What types of octopuses are there? Giant octopus The largest octopuses in the world

Octopuses are perhaps the most amazing of the mollusks that live in the depths of the sea. Their strange appearance surprises, delights, and sometimes frightens, the imagination pictures giant octopuses capable of easily sinking even large ships. This kind of demonization of the octopus was greatly facilitated by the work of many famous writers, for example, Victor Hugo described in his novel “Toilers of the Sea” octopus as “the absolute embodiment of evil.” In reality, octopuses, of which there are more than 200 species in nature, are completely harmless creatures, and it is rather they who need to be afraid of us humans, and not vice versa.

The closest relatives of octopuses are squid and cuttlefish; they themselves belong to the genus of cephalopods, the family of octopuses proper.

Octopus: description, structure, characteristics. What does an octopus look like?

The appearance of the octopus is confusing; it is immediately unclear where its head is, where its mouth is, where its eyes and limbs are. But then everything becomes clear - the sac-like body of the octopus is called the mantle, which is fused with a large head, and there are eyes on its upper surface. The eyes of an octopus have a convex shape.

The octopus's mouth is tiny and surrounded by chitinous jaws called the beak. The latter is necessary for the octopus to grind food, since they cannot swallow prey whole. He also has a special grater in his throat, which grinds pieces of food into pulp. Around the mouth there are tentacles, which are the true calling card of the octopus. The octopus's tentacles are long, muscular, and their lower surface is studded with suckers of varying sizes, which are responsible for taste (yes, the octopus's suckers contain its taste buds). How many tentacles does an octopus have? There are always eight of them, in fact, the name of this animal comes from this number, since the word “octopus” means “eight legs” (well, that is, tentacles).

Also, twenty species of octopuses have special fins that serve as a kind of rudders when they move.

Interesting fact: octopuses are the most intelligent among mollusks; the octopus' brain is surrounded by special cartilage, strikingly similar to the skull of vertebrates.

All the senses of octopuses are well developed, especially vision; the eyes of octopuses are very similar in structure to human eyes. Each of the eyes can see separately, but if the octopus needs to look at some object more closely, the eyes easily come together and focus on a given object, in other words, octopuses have the rudiments of binocular vision. Octopuses are also capable of detecting infrasound.

The structure of the internal organs of an octopus is unusually complex. For example, their circulatory system is closed, and the arterial vessels are almost connected to the venous ones. The octopus also has three hearts! One of them is the main one, and two small gills, whose task is to push blood to the main heart, otherwise it directs the flow of blood throughout the body. Speaking of octopus blood, it's blue! Yes, all octopuses are real aristocrats! But seriously, the color of octopus blood is due to the presence of a special pigment in it - geocyamine, which in them plays the same role as hemoglobin in us.

Another interesting organ that the octopus has is the siphon. The siphon leads into the mantle cavity, where the octopus draws water and then, abruptly releasing it, creates a real jet that pushes its body forward. True, the octopus’s jet device is not as perfect as that of its relative the squid (which became the prototype for the creation of a rocket), but it is also excellent.

The sizes of octopuses vary between species, the largest of which is 3 meters long and weighs about 50 kg. Most species of medium-sized octopuses range from 0.2 to 1 meter in length.

As for the color of octopuses, they usually have red, brown, or yellow colors, but they can also easily change their color like this. Their mechanism for changing color is the same as that of reptiles - special chromatophore cells located on the skin can stretch and contract in a matter of seconds, simultaneously changing color, and making the octopus invisible to potential predators, or expressing its emotions (for example, angry the octopus turns red, even black).

Where does the octopus live?

The habitat of octopuses is almost all seas and oceans, with the exception of northern waters, although they sometimes penetrate there. But most often, octopuses live in warm seas, both in shallow water and at very great depths - some deep-sea octopuses can penetrate to depths of up to 5000 m. Many octopuses like to settle in coral reefs.

What do octopuses eat?

