Octopus organs. Interesting facts about octopuses. Octopus behavior and habitat

17.06.2019

Biodiversity sea world much brighter and more saturated in comparison with the earth. The octopus is one of the most interesting sea creatures known for its bulbous head and eight arms. Octopuses are incredible, creepy and dangerous marine animals. The octopus belongs to the cephalopod family. Cephalopods are a type of mollusk that includes octopus, nautilus, squid, and cuttlefish. Octopuses live in various regions of the oceans, especially in coral reefs. They are active predators, hunting mainly at night. Octopuses learn quickly and are quite smart. The most frequently asked question about these animals is how many hearts an octopus has. It's amazing, but the octopus has as many as 3 hearts, that's how much it needs to exist comfortably.

So, the facts about octopuses:

The octopus can change its genetic code by editing RNA, thus adapting to cold temperature and improving vision in the dark.
Most big octopus- Doflein's octopus, nicknamed the giant, can weigh up to 60 kilograms and has a head diameter of 60 centimeters. The span of its legs can be more than 3 meters. Habitat - northern part of the Pacific Ocean.
The rarest is the white octopus
The largest octopus in the world, a real monster octopus ever caught by people, had a length of 22 meters. Imagine this monster with suckers, the diameter of which was 15 centimeters.
One of the most dangerous for humans is a small blue seven-ringed octopus. It is highly venomous and paralyzes its prey with a bite from its beak. If a person is bitten by a seven-ringed octopus, he needs to provide artificial ventilation of the lungs, since this person will not be able to breathe on his own. The poison stays in the body for several days, and then it is excreted.
After mating, the male octopus develops dementia and lives the rest of his life in confusion, with no memory of past events.
The octopus breathes by moving its body.
The octopus moves by pushing water out of its body.
The pigment for the first ink comes from a bag of octopus.
The larger the octopus, the greater its age.
All the vital organs of an octopus are located in its head.
Octopuses are deaf and rely entirely on their eyesight.
The color and size of an octopus is determined by its habitat. living in cold water much larger than those that live in tropical waters.
Beautiful octopus with glowing tentacles
The octopus prefers crawling to swimming, because during swimming, the organ that delivers blood to other organs stops beating, thereby exhausting the animal.
The octopus is very sensitive to touch. The tentacles have receptors that allow it to detect objects by touch.
Octopuses move with simple elegance, but they have no rhythm.
The female octopus can be 40,000 times more massive than the male. Octopuses have the most big difference in size between individuals in the animal kingdom.
Octopuses have sharp eyesight.
The ghost octopus is the deepest of all living creatures of its kind. It is completely devoid of pigment and has a jelly-like consistency.
Octopuses only live in salt water.
Octopuses cannot make sounds.
Octopuses are nearsighted and cannot see beyond 2.5 meters.
The octopus can swim backwards.
Octopuses aggressively guard their homes.
Octopuses have a large number of jumping genes moving around in the genome.
Males die after mating.
The body of a female octopus becomes after mating like a hatch for an egg. In the body of the female, a cascade of cellular suicides of tissues and organs occurs until she dies.
Females, performing the duties of the mother, do not eat anything.
Koreans eat these animals the most in the world.
Octopus on the hunt
Most octopuses for human consumption are imported from West and North Africa.
Single octopuses.
AT different countries The world each annually imports about 270,000 tons of octopuses.
Octopuses have a short lifespan. Some species live for about 6 months.
Large species such as the giant Pacific octopus can live up to five years.
Sometimes a female octopus, instead of mating, can strangle the male and eat him.
The eyes of an octopus remain in the same position, regardless of the position of its body. If he turns sideways or even upside down, his gaze remains fixed in relation to the horizon line.
It is believed that if octopuses lived longer, they would become the dominant intelligence on Earth.
Jet propulsion fast way octopus locomotion.
The main way to protect the octopus from predators is to change the color of the skin.
In many countries, it is illegal to perform surgery on an octopus without anesthesia. The reason for this is their intelligence.
Octopuses easily recognize each other, they even learn by watching other octopuses.
The octopus can solve problems such as removing the plug and unscrewing the lid to get prey out of the container.
The octopus is the first invertebrate that can hide with tools, such as using rocks to hide from potential predators. Rocks and jets of water are also used in such a way that it can be classified as the use of tools.
Octopuses collect crustacean shells and other items to build fortresses and gardens around their lair. Other octopuses wear crustacean shells for protection.
All octopuses are poisonous, but only the small blue ringed octopuses are fatal to humans.
An octopus has 6 arms and 2 legs.
Octopuses have three hearts. Two of them pump blood through the gills, and the third pumps blood through the body.
The octopus releases a cloud of black ink to hide from predators, buying enough time. The ink contains a substance that dulls the predator's senses.
There are 300 species of octopuses. This is more than one third of total number known species cephalopods.
Octopuses are fast swimmers.
Mimic octopuses can change their body shape to mimic other animals.
The octopus has beak-shaped jaws and poisonous saliva, and easily subdues its prey.
An octopus may lose its arm to avoid a predator and then grow a new one.
The oldest fossilized octopus is about 296 million years old.
Aristotle thought the octopus was disgusting.
Another octopus
The hands of an octopus have a mind of their own. Two-thirds of the neurons are in the hands, not in the head.
Octopus has blue blood because it contains copper rather than iron and is called hemocyanin. Such blood transports oxygen more efficiently at low temperatures and when oxygen is scarce.
Octopuses do not have bones, they have a soft body, which allows them to squeeze into tight places.
The word octopus comes from the Greek word "octopus", which means "eight legs".
The blue ringed octopus is one of the most poisonous marine animals.
Most octopus species have suckers.
Octopuses come in a variety of sizes. The largest Octopus is the giant Pacific octopus.
The Wolfi Octopus is the smallest octopus.
Octopuses are predators, their diet includes shrimp, lobsters, fish, sharks, shellfish and even birds.

