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Common octopus, or octopus (Octopus vulgaris)Engl. Common octopus

A more or less close acquaintance with octopuses became possible thanks to the advent of high-quality scuba gear. So, with the help of a cylinder with a breathing mixture and a wetsuit, a person learned that the octopus is a sensitive, timid creature and does not tolerate unnecessary fuss.

An outwardly unattractive marine animal, which has 8 wriggling tentacles on its head with hemispherical suckers and sensitive antennae (cirrhi), a short sac-like body, a curved beak and cold, unblinking eyes, has a well-developed nervous system. It is known that octopuses have high intelligence and an extraordinary sense of parental duty.

These representatives of cephalopods form two suborders: deep-sea octopuses (Cirrata) and true octopuses (Incirrata). The size of most octopuses does not exceed half a meter; only the common octopus, Apollyon, Hong Kong and Doflein octopus are considered large. Some species are poisonous. They live in subtropical and tropical seas and oceans, most often in coastal rocky areas. They feed on crustaceans, mollusks and fish. Octopuses breathe through gills and can remain out of water for a short time.

The tentacles of the octopus are connected by a thin membrane, which when opened forms an umbrella. The organs of touch are long thin antennae, with the help of which the octopus controls the space in front of itself. Due to the absence of bones, the gelatinous, jelly-like animal easily changes shape, which helps it hide from pursuing predators. In addition, the skin of an ordinary octopus contains a special pigment, with the help of which the monster changes color, adapting to its environment. Because of their blue blood, which contains hemocyanin instead of hemoglobin and copper instead of iron, octopuses are often called “aristocrats of the sea.” The animal has three hearts: the main one drives blood throughout the body, and two gills push it through the gills. Octopus has big eyes with a rectangular pupil and a human-like lens.

Animals Through the Lens: Octopus (1982) (film)

A giant octopus attacked a cameraman / Animal attacks on people

Octopus: bizarre inhabitants of the deep sea

The octopus is a representative of the family of cephalopods. It is popularly known as an octopus, as it has eight huge tentacles. Since ancient times, there have been many legends and myths about this inhabitant of the seas. For example, sailors believed that a giant octopus-kraken lived in the ocean, capable of dragging an entire ship under water. These representatives of cephalopods form two suborders: deep-sea octopuses (Cirrata) and true octopuses (Incirrata).

The size of most octopuses does not exceed half a meter; only the common octopus, Apollyon, Hong Kong and Doflein octopus are considered large. Some species are poisonous. They live in subtropical and tropical seas and oceans, most often in coastal rocky areas. They feed on crustaceans, mollusks and fish. Octopuses breathe through gills and can remain out of water for a short time.

Anatomy and physiology of octopuses

The octopus or octopus shows typical representative cephalopods. Their body is compact, soft, round. The length of an adult octopus varies in the range from 1 centimeter to 4 meters. The mass of an octopus can reach 50 kilograms.

On the body of the octopus there is a mantle, which is a leather bag. The length of the mantle in males reaches 9.5 centimeters, and in females - 13.5 centimeters. An octopus has no bones. Because of this feature, it can easily change its shape and stay in a confined space.

The octopus has eight tentacles that are interconnected. A thin membrane serves as a connector. Located on the tentacles suction cups in 1-3 rows. The number of suckers in an adult can reach two thousand. One suction cup can hold approximately 100 grams of weight. In this case, retention occurs only due to the work of muscles, and not due to adhesion.

The mouth opening is where the tentacles grow. The mouth is equipped two strong jaws , similar to the beak of birds. The pharynx has a radula, similar to a grater, that grinds food. The anus is hidden under the mantle.

Common octopus may change color. This occurs under the influence of signals transmitted nervous system in response to external environment. In its normal state the octopus is brown, in case of danger it is white, and if it is angry it is red.

The eyes of an octopus are similar to human ones: large with lens and an outwardly oriented retina. It is noteworthy that the pupils are rectangular in shape.