Octopuses, however, like other cephalopods, are predatory creatures; their diet consists of a variety of small fish, as well as crabs and lobsters. They first capture their prey with their tentacles and kill them with poison, then they begin to absorb them, since they cannot swallow whole pieces, they first grind the food with their beak.

Octopus lifestyle

Octopuses usually lead a sedentary, sedentary lifestyle; most of the time they hide among reefs and sea rocks, emerging from their hiding places only to hunt. Octopuses usually live alone and are very attached to their area.

How long do octopuses live?

The lifespan of an octopus is on average 2-4 years.

Octopus enemies

One of the most dangerous enemies of the octopus in recent times is humans, which is greatly facilitated by cooking, because many delicious and delicious dishes can be prepared from octopus. But besides this, the octopus also has other natural enemies, various sea predators: sharks, sea lions, fur seals, and killer whales are also not averse to feasting on the octopus.

Is octopus dangerous for humans?

Only on the pages of books or in various science fiction films, octopuses are incredibly dangerous creatures, capable of not only easily killing people, but also destroying entire ships. In reality, they are quite harmless, even cowardly; at the slightest sign of danger, the octopus prefers to retreat by flight, no matter what happens. Although they usually swim slowly, when in danger they turn on their jet engine, allowing the octopus to accelerate to a speed of 15 km per hour. They also actively use their ability of mimicry, merging with the surrounding space.

Only the largest species of octopus can pose some danger to scuba divers, and then only during the breeding season. In this case, of course, the octopus itself will never be the first to attack a person, but in defense, it can sting him with its poison, which, although not fatal, will, of course, cause some unpleasant feelings (swelling, dizziness). The exception is the blue-ringed octopus, which lives off the coast of Australia, whose nerve venom is still fatal to humans, but since this octopus leads a secretive lifestyle, accidents with it are very rare.

Types of octopuses, photos and names

Of course, we will not describe all 200 species of octopuses; we will focus only on the most interesting of them.

As you probably guessed from the name, this is the largest octopus in the world. It can reach up to 3 meters in length and up to 50 kg in weight, but these are the largest individuals of this species; on average, a giant octopus is 30 kg and 2-2.5 meters in length. Inhabits the Pacific Ocean from Kamchatka and Japan to the west coast of the USA.

The most widespread and well-studied species of octopus, living in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, from England to the coast of Senegal. It is relatively small, its body length is 25 cm, and together with the tentacles it is 90 cm. The body weight is on average 10 cm. It is very popular in the cuisine of the Mediterranean peoples.

And this beautiful species of octopus, which lives off the coast of Australia, is also the most dangerous among them, since it is its poison that can cause cardiac arrest in humans. Another characteristic feature of this octopus is the presence of characteristic blue and black rings on its yellow skin. A person can only be attacked while defending himself, so to avoid trouble, you just need to stay away from him. It is also the smallest octopus, its body length is 4-5 cm, its tentacles are 10 cm, and its weight is 100 grams.

Octopus breeding

Now let's look at how octopuses reproduce; this process is very interesting and unusual. Firstly, they reproduce only once in their lives and this action has dramatic consequences for them. Before the mating season, one of the tentacles of a male octopus turns into a kind of sexual organ - a hectocotylus. With its help, the male transfers his sperm into the mantle cavity of the female octopus. After this act, the males, alas, die. Females with male reproductive cells continue to lead a normal life for several months, and only then lay eggs. There are a huge number of them in the clutch, up to 200 thousand pieces.

Then it lasts for several months until the young octopuses hatch, during which time the female becomes an exemplary mother, literally blowing away specks of dust from her future offspring. In the end, the female, exhausted from hunger, also dies. Young octopuses hatch from eggs completely ready for independent life.

• More recently, many people have heard of the famous octopus Paul, the octopus oracle, the octopus predictor, who with amazing accuracy predicted the results of football matches at the European Championships in Germany in 2008. In the aquarium where this octopus lived, two feeders with flags of opposing teams were placed, and then the team from whose feeder Paul the octopus began his meal won the football match.
• Octopuses have played a significant role in people’s erotic fantasies for quite some time; back in 1814, a certain Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai published an erotic engraving, “The Dream of a Fisherman’s Wife,” which depicts a naked woman in the company of two octopuses.
• It is quite possible that, as a result of evolution, over millions of years, octopuses will develop into intelligent creatures similar to humans.