Octopus - amazing inhabitant underwater depths. It got its name from Greek wordsὀϰτώ and πούς - eight and foot, respectively, in Latin - Octōpoda. Dwells in the most different seas and oceans, more often in warm, tropical and subtropical ones. But some representatives feel good in colder waters (Atlantic, water area Far East found even in the Arctic). In nature, there are about 300 different species. The smallest individuals grow up to only 4 cm, the largest - up to 4 meters. There is evidence of giant specimens from the genus Doflein, about 10 m (960 cm) in size and weighing 270 kg. A lot is known about the Octōpoda squad, they are unique creatures. But who are they, fish or animals? The official science - zoology - will help answer this question.

Who are octopuses

To accurately determine who the octopuses are (they are also called octopuses) and find out which group they belong to, you need to remember about general rules classification of all living beings. This is done by a special science - systematics. On the basis of similar features, all living beings are united into kingdoms, which are divided into types. Those, in turn, are divided into classes, orders, species and genera. A genus is the lowest systematic unit, similar in a number of characteristics of a genus are combined into species. When determining a particular position in the classification table, many factors are taken into account.

Animals in terms of taxonomy are all multicellular organisms that move and feed on plants or other animals. An octopus is definitely an animal, its body is multicellular, complex. The remaining criteria are also suitable: it moves perfectly, not only in water, but also on land. And it is a predator - it hunts other fish, crabs and various marine life.

Further division into types begins. The sub-kingdom of multicellular organisms is divided into main groups according to a certain characteristic, depending on the complexity of the structure of their organism. From the point of view of anatomy, chordates are considered complex - those who have a skeleton. His absence gives grounds for inclusion in another group. For example, fish have a skeleton, but octopuses do not. They are respectively included in different types. Fish are chordates, octopuses are molluscs. Despite the fact that they live in the same element, these are already different groups, so octopuses are definitely not fish. Although they have a similar feature: they breathe oxygen dissolved in water through the gills. But gills are not the sign by which these two types can be combined into one.

Chordates are divided into classes. The class of mammals has the most complex structure of the body. They are combined into it according to the main feature - the method of feeding offspring. If it is fed with milk, the animal is uniquely assigned to this class, regardless of the mode of movement, habitat, size and appearance. For example, marine life dolphins are mammals. But octopuses do not belong to this class. First, they are not even chordates. Secondly, they do not feed their offspring with milk.

The place of the octopus in the classification table is as follows:

realm: animals;
type: shellfish;
class: cephalopods;
squad: octopuses.

