Octopuses are eight-armed marine animals. Although they do not look like snails (do not have hard shells), they are part of the snail-oyster species, the mollusca phylum. They have eight trunks just behind the head, so they belong to the class Cephalopoda or "head-post". They are nocturnal, usually slow-moving. There are about 150 species of octopuses of all sizes.
- Scientific classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Subclass: Coleoidea
Superorder: Octopodiformes
Order: Octopoda (Leach, 1818)
The word octopus comes from the Greek word oktapous and means eight feet. The octopus has eight legs and arms. The most interesting thing is that octopuses have three hearts. Two of these supply blood to the brain and the other to the rest of the body. Just as we have hemoglobin in our blood, they also have hemocyanin in their blood. Therefore, their blood color is blue instead of red.
The octopus's eyesight is keen. For this they can easily catch prey in deep water. Large species of octopuses are found in the Pacific Ocean, about 23 feet long and weighing about 200 kg.
A notable feature of octopuses is their ability to change color. It has a mole-like rash on the skin. There are many chromatophores under the skin. Chromatophores contain cells of various colors. With the help of these cells they change the color of the body.
Octopuses are carnivores. Fish, crabs, shrimps, etc. are the favorite food of octopuses.
The octopus' self-defense strategy is quite strange. They can change the color of their body at will and move away quickly by filling the tubular funnel under the head with water and expelling it quickly. As a result of the change in color, it can mix with sea sand, rocks, plants, etc. in such a way that sharks, eels, fins (the main enemy of octopuses) cannot detect it from very close. They also have ink sacs that allow the octopus to throw thick black ink from its body that blinds the enemy for a while. Another quality of this ink is that it also destroys the enemy's sense of smell for a while. As a result, the octopus can escape. The octopus can run very fast which helps in its self-defense.
The female octopus lays about one and a half million eggs. The baby hatches from the egg. The mother octopus died after the baby was released.