Features of the organism of octopuses

This cephalopod has three hearts: one is responsible for distributing blood throughout the body, the other two are responsible for conducting blood through the gills.

Octopus has highly developed brain and rudiments of the cortex. The shape of the brain resembles a donut. This shape allows the brain to be compactly positioned around the esophagus. Cephalopods are capable of perceiving not only ordinary sounds, but also infrasound.

Also, thanks to the huge number of taste buds, the edibility of food is determined. Compared to other invertebrates, the octopus very large genome. It has 28 pairs of chromosomes and approximately 33 thousand protein-coding genes. According to the latter indicator, the octopus is even ahead of humans.

Octopus lifestyle and behavior

Octopuses live in all seas and oceans in the tropics and subtropics. As a rule, these animals lead a benthic lifestyle alone. They prefer to settle among stones and algae. They can settle in the empty shells of other underwater inhabitants.

For living, they choose a den with a narrow entrance, but spacious inside. Cleanliness is achieved using a funnel. Garbage and leftovers are not kept inside the habitat. On a hard surface, even a vertical one, octopuses move by crawling with the help of tentacles.

If an octopus needs to swim, then to do this, the octopus draws water into the cavity where its gills are located and forcefully pushes it out in the opposite direction. If a change in direction is required, the funnel through which the water is pushed is rotated.

Any of the octopus's movement options is very slow, so for hunting the animal actively uses ambushes and color changes to obtain food.

The main enemies of octopuses are:

dolphins;
whales;
sea lions;
sharks;
seals.

In case of danger, the octopus will often flees for his life, while releasing a dark liquid from special glands. How long does this liquid remain compact in the water, allowing the octopus to hide? Some zoologists believe that these shapeless spots also act as decoys.

In addition, if a tentacle is grabbed, it can come off due to strong muscle contraction. The tentacle continues to move for some time, which allows the octopus to break away from the enemy.

Reproduction of octopuses

Breeding periods occur in April and October. In some areas the dates have been shifted and fall to June and October. An octopus mates by releasing sperm from the mantle of the male into the mantle of the female.

Female octopuses after fertilization lay eggs. For laying, they choose depressions in the ground and make a nest, covering it with shells and stones. The eggs of octopuses are spherical, united in groups of 8–20 pieces.

In one clutch there may be 80 thousand eggs. The octopus takes care of the eggs, passing water, removing dirt and foreign objects. Until the eggs hatch, the female remains at the nest without food. It happens that she even dies after the young hatch.

During the first months, newborn octopuses feed on plankton and lead only a benthic lifestyle. After a month and a half, they already reach 12 millimeters and weigh several grams, and upon reaching 4 months they weigh about a kilogram.

Of the entire clutch, only one or two individuals reach sexual maturity. The lifespan of animals can reach 4 years, but on average octopuses live 1−2 years.

What do octopuses eat?

By the nature of their feeding, bottom-dwelling octopuses are classified as lurking predators. Hidden in their shelter, they patiently watch for passing fish, crabs, lobsters, lobsters and quickly rush at them, enveloping them with their long arms. The favorite food of octopuses is Kamchatka crabs.

Having caught a crab, the octopus carries it, holding it with its tentacles like hands, to its shelter. Sometimes one octopus drags several crabs at once. Octopuses also catch large gobies and flounders. Capture of prey occurs with the help of suction cups on the tentacles. Their strength is amazing: a suction cup with a diameter of 3 centimeters can withstand 2.5-3.5 kilograms.

This is a lot, especially since these animals have hundreds of suckers. Very ingenious experiments were carried out to determine the strength of the suction cups. Octopuses kept in an aquarium were given a crab tied to a dynamometer. He instantly grabbed the crab with his hands and hurried to hide with it in the shelter, but the leash did not allow him to do this.