Next comes the division of genera and species. Despite the difference in size, external signs and habitat, all representatives of the octopus order have the same structure, the principle of nutrition, reproduction and other unifying features. Thus, Doflein's large octopus does not fundamentally differ in body structure from the mini version - the Argonauto argo species, the adult male of which is only 1 cm long.

An interesting fact: Doflein's giant is striking in its size. But after birth, molluscs of this species do not exceed 4 cm.

Amazing cephalopods

So, with the classification from the point of view of systematics, everything is clear. Octopus are invertebrates, allocated in a separate class - cephalopods. But if we consider the octopus from the point of view of their similarity with other representatives of the fauna, then we can find many common features.

Surprisingly, cephalopods have similar features with the most various representatives fauna:

They have gills, just like fish. And in oral cavity there is a beak that looks like a parrot's beak.
They can change color like chameleons. And to disorient predators, they release a protective cloud of ink, like the closest relatives are cuttlefish.
In case of danger, they are ready to “give the enemy” their leg and grow a new one (like a lizard's tail).
They have the ability to mimic environment, items, other marine life, such as praying mantises. And in case of danger, they depict exactly the predator that will scare away the attacker ( different types capable of depicting copies of 24 types marine organisms, from jellyfish to rays and sea snakes). Octopuses are capable of depicting very unusual objects. So, a case was recorded when a caught octopus copied the newspaper on which it was placed.
They can move on land for some time, that is, they live in two environments like amphibians: octopuses have a special reservoir for water, it is located in the mantle cavity, the oxygen supply is enough for an average of 4 hours.
Receive ultrasound as the bats and dolphins. Despite the absence of auricles, they hear well, like many land animals.
They are tamed, trained, able to distinguish pictures, people, perform simple tasks, their intelligence is determined at the level of dogs and crows.

They have a developed sense of direction: being on land, they perfectly determine the shortest distance to the sea. Such an instinct is somewhat reminiscent of the ability to navigate in migratory birds. Some species travel the seas and oceans, but return to a specific area for breeding, like fish for spawning.
They have fairly sharp eyesight, the review can cover 360 0. These mollusks have the beginnings of binocular vision.
Cephalopods kill their prey with poison (for humans, it is usually not dangerous, with the exception of the poison in representatives of the genus blue-ringed, nerve-paralytic action). The composition of the poison includes substances that can soften the crab shell. Such a mechanism resembles the nutritional pattern of some spiders; their enzymes dissolve the chitinous shells of insects. And it has a paralytic effect, such enzymes are often found in the digestive tract of predators.
Take care of offspring. In nature parental instincts- not uncommon, especially in highly organized organisms. Female octopuses guard the laying of fertilized eggs, while they themselves refuse food for this time and can starve for 4 months (usually die as a result). Which is reminiscent of the "diet" of male penguins, who incubate a single egg, and go without food for the entire period.

These amazing octopuses live in sea depths Oh! In their arsenal there are different mechanisms that are typical for other representatives of the fauna. And octopuses are capable of:

hold food with the force of suction cups, each of which is able to hold any object weighing 100 g;
perfectly identify edible and inedible objects with the help of taste buds located on the tentacles;
clean your home, throwing out garbage and putting it in garbage heaps;
adjust the heart rate depending on the water temperature;
adapt to environmental conditions: a prime example- replacement of the ink cloud in deep-sea inhabitants with a cloud of luminous symbiotic bacteria, which blind the enemy in darkness at depth;
turn his leg into a reproductive organ: one tentacle of the male becomes a gecocotyl containing spermatozoa, putting sperm into the mantle of the female (moreover, in some, the gecocotyl breaks off from the body and fertilizes it on its own).

A few more facts:

cephalopods have 3 hearts, one ordinary, three-chambered, and two small gills;
their blood is blue due to hemocyanin, which replaces hemoglobin;

An octopus is a hunter of tropical and subtropical seas and oceans, which can sometimes become someone's victim itself. secret weapon, which he possesses is an ink bag filled with a coloring liquid. The first ink was born thanks to this marine life.

The octopus belongs to the type - mollusks, the class - cephalopods, the detachment - octopuses. The body of this creature with eight tentacles extending from it looks like a ball. But in fact, behind his baggy body lies a highly developed brain and nervous system remarkably intelligent animal. Deciphering the octopus genome in 2015 can serve as good evidence for this claim. In terms of the number of base pairs, it lags behind the human by only 400 million (2.7 versus 3.1 billion).

