crabs and clams. Coconut octopuses like to carry their home around with them by using tools for concealment.
They are capable of enclosing themselves in a den made out of natural or man-made objects like clam shells, coconut shells, or bottles. When they want to move, they arrange these stacked shell halves under their body and walk with them. This causes them to move rather slowly. Coconut octopus eggs are small, only about 3 mm long. Females can lay around 100,000 eggs. A female will brood her eggs and aerate them. The eggs take around 17 days to hatch. These octopuses are an important fishery species. They can be collected by trawlers, pots, and lines.
The tiny blue-ringed octopus may not be the largest, but it is the most venomous of all cephalopods. This octopus is able to secrete a toxin called tetrodotoxin from its salivary glands that can kill a human in minutes due to paralysis and respiratory failure. The toxin is produced by symbiotic bacteria. Despite their great defense system, these cephalopods are not aggressive. They are bottom dwellers that like to inhabit sandy and salty areas in shallow reefs and tide pools from Japan to Australia. They spend most of their time hiding in places like rock crevices, empty shells, or discarded bottles and cans. Injuries typically happen when the octopus is stepped on or picked up.
The bite itself can be painless. Their size varies by species, but some can measure 8 in when stretched out. Their body is covered in iridescent blue rings. When threatened, they will intensify the color of their rings to a vibrant blue to ward off predators and alert them of danger. They change colors with the help of pigment-filled and light-reflecting cells called chromatophores. When resting, their body color is usually tan to dark yellow. They are ambush predators that feed on crustaceans and small fish. When hunting, they will pounce on prey and use their parrot-like beak to pierce a hole in the exoskeleton of their meal and insert their venomous saliva.
This paralyzes the prey so that it can be easily consumed. The blue-ringed octopus only lives about 2 years. A female will lay one clutch of about 50 eggs and carry them under her arms until they hatch. She will insert tetrodotoxin into her eggs so that the young are venomous upon hatching. The female dies shortly after her eggs hatch. The giant Pacific octopus is the largest known octopus species. These creatures typically reach about 16 ft across. Although the largest recorded specimen had an extraordinary arm span of 30 ft across.
These cephalopods are solitary bottom dwellers found in the cold oxygen-rich waters of the temperate Pacific coast from Southern California to Alaska and across to Japan. They establish dens in caves and crevices in waters down to at least 2,500 ft deep. They have eight arms, each with two rows of suckers. Their mouth is located on their underside where their arms converge. The only hard part of their body is their parrot-like beak. This allows them to squeeze through tiny spaces.
Hunting usually takes place at night. With the help of their beak, they prey on a variety of organisms including mollusk, crustaceans, and fish. They catch prey by stealth. First, the octopus will bite the prey with its beak injecting venom that paralyzes the animal. Then, the octopus will return to its den to finish its meal. Along with being one of the world's largest invertebrates, the giant Pacific octopus is also one of the most intelligent.
They are capable of problem-solving and memorizing tasks such as navigating through a maze or opening a jar full of food. Since they lack an outer shell for protection, they have become masters of camouflage with the ability to rapidly change the color and texture of their skin. Their skin contains pigment-containing cells called chromatophores that can change color to match their environment by expansion and contraction of the cells.
Color is also used to convey mood. An octopus will turn pale when stressed and bright red when it is annoyed. They are preyed on by animals like sea lions, sea otters, and halibut. When threatened, the giant Pacific octopus is able to squirt a cloud of ink out of its siphon and move backwards rapidly by jet propulsion. The ink acts to confuse predators. Their lifespan of 3 to 5 years is slightly longer than most octopus species. They will seek out a mate near the end of their lifespan.
The male octopus dies shortly after breeding. A female will lay tens of thousands of eggs. The eggs are laid in long strands that she attaches to the roof of her den. The female will stop eating and stay with the eggs for the about 5 to 8 months that it takes them to hatch. She keeps them clean and aerated. The female usually dies shortly after the young hatch. Hatched octopuses are the size of a grain of rice. They look like miniature adults. After hatching, the young will swim towards the surface and spend up to 3 months feeding on plankton until they are large enough to settle on the bottom.
Very few hatchlings survive to adulthood. The giant Pacific octopus is not considered endangered, but they are fished commercially for food and bait. They are also collected for aquarium displays. The mimic octopus can be found in the shallow ocean waters of Southeast Asia. This species managed to evade formal discovery until 1998. As its name suggests, this octopus has the ability to mimic other animals. Octopuses are able to change the color and texture of their skin in the blink of an eye in order to blend with their environment.
This allows them to hide from predators while stationary. The mimic octopus takes it one step further by mimicking the coloration and behaviors of venomous and unpalatable animals like flatfish, lionfish, and sea snakes. This octopus can move throughout the day while evading predators. This gives the mimic octopus the advantage of foraging for crustaceans and fish during the day instead of at night. The instant color change of an octopus's skin is made possible by specialized cells called chromatophores. Each cell contains a sack full of pigment. An array of nerves and muscles control whether each sack expands, making the color more visible.
Their body has no bones, but consists of a complex nervous system, a beak for crushing prey, and three hearts. Two hearts pump blood through the gills, and one heart pumps blood through the body. At night, the mimic octopus hides in a burrow that it has made by digging into the sandy seafloor. Octopuses don't live very long. A male will die shortly after mating with a female, and the female will die shortly after laying her eggs. As a last resort for defense, octopuses can squirt out a jet of ink to confuse predators and make a quick getaway. Predators may include groupers and barracudas. For more marine facts, click the subscribe button.