Then the octopus firmly attached itself to the crab and began to forcefully pull it towards itself. At the same time, he held the crab with three hands, and with the rest he stuck to the bottom of the aquarium. Octopuses weighing about 1 kilogram or more could develop a force equal to 18 kilograms.

Octopuses recognize the taste of food not with their tongue, which is converted into a grater, but with their hands. The entire inner surface of the tentacles and suckers are involved in tasting food. These sea animals have an unusually subtle sense of taste; they can even taste their enemies.

Octopuses prefer to eat:

Fish.
Crustaceans.
Marine animals and shellfish.

If you drop a drop of water near an octopus taken from an aquarium where a moray eel lives - worst enemy shellfish, the octopus will immediately turn purple and run away.

Like many others cephalopods, octopuses belong to carnivorous animals. They grab their food with their tentacles and kill it with poison, and only then begin to consume it internally. If the victim is caught with a shell, then the octopus breaks it with its “beak” located near the mouth.

Octopuses represent the class of cephalopods (Cephalopoda), known for their intelligence, uncanny ability to blend into their surroundings, unique style of movement ( jet propulsion), as well as splashing ink. On the following slides, you will discover 10 fascinating facts about octopuses.

1. Octopuses are divided into two main suborders

We know about 300 living species of octopuses, which are divided into two main groups (suborders): 1) finned or deep-sea octopuses (Cirrina) and 2) finless or true octopuses (Incirrina). Fin fish are characterized by the presence of two fins on the head and a small inner shell. In addition, they have antennae on their arms (tentacles) near each sucker, which may play a role in feeding. Finless, includes many of the best known species of octopuses, most of which are benthic.

2. Octopus tentacles are called arms

The average person won't see the difference between tentacles and arms, but marine biologists clearly distinguish between the two. The arms of cephalopods are covered with suction cups along their entire length, and the tentacles have suction cups only at the tips and are used to capture food. By this standard, most octopuses have eight arms and no tentacles, while two other orders of cephalopods, cuttlefish and squid, have eight arms and two tentacles.

3. Octopuses release ink to protect themselves.

When threatened by predators, most octopuses release a thick cloud of black ink made up of melanin (the same pigment that affects the color of our skin and hair). You might think that the cloud simply serves as a visual distraction to buy the octopuses time to escape, but it also affects the predators' sense of smell (sharks, which can smell hundreds of meters away, are especially vulnerable to this kind of olfactory attack).

4. Octopuses are extremely intelligent

Octopuses are the only marine animals, other than whales and pinnipeds, that are capable of solving certain problems and recognizing various patterns. But regardless of octopus intelligence, it is very different from human intelligence: 70% of an octopus's neurons are located along the length of its arms, not in its brain, and there is no conclusive evidence that these are capable of communicating with each other.

5. Octopuses have three hearts

All vertebrates have one heart, but octopuses are equipped with three: one that pumps blood throughout the octopus's body (including the animal's arms), and two that pump blood through the gills that they use to breathe underwater. There is another key difference from vertebrates: the main component of octopus blood is hemocyanin, which contains copper atoms, rather than iron-containing hemoglobin, which explains the blue color of octopus blood.

6. Octopuses use three modes of locomotion

A bit like an underwater sports car, the octopus moves with three different ways. If there is no need to rush, they walk along the ocean floor using their flexible tentacle arms. To move faster underwater, they actively swim in the desired direction, bending their arms and body. In case of real rush (for example, attack hungry shark), octopuses use jet propulsion, shooting a stream of water (and ink to disorient the predator) from the body cavity and get away as quickly as possible.

7. Octopuses are masters of camouflage

Octopus skin is covered with three types of specialized cells that can quickly change color, reflectivity and transparency, allowing the animal to blend into its environment. Pigment-containing cells - chromatophores - are responsible for the red, orange, yellow, brown, white and black colors of the skin, and also give it shine, which is ideal for camouflage. Thanks to this arsenal of cells, some octopuses are able to disguise themselves as algae!