Octopus habits

The octopus is a nocturnal animal that lives in shallow water in rock crevices and depressions. Sometimes he digs a nest in the ground or builds a stone fortress at the bottom of the sea. Most often he crawls or swims. During the day, he hides and watches the immediate surroundings.
His big eyes adapted to the low light of the deep sea, they are able to recognize shapes and react to moving objects. Instead of changing the shape of the lens, his eyes move as he adjusts the focus on his surroundings.

Octopuses are pretty lazy. By the shells and husks lying at the entrance, one can recognize their shelter. These small piles of rubbish appear due to regular cleaning in shelters and removal of garbage from its territory. This type of mollusk is trainable and has a good memory, which allows you to recognize geometric shapes and recognize your breadwinner. It's hard to believe, but the garden snail is distant relative octopus (belongs to one class).

Food and hunting

At dusk, the octopus leaves its place or shelter and goes hunting. Most often it feeds on crabs, crayfish and various mollusks, but usually eats everything that moves. He is an excellent swimmer, often taking his food by surprise. The octopus is able to change color, adapting to the environment.

When disguised, it pounces on moving prey and paralyzes it with its venom. To hold slippery prey, it has two rows of suction cups on strong and mobile limbs. The octopus has many small but very sharp teeth, with the help of which, when a mollusk enters the shell, it breaks it.

To get rid of competitors like lobsters, he adopts a different method. To attack the lobster from behind, he makes an ink curtain and attacks him.

Enemies and protection from them

moray eels, conger eels, dolphins, sharks are the enemies of adult octopuses. He runs, turning away from them, from behind and uses the force of repulsion. The octopus can also hide from them in narrow crevices inaccessible to the pursuer. He often stays alive through disguise. It can almost completely merge with the situation. The pigments that are in his skin can change their concentration and form stripes and patterns. While hunting, and when he is defending himself, he uses a trick. The octopus throws an ink cloud into the water if it is being chased. It also releases a liquid that paralyzes the stalker's sense of smell. As if from a hose, he can also bombard the enemy with jets of water from a funnel.

reproduction

When mating, the octopus, as if holding hands, secreting sperm through a modified tentacle, the male fertilizes the female. After a week, she lays eggs that resemble grapes and pours a jelly-like liquid over them. But if the female is in captivity, she weaves a nest basket and lays her eggs in it. Then little octopuses emerge from them, which she guards, cleans and provides them with a constant influx of fresh water.

When a female becomes a mother, she can easily become prey, because at this time she is very weakened. Small octopuses barely reach 3 mm. Like plankton, they are carried by the water, then settle to the seafloor where they continue to grow.

The female can lay 150,000 eggs and guard them for 4 to 6 weeks. Their incubation time depends on the temperature of the water.

Basic data

The length of the octopus reaches up to 3 m, but usually less. Their weight is about 25 kg. Females reach puberty at a weight of 1 kg, and males 100 g.

Puberty in females begins at 18-24 months, males earlier.

Octopuses lead night image life, they are alone. Females live up to 2 years, after the birth of offspring. Males live longer.

Close relatives are decapod cephalopods such as cuttlefish, squid and nautilus.

At west coast Sweden can meet close relatives of the octopus.

Dec 6, 2010 Marina

In total, there are about 300 species of octopuses, and all of them are truly amazing creatures. They live in subtropical and tropical seas and oceans, from shallow water to a depth of 200 m. rocky shores and are considered the most intelligent among all invertebrates. The more scientists learn about octopuses, the more they are admired.

1. The brain of an octopus is shaped like a donut.

2. The octopus does not have a single bone, which allows it to penetrate into a hole that is 4 times smaller than its own size.

3. Because of a large number copper blood octopus blue.

4. There are more than 10,000 taste buds on the tentacles.

5. Octopuses have three hearts. One of them drives blue blood throughout the body, while the other two carry it through the gills.

6. In case of danger, octopuses, like lizards, are able to discard their tentacles, breaking them on their own.

7. Octopuses camouflage themselves with their environment by changing their coloration. When calm, they are brown, frightened, turn white, and when angry, they acquire a reddish tint.