Life of an Octopus, video

And finally, an interesting documentary about octopuses from National Geographic.

When writing the article, I tried to make it as interesting, useful and high-quality as possible. I would be grateful for any feedback and constructive criticism in the form of comments on the article. You can also write your wish/question/suggestion to my email. [email protected] or on Facebook, sincerely the author.

In order to meet amazing aliens from other worlds who have a certain intelligence and are as different from humans as possible, you do not need to fly into space. They live next to us in the seas and oceans. These creatures - octopuses - are a legacy of ancient centuries, images of huge octopuses, monsters from the depths of the sea, of which people have always feared. They have long been attributed demonic glory and power, as if they were able to sink a ship or approach a diver with the insidious purpose of crushing the victim with their tentacles and holding him until he suffocates.

Mysterious inhabitants of the water world

Modern researchers have long refuted all such legends and fantasies. The truth turned out to be impressive; these animals are endowed with a lot of amazing qualities:

• they are smart and sensitive (millions of neurons in their tentacles give them an unrivaled sense of touch);
• have excellent vision and are able to quickly analyze what they see;
• they have a well-developed nervous system;
• they have three hearts;
• their blood is blue;
• they have eight prehensile, constantly moving tentacle arms with suction cups responsible for touch and balance, which are sometimes used as legs to move along the seabed;
• they communicate through color, while they themselves distinguish only black and white colors;
• move with the help of a jet engine;
• capable of perfect camouflage and camouflage, changing the color of their skin and its texture in a split second.

These bizarre creatures have no skeleton or shell, but only a soft, elastic body that can change shape. Even the largest octopus will be able to squeeze into any gap that does not limit its only solid organ, its beak mouth. This organ is made of keratin, like our nails, and looks like a parrot's beak. An animal weighing 16-18 kg can easily get into a hole with a diameter of 3.5 cm.

These inhabitants of the depths of the sea are terrible and at the same time charming, they carry you into mysterious depths so that a person realizes all their charm and gets to know them better. There are more than 300 species of octopuses in the world, 100 of which have been described, and they come in all shapes, colors and sizes. They can live in almost any habitat, from shallow waters off the coast to deep hydrothermal vents. Large animals are of particular interest. These are the common octopus, Dofleina and Appolion.

There are stories of rare leviathans raised from the depths of the sea, weighing more than 50 kg. Stories of fearsome giants with tentacles over 10m long date back more than 50 years, with some giant octopuses caught weighing over 180kg, the same as a black bear. This species has a bad reputation. Above the eyes of the octopus there are two outgrowths resembling horns, for which it was nicknamed the “sea devil”. This is Doflein's octopus.

This species of cephalopod is the most studied. Such individuals live in the seas of the Far East, off the coast of Japan and America. They prefer to live at shallow depths, not descending below 300 m. Animals of this species are capable of reaching a weight of more than 50 kg, although their usual standard weight is 25 kg. There is a known case when an octopus weighing more than 270 kg with a “span” of tentacles of over 9 m was caught.

At birth, Doflein's octopuses are only 6 mm long and weigh 0.003 grams. They double their weight every three months. At the age of two years they reach a weight of 2 kg, then until 32 months they make a leap, sharply increasing to 18 kg. These large octopuses feed continuously and eat all the food they can find, and can eat their own kind. Such octopuses live only 4 years.

This predator lives in all tropical and subtropical oceans and seas, in shallow waters up to 150 m with rocky bottom areas. Standard body length is 25 cm, weight is up to 10 kg.

The common octopus lives alone, hiding from large fish and marine mammals, camouflaging itself only when it goes out to hunt. Life expectancy is no more than two years.

