Octopuses are incredible creatures. They look like the furthest living thing away from a human and are exactly what you would expect an alien to look like if it landed on earth. While scientists have delved into their DNA and said they are really not alien-like at all, they are still pretty strange. Read on to find out some amazing facts about the octopus.
Body
The octopus is well known for having eight arms and a gigantic head, but did you know they have three hearts? One heart is responsible for pumping blood through its organs and the others through its gills. When an octopus swims it stops its heart from beating and tires quickly. This is why you rarely see an octopus swimming and instead see it stuck to the floor.
By the way, don’t get confused with tentacles. An octopus has eight arms and no tentacles. The arms are very important with over 60% of an octopus’ neurons found in its arms. This means that some arms can be focused on moving the octopus through a cave while others are preparing dinner.
Behavior
The octopus’ best form of defense is by shooting ink at anyone who comes near it. They can temporarily blind an attacker long enough to getaway. The strange creature also has the ability to change color to camouflage into its surroundings.
If you did catch an octopus they have one last amazing idea. They can simply lose their arms, flee, and grow them back again.
One sad fact about the octopus is that when it mates, it dies. Both the female and male species will die soon after giving birth. The male will deliver sperm and move on, dying months later. The female will go through cellular suicide where her body begins to rip through tissue and organs until she dies.
One last thing
So often when people refer to the plural of octopuses they say octopi to sound intelligent. Octopi would be the plural of octopus if it was a Latin based word, but it is not. Octopus is a word that comes from Greek and so the plural is Octopuses. The next time someone tries to sound intelligent, please stop them.
So there you have it, some amazing facts about the very strange octopus. The next time you see an octopus give them respect. After all, they are older than dinosaurs and as smart as a house cat.
