octopus

Animals

2022

We explain what the octopus is, its habitat, food, reproduction and other characteristics. Also, how long do they live.

Octopuses are underwater cephalopod mollusks.

What is an octopus?

An entire order is known by the name of octopus (octopod) of underwater cephalopod mollusks, that is, to a group of soft-bodied animals, endowed with eight agile limbs with suction cups on their inner face. It is one of the invertebrates smartest and most diverse in behavior known to the entire world.

With its ductile body and its ability to change colors and simulate textures, the octopus is one of the Marine animals that has most fascinated the human being since ancient times. It is an animal known throughout the world, part of numerous gastronomic traditions, such as the Mediterranean or Asian, and that appears in maritime representations of antiquity, often in gigantic and terrible dimensions (the kraken).

The oldest fossils of octopuses that have been found date from the Carboniferous, around 300 million years ago, and are distinguished from some close relatives, such as the extinct ammonites, in that they lack a calcareous shell. At present, within the order octopod around 300 known species are classified, divided into two suborders:

  • Incirrine: Species that lack swimming fins.
  • Cirrine: Species that lack suction cups on their appendages.

Characteristics of octopuses

Octopuses have a soft and ductile body, capable of lengthening and contracting.

Octopuses, in general, are characterized by the following:

  • They are mollusks without a shell, that is, a soft and ductile body, capable of lengthening, contracting and even sneaking through tiny spaces.
  • Their bodies have bilateral symmetry and are made up of a head, where the eyes, gills and the siphon that allows the breathing and rapid displacement, as well as a rigid beak-shaped mouth, around which are eight appendages: six "arms" and two "feet." The inner face of these appendages is usually covered with circular suction cups.
  • In its body it has a deposit of ink, which many species can expel as a defense mechanism, leading to a quick escape.
  • Another fundamental feature is that your skin has numerous cells of pigments, which allow abrupt and sudden changes in coloration, being able to camouflage itself in the environment almost perfectly.
  • The eyes of the octopus are the most developed among all invertebrates, as well as a closed circulatory system, with three hearts, and a complex nervous system that goes beyond the brain, since it has neurons in the animal's own appendages.
  • They are intelligent animals, capable of solving simple problems and planning hunting strategies, since their habits they are essentially predators. At the same time, the octopus is part of the food of many larger predators, such as certain types of sharks.
  • They are solitary animals, who socialize little or nothing outside the reproduction and that they never make up colonies.

Where do octopuses live?

Octopuses make their lair in crevices, outcrops, or simple underwater mud.

Octopuses are present in all oceans, adapted to their environment in a multiplicity of different species. They usually make their lair in crevices, outcrops, or simple underwater mud. They are not particularly territorial animals, although they tend to handle themselves in a specific area, leaving it only to eat.

What do octopuses eat?

Octopuses use their cloaking strategies to ambush their prey.

Octopuses are essentially predators, and their favorite prey are small crustaceans, fish, worms and other mollusks or crabs. Some species may supplement their diet with algae and similar vegetables, but this is very rare. Typically, they use their superb vision and cloaking strategies to ambush their prey, which they then quietly devour in their lair.

How do octopuses reproduce?

Tiny hatchlings known as paralarvae hatch from the octopus's eggs.

The reproduction of the octopus has been little studied. It is known to be given in terms sexual and in a promiscuous way: males, smaller than females, have an adapted arm with reproductive functions, with which they deposit their spermatophores, structures that will later release the sperm.

The female can then store the male's cells and then fertilize the eggs as she lays them. Tiny offspring known as paralarvae hatch from these eggs, after their mother cares for them and keeps them clean for a variable period of time, which can reach 10 months.

Mothers usually do not feed during this period, so that at the end they are often too weak to go on with their lives, with their death occurring within a few weeks. Males also undergo rapid senescence after reproduction and die shortly thereafter.

How long do octopuses live?

The life expectancy of the average octopus is short. Some small species can last as little as 6 months to live, while the giant North Pacific octopus is capable of living around 5 years. However, reproduction always marks the end point of life for individuals of the species: males die shortly after mating and females soon after their eggs hatch.

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