Apollyon

This view is huge. The octopus can lay claim to the title of giant. But the Apollyon has the only drawback - its low weight despite its large body size. The proportions of this species of octopus resemble a non-standard spider: long, fragile and thin legs extend from a small body.

Apollyons live in rocks off the coast of western Canada, Alaska and California. Deep, cold, oxygen-rich waters provide optimal living conditions for maximum octopus growth.

The modern context of the image of an octopus is the image of a graceful giant, however, it has been noted that over the last 15-20 years, large octopuses weighing 50 kg have become increasingly rare. This may be a genetic trait that gives octopuses a smaller size than they had 50 to 80 years ago. The reasons may be substances polluting the oceans and increased fishing for octopus (crab) food. Or maybe, in a warming world, these sensitive giants simply lay low? Climate change is definitely a threat to the huge octopuses. It is possible that supergiants exist at depths to which humans cannot yet descend using modern equipment.

The ocean world is amazing and mysterious, and one of its most mysterious inhabitants are octopuses. In total there are more than 300 species. In all this diversity there are real giants and very small creatures. Let's plunge into this mysterious world of subtropical seas and present the most exciting and interesting facts about octopuses.

25 very interesting facts about octopuses:

Name

The octopus belongs to the large class of cephalopods. “Octōpoda” is how they are called in Latin, and the specific name itself came to us from the ancient Greek language: ὀϰτώ - means “eight” and πούς, which means “leg”.

These inhabitants of the deep sea are also called octopuses. In Vladimir Dahl's explanatory dictionary, octopuses are the names given to huge fairy-tale animals that emerge from the water and devour ships.

Intelligence

Octopuses, according to scientists, have the rudiments of intellectual activity. They are easy to train; living in captivity, they remember their owner, distinguishing him by figure and smell.

Their brain is donut-shaped and is considered one of the most developed among invertebrates. One of the most incredible abilities of octopuses is the ability to unscrew lids from jars.

Body

The structure is quite original. The body consists of a large head and eight tentacles. Octopuses do not have a single bone, so graceful animals can crawl into a hole that is 4 times smaller than the animal’s body. The octopus's eyes are large, but the pupils are of an unusual rectangular shape. The rectangular pupil provides a viewing angle of up to 340° without turning the head.

It is difficult to detect where the animal's mouth is, since it is hidden in the depths of the tentacles. Instead of teeth, there are two powerful jaws, resembling a bird's beak in appearance.

Three hearts and other organs

The inhabitant of the seas and oceans has three hearts. One pumps blood throughout the body, and the other two provide breathing by pumping blood through the gills.

The octopus' tentacles are equipped with suction cups. These are peculiar receptors with the help of which it determines the edibility of an object. There are up to 10 thousand such suckers in some species.

Blood

The blood contains a large amount of copper, which is why octopuses have blue blood. It is copper that makes it such an unusual color for the animal world.

It was believed that cephalopods do not hear because they lack ears. More recently, they have proven that they perfectly perceive sound, including infrasound.

The ability to hear helps him in hunting, and also allows him to escape in advance and hide in a safe place from a predator.

Mimicry

Almost all species known to science can change color to adapt to their environment. The process is regulated by the nervous system.

The usual color is brown. The skin contains cells with different pigmentations, which shrink or stretch depending on the situation. Interestingly, having lost their sight, they lose the ability to change color.

The sea animal can go without water for a long time. Some species move excellently on land using “tentacle legs.”

They come to land for two reasons. The first is searching for food in the puddles formed after low tide. And secondly, this is salvation from larger predators.

Cephalopods, except for two species, mate once in their lives. During the period of sexual maturity, the male octopus takes out his spermatophores and uses a special sexual tentacle to insert them into the female’s mantle.

The mating method of Argonaut octopuses is striking. The male's tentacle, in which a sufficient amount of seminal fluid has accumulated, separates and independently penetrates into the mantle cavity of the female. The male can only observe the process from the side. But, don't worry. The male's reproductive organ grows back, but octopuses are born by simply hatching from eggs.