8. To hide from enemies, octopuses emit a cloud of ink, which not only reduces visibility, but also masks odors.

9. Octopuses breathe with gills, but can also long time carry out out of the water.

10. Octopuses have rectangular pupils.

11. Octopuses always keep their home clean, they “sweep” it with a trickle of water from their funnel, and put the rest of the food in a specially designated place nearby.

12. Octopuses are intelligent invertebrates that can be trained, remember their owners, distinguish shapes and have a simply amazing ability to unscrew banks.

13. Speaking about the unsurpassed intelligence of octopuses, we can recall the world-famous oracle octopus Paul, who guessed the outcome of matches involving the German football team. Actually, he lived in the Oberhausen Aquarium. Paul died, as suggested by oceanologists, by his own death. In front of the entrance to the aquarium, a monument was even erected to him.

14. The personal life of marine life is not too happy. Males often become victims of females, and they, in turn, rarely survive after childbirth and doom their offspring to an orphan life.

15. There is only one species of octopus - the Pacific striped, which, unlike its counterparts, is exemplary family man. For several months he lives in a couple and during all this time he does something very similar to a kiss, touching his mouth with his soul mate. After the appearance of the offspring, the mother spends more than one month with the children, takes care of them and educates them.

16. This same Pacific striped boasts an unusual hunting style. Before the attack, he lightly pats his victim "on the shoulder", as if warning, but this does not add to her chances of survival, so the purpose of the habit is still a mystery.

17. During reproduction, males use their tentacles to take out spermatophores “from the bosom” and carefully place them in the mantle cavity of the female.

18. On average, octopuses live 1-2 years, those who live up to 4 years are long-livers.

19. The smallest octopuses grow up to only 1 centimeter, and the largest up to 4 meters. The largest octopus was caught off the coast of the United States in 1945, its weight was 180 kg, and its length was as much as 8 meters.

20. Scientists have successfully deciphered the octopus genome. In the future, this will help to establish how they managed to evolve into such an intelligent creature and understand the origin of amazing cognitive abilities. On the this moment It is known that the length of the octopus genome is 2.7 billion base pairs, it is almost equal to the length of the human genome, which has 3 billion base pairs.

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

Octopuses are cephalopods. About 200 species of various octopuses live on earth, or rather in tropical and subtropical seas and oceans.

Octopuses are mysterious animals, they cause mixed feelings, at the same time there is a certain horror, which is replaced by admiration.

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

These creatures are endowed by nature amazing ability to disguise. Their capabilities are unimaginably amazing. They can take any shape, change the color and even the structure of the skin, merging with the environment that surrounds them and it does not matter if it is stones, sand, corals or something else. The mimic octopus is able to take on the forms of various marine animals.

So they protect themselves from any predators. They themselves can "turn" into these predators, duplicating even 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 reincarnation occurs.

The whole body of an octopus smoothly flows from one part to another, starting with 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 into any, even the smallest, hole or crack. They can transform in a limited space, as if shrinking, while occupying a smaller volume.

The head of the octopus is large, slightly laid back. Above are large eyes with a rectangular pupil. A small mouth, located at the point of convergence of its tentacles, has jaws, and in the throat there is a grater (radula) for grinding and grinding food.

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

The sizes of octopuses are different depending on the species, the smallest from 1 cm and reach up to 4 m, reach a mass of 50 kg. According to some reports, the Doflein octopus has a size of about a meter and a weight of 270 kg.

Octopuses are predators, therefore, various crustaceans, fish, and mollusks are harvested as a food source. The octopus grabs its prey 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, because it is not his “horse” to swim quickly, he chooses the “ambush” method. Mimicking the environment, he waits for his prey, and then attacks with lightning speed.

On the tentacles are receptors that allow you to determine the "edible" "not edible".

For self-defense in octopuses, very unusual ways. For example, when they need to hide instantly, many species of octopuses release ink that hangs in the water in a shapeless spot. While the enemy is discouraged and does not see anything, the octopus disappears.

If the octopus still managed to grab the tentacle - here is another secret. Through a strong contraction of the muscles, the grasped tentacle breaks off for some time, continuing to move and contract.

Most octopus species mate once in their lives. The female lays eggs. For the nest, she chooses pits, holes or crevices in the rocks. Some carry bunches of eggs with them.

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

Octopuses are loners by nature, so they live separately from each other, but sometimes they settle next to octopuses of the same size.

In the photo: an octopus in the aquarium of the Basel Zoo in Switzerland.