8. The giant octopus is considered the largest species of octopus

Forget all the movies about octopus monsters with tentacles as thick as tree trunks that sweep helpless sailors overboard and sink large ships. The biggest known species octopus - giant octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini), weighs on average about 15 kg, and the length of the arms (tentacles) is about 3-4 m. However, there is some dubious evidence of significantly larger individuals giant octopus, weighing more than 200 kg.

9. Octopuses have a very short lifespan

You may want to reconsider buying an octopus as a pet because most species have a lifespan of about a year. Evolution has programmed male octopuses to die within weeks of mating, and females stop feeding while waiting for the eggs to hatch, and often starve to death. Even if you sterilize your octopuses (most likely, not every veterinarian in your city specializes in such operations), it is unlikely that your pet will live longer than that of a hamster or gerbil mouse.

10. The octopus order has another name

You may have noticed that in this article only one term was used, “octopuses,” which is familiar to everyone and does not hurt the ears. But this order of cephalopods is also known as octopus (octopus in Greek means “eight legs”).

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Among all known cephalopods, there are about 300 species of octopuses. This is a third of the total number of cephalopods on the entire planet. Because of this large quantity species under the term " octopuses" understand all the animals included in the order "Octopodiformes".

However, calling these animals by one name is somewhat incorrect. This is the same as calling all animals that live on land and have two wings simply “birds.” All octopuses have unique differences. There are small octopuses that live near the surface of the water in coastal zone. Most cephalopods live at depths of 30-80 m. Octopuses can be found even in cold Antarctic waters. More recently, in 2007, it was discovered and described " Antarctic octopus". The same size different types ranges from 1 cm to 3.5 m.

For the average person, the octopus with its 8 legs appears to be a relative of squid and cuttlefish. Indeed, they all belong to the same class, but the octopus has a number of unique differences. Octopuses do not have any bones or protective bodies, like cuttlefish and squid. The only hard part of the body is the beak, similar to the beak of a parrot. The rest of the body is unusually soft, flexible and elastic. It allows the octopus to penetrate the narrowest crevices and holes in rocks and reefs. The only limitation is the beak. Thus, the size of the hole into which an octopus can penetrate is limited by the size of its beak.

Interestingly, the ability of the octopus to penetrate hard-to-reach places on the bottom was also used by humans. At the end of the 20th century. humanity was surprised when the Japanese used cephalopods to lift valuables from a ship that sank a century and a half ago. They tied the octopuses to long ropes and lowered them to the depths where the ship rested. The animals, trying to immediately hide, climbed into porcelain vases and jugs scattered near the sunken ship. When lifted to the surface, the octopuses clung tightly to their shelter, allowing people to lift valuable porcelain from the depths.

The octopus is not aggressive, and tries to squeeze into any hole in order to avoid collisions with its ill-wishers - moray eels, sharks and predatory fish.

Octopuses don't live long. Most species only live up to 2 years. Those who live in tropical zones and even less - about six months. The record holder for longevity is " Antarctic octopus", reaching 5 years of age.

This is related short life with very interesting fact. Octopuses stop eating after mating and go without food for several months. However, they do not die from hunger at all, but from the fact that they have special glands that act as a “time bomb”. These glands secrete special liquid, which is “programmed” to kill the cephalopod. If this gland is surgically removed, the octopus will continue to live. However, even without this gland, he does not consume food, and still dies of hunger.

The intellectual abilities of the octopus are the subject of debate among many biologists, but some features of their behavior do indicate high intelligence. Thus, it was experimentally established that octopuses easily find a way out of an artificial labyrinth because they have a short-term memory that does not allow them to get lost. In addition, they also have long-term memory, thanks to which they can recognize their relatives after some time.