After the birth of the offspring, the female dies, but the small octopuses are ready for independent life.

Exemplary family

Only one species of octopus, the Pacific minke whale, mates for life. Female minke whales do not die after giving birth to their offspring, but take care of the babies for several months until they get stronger.

This, of course, is an exception, but that’s how nature ordered it. This species is also distinguished by its unusual way of hunting. Before the attack, he swims up and lightly spanks his victim. Such a warning does not save the victim, but why he does this, scientists have not yet figured out.

Long scientific observations of them have shown that after mating the male loses his mind. He develops dementia and simply does not remember past events.

Octopuses can freely separate any tentacle from themselves. They use this ability to deceive natural enemies.

While the predator is busy with the separated limb, the mollusk flees at great speed. The lost body part grows back.

Another method of protection is the ink that octopuses release when a predator appears. The cloud masks not only the octopus, but also odors.
The first sample of ink pigment was obtained from the pouch of an ocean inhabitant.

Clean

These creatures always keep their home completely clean. When they find a new shelter, they “sweep” it with a stream of water released from a special hole.
They maintain order throughout their lives, and put leftover food and other floating garbage in a separate place not far from the home.

History has recorded numerous cases of octopuses attacking humans, and in ancient times they were generally considered the most dangerous inhabitants of the seas.

Chilling stories are described in the literature, and there have been cases where large octopuses easily overturned boats. One of the last cases of attack was recorded in 1952, when a huge creature tried to drag fisherman Gordon Hastie into its hole. The man was saved by the knife he used to cut the octopus' tentacles.

By the way, there is a fascinating site on our website about the most dangerous killer fish in the world

Poisonous

Blue-ringed octopuses, which live in the Indian Ocean, are also dangerous. They are considered one of the most poisonous creatures on earth.

The photo shows exactly the species whose poison can kill a person. 5 minutes after the bite, suffocation occurs and the person dies within an hour. No antidote has been found, and only constant ventilation of the lungs can save the patient until the poison is eliminated from the body.

Lifespan

Eight-legged creatures live on average 1–2 years. There are also long-livers, living up to 5 years, and some species live no more than 6 months.

Many species thrive in captivity. But we must remember that at home he will be the only inhabitant of the aquarium, since he will simply eat the fish right away.

The smallest is Octopus Wolfi, which lives in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. They grow no more than 1 cm, so it is quite difficult to see it in clear waters.

The largest are giant octopuses, and the largest specimen was caught off the coast of the United States in 1945. Its length was 8 meters, and the giant weighed 180 kg.

Jet animals

Few of the inhabitants of the seas can develop such speed as octopuses. A kind of “jet engine” allows it to gain high speed.

The device is quite simple. The mollusk takes a large amount of water into the mantle and then releases it through a special funnel. In fact, he moves like this, constantly pushing out water with his own body.

All the vital organs of a sea mollusk are located in its head, including the female testicles. Only the tentacles perform the function of taste buds, and in males it is also the genital organ during the mating season.

The size of octopuses depends on their habitat. Those living in warm water grow much larger than those whose habitat is cool seas.

The color also depends on the habitat. They adapt to the color of the bottom, and also change color depending on the condition. If you frighten them, they turn white, and in moments of irritation they acquire a reddish tint.

Sexual determinism

Among all the animals on the planet, they have pronounced sexual differences. Females are much more massive and larger in size than males.

But fate prepared cruel trials for the females. After mating, during the development of eggs, females do not eat anything. Nerve cells in the body die, the functioning of organs stops, and they, as we have already reported, die immediately after the birth of offspring.

The oldest octopus found by paleontologists is 290 million years old. It turns out that these charming creatures appeared on the planet long before the appearance of even the most distant ancestors of humans.

Famous Paul

During the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Paul predicted the outcome of football matches. The most successful predictions were for the German national team.

Of the 14 predicted matches, Paul was wrong only twice. When Paul died, a monument was erected to him at the entrance to the aquarium where he was kept. And he lived in the German town of Oberhausen.

