For Love of the Octopus

Octopuses have been adored, and written about, and cartoon images have been drawn of them. I am here to celebrate octopuses but I will also say unfortunately they are also loved by chefs who make delicious dishes out of them.

Octopus, Octopi, Octopuses

This can get confusing. The word octopus comes from Ancient Greek with the plural form being octopodes. English speakers turned it into octopi but authorities say that the best pluralization is octopuses.

Octopuses Have Arms, Not Tentacles

The amazing octopus has four arms on either side of its body. So all together they have eight arms. These creatures have a very sophisticated nervous system and two-thirds of the octopus' neurons are in its arms. This makes it possible for the octopus to grasp prey and objects which they want to manipulate.

Fit Through Almost Anything

Octopuses have incredible muscles which let them slip through quarter-sized openings. This can get frustrating when they are in captivity as they become great escape artists in zoos.

Strong Suckers

Octopuses have strong suckers and can taste things through them. It gives them the ability to have a good sense of their surroundings, discriminate between enemies and friends, and know what the taste of something is.

Use Tools

Octopuses can make shelters for themselves using coconut shells. It shows they know how to used tools and use the surrounding environment to their advantage.

Regrow Arms

Octopuses can regrow their arms which comes very much in handy if at any time they lose an arm. They have the ability to drop their arms to confuse predators knowing new ones will grow. How this protects them from predators is that the dropped arm will keep wiggling due to the concentration of neurons letting the octopus get away to safety.

Three Hearts

Another amazing thing about octopuses is that they have three hearts. Two hearts work to provide circulation throughout the body and the third heart circulates oxygen through the organs. While swimming the third heart doesn't beat, cutting down on stamina. This explains why crawling through the water is preferred to cruising.

Octopus Ink an Irritant

Octopus ink is an irritant that can confuse their enemies. The ink clouds the waters, and mangles vision, sense of taste, and smell of predators so the octopus can get safely away.

Intelligence

In the book “History of Animals” which was written around 350 B.C.E. the Greek philosopher Aristotle said, “The octopus is a stupid creature, for it will approach a man's hand if it be lowered in the water; but it is neat and thrifty in its habits: that is, it lays up stores in its nest, and after eating up all that is eatable, it ejects the shells and sheaths of crabs and shellfish and the skeletons of little fishes.”

Octopuses have the ability to release ink for self-defense, they can crawl on land and can outsmart their predators. Also, they have big brains. These creatures can figure out how to open clamshells that have been wired shut. They have the ability to navigate mazes, solve problems, remember solutions, and take things apart.

Mating the End of the Game

For octopuses mating and parenthood are brief affairs in their lives. It is unfortunate that the pleasure of mating for the creature ends in death. Once the male octopus interacts with the female his “sex arm” falls of and he dies. The females lay up to 400,000 eggs and guard them. To prioritize, their duty as mothers the females stop eating. Once the eggs hatch, the female octopuses are already dead or dying. Their optic glands produce self-destructive chemicals causing a quick change in cholesterol metabolism and this kills them.

The Beatles Octopuses Garden