Octopuses have a very developed nervous system, and only a small part of it is concentrated in the brain. The remaining neurons of the animal are localized in the legs. The animal's reflexes proceed in such a way that it has been suggested that they have a three-level nervous system.

In captivity, octopuses easily learn patterned actions, and even enjoy “playing” with people. They can repeat the movements of human hands with their legs. Although this applies to all animals they observe. When an octopus and a cuttlefish meet at the bottom of the sea, the octopus mimics its neighbor, waving its legs in time with her movements.

A respectful attitude towards octopuses is confirmed by the fact that in the 1986 law “On Cruelty to Animals”, the octopus is included in the list of those creatures on which experiments cannot be carried out without anesthesia. Although this law only applies to octopuses in the UK. For the rest of the world, especially Asia, octopuses are of more culinary interest than scientific interest. In Japan, cephalopods take pride of place on the table, along with other seafood. Moreover, small octopuses are sometimes even eaten alive, which causes several deaths a year. The fact is that a living octopus, even a small one, tries to cling to the shelter with its tenacious tentacles, and the human throat appears to it as such.

Octopus - from ancient Greek, this name translates as “eight legs.”

Octopuses are cephalopods. On earth, or rather in tropical and subtropical seas and oceans, there are about 200 species of different octopuses.

Octopuses are mysterious animals; they evoke mixed feelings; at the same time, a certain horror arises, followed by admiration.

Octopuses are considered the smartest among their kind. They are able to distinguish colors, shapes, and big shape from the little one. They have a good memory, remember and recognize people they often see.

These creatures are endowed by nature amazing ability to camouflage. Their capabilities are unimaginably amazing. They can take any shape, change color and even skin structure, merging with the environment that surrounds them, no matter what it is - stones, sand, corals or something else. The octopus imitator is able to take on the appearance of various sea animals.

This is how they protect themselves from any predators. They themselves can “turn” into these predators, even duplicating their behavior.

The skin of an octopus contains cells with various pigments, which, receiving an impulse from the central nervous system, begin to change, and this is how their mysterious transformation occurs.

The entire body of the octopus smoothly flows from one part to another, starting from the head and ending with eight tentacles with suction cups. The body is very soft because the octopus has no bones.

Thanks to this, the octopus can penetrate any, even the smallest, hole or crack. They can transform in a limited space, as if shrinking, while occupying a smaller volume.

The octopus's head is large, slightly laid back. At the top there are large eyes with a rectangular pupil. The small mouth, located at the point where its tentacles meet, has jaws, and in the throat there is a grater (radula) for chopping and grinding food.

Another feature of the octopus is three hearts: one of which drives blood through the entire body, and two more through the gills.

The sizes of octopuses vary depending on the species, the smallest is from 1 cm and reaches up to 4 m, reaching a mass of 50 kg. According to some reports, the Doflein octopus measures about a meter and weighs 270 kg.

Octopuses are predators, so they obtain various crustaceans, fish, and mollusks as a food source. The octopus grabs the victim with its tentacles and holds it with the help of suction cups. Poison enters the victim's wound.

The octopus prefers not to chase prey, since swimming quickly is not its strong point; it chooses the “ambush” method. Mimicking under environment he waits for his prey, and then attacks with lightning speed.

There are receptors on the tentacles that allow you to determine “edible” and “non-edible”.

For self-defense in octopuses, it is very unusual ways. For example, when they need to instantly hide, many species of octopuses release ink, which hangs in the water as a shapeless spot. While the opponent is discouraged and sees nothing, the octopus disappears.

If you still managed to grab the octopus by the tentacle, there is another secret. Through strong muscle contraction, the grabbed tentacle comes off for some time, continuing to move and contract.

Most octopus species mate once in their lives. The female lays eggs. She chooses holes, holes or crevices in rocks for her nest. Some people carry clusters of eggs with them.

During the period of incubation of eggs, the female does not eat and therefore, soon after the cubs are born, she dies. Babies are able to take care of themselves.