Decoding the genome

Recently, scientists managed to decipher the octopus genome, and it turned out that its length is 2.7 billion base pairs. For comparison, the human genome is 3 billion pairs. But we will try to reduce the backlog.

The data obtained will help trace the evolution of the marine animal, how octopuses managed to acquire amazing cognitive abilities and the rudiments of intelligent activity.

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Conclusion

Our voyage has come to an end. We hope our message about these amazing animals was useful, because we learned a lot about unusual cephalopods, their habits, and why the octopus changes color. And most importantly, is the octopus dangerous for humans?

What other interesting facts about octopuses do you know?

There is the so-called Architeuthis - a genus of huge oceanic squid, whose length reaches 18 meters in length. The greatest length of the mantle is 2 m, and the tentacles are up to 5 m. The largest specimen was found in 1887 on the coast of New Zealand - its length was 17.4 meters. Unfortunately, nothing is said about weight.

Giant squid can be found in the subtropical and temperate zones of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans. They live in the water column, and they can be found both a few meters from the surface and at a depth of one kilometer.

No one is capable of attacking this animal except one, namely the sperm whale. At one time it was believed that a terrible battle was being fought between these two, the outcome of which remained unknown to the last. But, as recent studies have shown, Architeuthis loses in 99% of cases, since power is always on the side of the sperm whale.

If we talk about squid caught in our time, we can talk about a specimen that was caught by fishermen in the Antarctic region in 2007 (see the first photo). Scientists wanted to examine it, but could not - at that time there was no suitable equipment, so they decided to freeze the giant until better times. As for the dimensions, they are as follows: body length - 9 meters, and weight - 495 kilograms. This is the so-called colossal squid or mesonychoteuthis.

And this is possibly a photograph of the largest squid in the world:

Even ancient sailors told terrible stories in sailor taverns about the attack of monsters that emerged from the abyss and sank entire ships, entangling them with their tentacles. They were called krakens. They became legends. Their existence was viewed rather skeptically. But even Aristotle described a meeting with the “great teuthys”, from which travelers plowed the waters of the Mediterranean Sea suffered. Where does reality end and truth begin?

Homer was the first to describe the kraken in his tales. Scylla, whom Odysseus met in his wanderings, is nothing more than a giant kraken. The Gorgon Medusa borrowed tentacles from the monster, which over time transformed into snakes. And, of course, the Hydra, defeated by Hercules, is a distant “relative” of this mysterious creature. On the frescoes of Greek temples you can find images of creatures that wrap their tentacles around entire ships.

Soon the myth took on flesh. People met a mythical monster. This happened in the west of Ireland, when in 1673 a storm washed up on the seashore a creature the size of a horse, with eyes like dishes and many appendages. He had a huge beak, like an eagle's. The remains of the kraken have long been an exhibit that was shown to everyone for big money in Dublin.

Carl Linnaeus, in his famous classification, assigned them to the order of mollusks, calling them Sepia microcosmos. Subsequently, zoologists systematized all known information and were able to give a description of this species. In 1802, Denis de Montfort published the book “General and Particular Natural History of Mollusks,” which subsequently inspired many adventurers to capture the mysterious deep-seated animal.

The year was 1861, and the steamer Dlekton was making a routine voyage across the Atlantic. Suddenly a giant squid appeared on the horizon. The captain decided to harpoon him. And they were even able to drive several sharp spears into the solid body of the kraken. But three hours of struggle were in vain. The mollusk sank to the bottom, almost dragging the ship with it. At the ends of the harpoons there were scraps of meat weighing a total of 20 kilograms. The ship's artist managed to sketch the struggle between man and animal, and this drawing is still kept in the French Academy of Sciences.

A second attempt to capture the kraken alive was made ten years later, when it ended up in a fishing net near Newfoundland. People fought for ten hours with the stubborn and freedom-loving animal. They were able to pull him ashore. The ten-meter carcass was examined by the famous naturalist Harvey, who preserved the kraken in salt water and the exhibit delighted visitors to the London History Museum for many years.

Ten years later, on the other side of the earth, in New Zealand, fishermen were able to catch a twenty-meter clam weighing 200 kilograms. The most recent discovery was a kraken found in the Falkland Islands. It was “only” 8 meters long and is still kept at the Darwin Center in the UK capital.

What is he like? This animal has a cylindrical head, several meters in length. Its body changes color from dark green to crimson-red (depending on the animal’s mood). Krakens have the largest eyes in the animal world. They can be up to 25 centimeters in diameter. In the center of the “head” is the beak. This is a chitinous formation that the animal uses to grind fish and other food. With it, he is able to bite through a steel cable 8 centimeters thick. The kraken's tongue has a curious structure. It is covered with small teeth, which have different shapes, allowing you to grind food and push it into the esophagus.

A meeting with a kraken does not always end in victory for people. Here's an incredible story floating around the Internet: in March 2011, a squid attacked fishermen in the Sea of ​​Cortez. In front of people vacationing at the Loreto resort, a huge octopus sank a 12-meter ship. The fishing boat was sailing parallel to the coastline when suddenly several dozen thick tentacles emerged from the water towards it. They wrapped themselves around the sailors and threw them overboard. Then the monster began to rock the ship until it capsized.

According to an eyewitness: “I saw four or five bodies washed ashore by the surf. Their bodies were almost completely covered with blue spots - from the suckers of sea monsters. One was still alive. But he hardly resembled a person. The squid literally chewed him up!”

This is Photoshop. The original photo is in the comments.

According to zoologists, it was a carnivorous Humboldt squid that lives in these waters. And he was not alone. The flock deliberately attacked the ship, acted in a coordinated manner and consisted mainly of females. There are fewer and fewer fish in these waters and the krakens need to look for food. The fact that they reached people is an alarming sign.

Below, in the cold and dark depths of the Pacific Ocean, lives a very smart and cautious creature. There are legends all over the world about this truly unearthly creature. But this monster is real.

This is the giant squid or Humboldt squid. It received its name in honor of the Humboldt Current, where it was first discovered. This is a cold current that washes the shores of South America, but the habitat of this creature is much larger. It extends from Chile north to Central California across the Pacific Ocean. Giant squids patrol the depths of the ocean, spending most of their lives at depths of up to 700 meters. Therefore, very little is known about their behavior.

They can reach the height of an adult. Their size can exceed 2 meters. Without any warning, they emerge from the darkness in groups and feed on fish on the surface. Like their octopus relative, giant squids can change their color by opening and closing pigment-filled sacs in their skin called chromatophores. By quickly closing these chromatophores, they turn white. Perhaps this is necessary to distract the attention of other predators, or perhaps it is a form of communication. And if something alarms them or they behave aggressively, then their color turns red.

Fishermen who cast their lines and try to catch these giants off the coast of Central America call them red devils. These same fishermen talk about how squids pulled people overboard and ate them. The squid's behavior does nothing to alleviate these fears. Lightning-fast tentacles armed with spiny suckers grab the victim's flesh and drag him towards a waiting mouth. There the sharp beak breaks and shreds the food. Red Devil Apparently giant squids eat everything they can catch, even their own kind. As a desperate measure of defense, the weaker squid shoots an ink cloud from a sac near its head. This dark pigment is designed to hide and confuse enemies.

Few people have had the opportunity or the courage to approach a giant squid in the water. But one wild animal filmmaker went into the dark to capture this unique footage. The squid quickly surrounds him, first showing curiosity and then aggression. The tentacles have grabbed his mask and regulator and this is fraught with the cessation of air. It will be able to restrain the squid and return to the surface if it also shows aggression and behaves like a predator. This short meeting gave some insight into intelligence, strength and

But the real giants are the krakens that live in the Bermuda area. They can reach a length of up to 20 meters, and at the very bottom hide monsters up to 50 meters long. Their targets are sperm whales and whales.

This is how the Englishman Wollen described one such fight: “At first it was like the eruption of an underwater volcano. Looking through binoculars, I was convinced that neither the volcano nor the earthquake had anything to do with what was happening in the ocean. But the forces at work there were so enormous that I can be excused for my first guess: a very large sperm whale was locked in mortal combat with a giant squid almost as big as itself. It seemed as if the endless tentacles of the mollusk had entangled the entire body of the enemy in a continuous net. Even next to the ominously black head of a sperm whale, the squid's head seemed such a terrible object that one would not always dream of it even in a nightmare. Huge and bulging eyes against the deathly pale background of the squid’s body made it look like a monstrous ghost.”

The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made - The oceans and seas of the Earth are home to amazing creatures - octopuses. These interesting creatures have been known since the early Mesozoic. It was then that the first primitive representatives of the order Octopoda, related to cephalopods, appeared. These animals reach very impressive sizes. The span of their tentacles can exceed 5 m, and some types of octopuses have a body weight of more than 50 kg.

Octopuses: species and their taxonomy

The octopus order (lat. Octopoda) includes two suborders: deep-sea (Cirrina) and true (Incirrina).

The deep-sea or fin suborder unites little-known and most interesting representatives. These animals are found only at great depths. They can swim in the bottom layers of water or live at the bottom of deep-sea depressions. A distinctive feature of the structure of these mollusks is the presence of fins. These are small creatures, often having a bizarre appearance. This suborder includes about 34 species, 7 genera, and consists of 3 orders:

— cirroteuthidae;

— opisthoteuthidae;

- Stauroteuthidae.

Giant Pacific octopus

The suborder true or finless is the most numerous. Representatives of various species of octopuses, this suborder are famous for their large size. But among them there are many small animals. They live mainly on the seabed at shallow depths, sometimes close to the shore. Only a few species of this suborder live on the bottom of the world's oceans at a depth of up to 8 km. This suborder has about 180 species, 35 genera and 9 families:

— seven-legged (Alloposidae);

— amphitretids (Amphitretidae);

— Argonauts (Argonautidae);

— bolitenidae (Bolitaenidae);

- Idioctopodidae;

— octopoids (Octopodidae);

— okyphoids (Ocythoidae);

- Tremoctopodidae;

- glass (Vitreledonellidae).

Octopus tentacles with suction cups

Spreading

Cephalopods of this order live in almost all oceans and seas of our planet. These mollusks are especially common in tropical zones, but are also found in the cold seas of the Arctic Ocean. In our country, octopuses are found in all northern seas, with the exception of the White Sea, as well as in the Russian seas of the Pacific Ocean. About 25 species of them live here.

These invertebrates live at different depths. In shallow places relatively close to the shore you can often find representatives of real octopuses. They lead a so-called “bottom” lifestyle. Deep-sea representatives of the order Octopoda inhabit the depths of the world's oceans. These types of octopuses are perfectly adapted to exist on the ocean floor under the pressure of many kilometers of water.

Lifestyle and behavioral characteristics

Most cephalopods of the order Octopoda live on the bottom of seas and oceans. Some species constantly lead a planktonic lifestyle. They are able to swim in the water like squids and walk along the bottom using their tentacles. They live at different depths, usually up to 150 m, but deep-sea octopus species live at depths of several kilometers. At the bottom, these animals hide between stones or in underwater caves, and some even build their own shelter from stones and shells.

These are predators that feed on mollusks, crustaceans, echinoderms, and fish, which are killed with a poisonous bite. They hunt mainly in the dark. Octopuses are able to change color, becoming indistinguishable from the surrounding landscape.

The sense organs of all representatives of the squad are well developed. They have good eyesight and a large brain. These invertebrates are distinguished by complex behavior, good memory and high intelligence. They are easily tamed and trainable. Females take care of the offspring, protecting the laid eggs.

Since ancient times, humans have used cephalopods for food. The meat of many types of octopus is considered a delicacy. Therefore, in some countries they are commercially fished. In some places, the numbers of these animals are declining sharply due to overfishing.