Octopuses are the most famous representatives cephalopods having eight long tentacles - "arms" (sometimes they are called legs). "Hands" are interconnected by a thin membrane and have from one to three rows sucker.

There are about 2000 suckers on all eight tentacles of an adult octopus, each of which has a holding force of about 100 g, and, unlike those created by man, the octopus suckers require effort when holding, and not when sucking, that is, they are held only by muscle effort.

More than 300 species of octopuses live in all tropical and sub tropical seas and oceans, from shallow water to depths of 100-150m.

Octopuses have three hearts: one (main) drives blood throughout the body, and the other two - gills - push blood through the gills.

Did you know that octopuses have blue blood?

The heart stops beating when the octopus starts to swim. That is why octopuses most often move as if crawling, and do not swim quickly.

Thanks to their soft and elastic body, octopuses can penetrate holes and crevices that are much smaller than their usual body sizes, which allows them to hide in all sorts of shelters intricately.

Many zoopsychologists consider octopuses to be the smartest among all invertebrates in many respects: they can be trained, trained, have a good memory, and distinguish geometric shapes.

The common octopus has the ability to change color to adapt to its environment. If the octopus is scared, it turns white, if angry, it turns red.

When the octopus is frightened, it releases trickles of ink - a dark liquid produced by special glands. This liquid hangs in the water in the form of shapeless translucent spots. There are speculations that these spots are meant to distract an attacker and buy the octopus time to escape.

Octopuses have a protective device - autotomy: a tentacle grabbed by an enemy can come off due to strong muscle contraction, and later this tentacle will grow back.

Some species of octopus are poisonous. For example, blue-ringed octopuses that live in western coasts Pacific Ocean are among the most poisonous animals in the world.

The female can lay up to 400 thousand eggs. She takes care of them herself, ventilates them, passing water through the so-called siphon. Tentacles she removes foreign objects and dirt. During the entire period of egg development, the female remains at the nest without food and often dies after the appearance of offspring.

The brain of an octopus is donut-shaped and is located around the esophagus.

Octopuses are able to perceive sound, including infrasound. On each "hand" there are up to ten thousand taste buds that determine the edibility or inedibility of an object.

The sizes of octopuses range from 1 centimeter (males Argonauto argo) up to 4 meters (Haliphron atlanticus).

Before the invention of scuba gear to observe life marine life in vivo knowledge about their lifestyle and behavior was rather limited. In that era, octopuses were perceived as ferocious, cunning and extremely dangerous animals. The reason for this was probably their appearance: snake-like tentacles, the gaze of large eyes, suction cups that serve (as it was mistakenly believed) to suck blood from victims.

And this blue-ringed octopus(Blue ringed octopus - Hapalochlaena lunulata) - looks very small (3-5 cm), but according to scientists, it is one of the five most poisonous sea creatures. Its poison is deadly to humans, not to mention the small crabs and shrimp on which it hunts. Such virtues of the octopus were popularized for the public, being beaten by directors in spy films, for example about James Bond. He bit someone on the nose.

Responsibility for the death of people at sea under unclear circumstances was often assigned to octopuses. The human imagination gave rise to stories about giant octopuses (octopuses), capable of not only killing a person, but also sinking a large sailing ship.

The dream of all photographers is the Octopus imitator (Mimic Octopus or Thaumoctopus mimicus), it was first scientifically described and isolated in separate view in the late nineties, just off the coast of Sulawesi. Unlike other octopuses, which increasingly imitate something stationary, this species imitates the behavior of other animals. First of all, adjusting to the shape and manner of movement, he can imitate a stingray, a flounder fish, a sea snake and even a jellyfish. He actively uses his skills in hunting and defense. Its dimensions are small - 30-50 cm.

The word "octopus" has become a metaphor for criminal organizations with extensive networks, often integrated into state bodies.

Another funny species of octopus is the short-eared or coconut octopus (Coconut Octopus or Amphioctopus marginatus), being small in size (8-10 cm), he found an ideal home for himself in the form of one or two halves of a coconut (sometimes uses paired shell shells). It can be found sitting at the bottom and covering itself with half a coconut, or it will sit in one half and close the other half like a lid. This behavior is typical primarily for Indonesia, when there are no coconuts at the bottom, then it can burrow into the sand or hide in a mink.

A huge contribution to the "rehabilitation" of octopuses was made by Jacques Yves Cousteau.

The body of octopuses is short, soft, oval behind. The mouth of the octopus is equipped with two powerful jaws, similar to the beak of a parrot. There is a grater in the throat that grinds food.

The octopus has three hearts: one drives blue blood throughout the body, and the other two push blood through the gills.

There are eight long tentacles on the head. They have one to three rows of suckers. On all eight tentacles of an adult octopus, there are about 2000 suckers!

Some species of octopus are poisonous. Blue-ringed octopuses, found off the western shores of the Pacific Ocean, are among the most venomous animals in the world.

Nervous system and sense organs.

The octopus brain is one of the most developed among invertebrates. The brain is donut-shaped and is located around the esophagus. The eyes are large, the pupil is rectangular.

Color

The octopus has the ability to change color to suit its environment. The usual color is brown. If the octopus is scared, it turns white, if angry, it turns red.

Size and weight.

The life span of an octopus is up to 5 years. The length of adults varies from 1 centimeter to 4 meters. The mass of octopuses reaches 50 kg. Doflein's octopus can reach a length of 960 cm and a mass of 270 kg.

Food.

Predators. They eat shellfish, crustaceans, and fish. The octopus captures prey with all eight tentacles. The octopus bites the victim with its beak, holding it with suction cups. In this case, the poison of saliva enters the wound of the victim.

Behavior and lifestyle

Most octopuses lead a benthic life, living among stones, rocks and algae. During the day, octopuses are less active than at night, so they are considered nocturnal animals.

On a hard surface, the octopus crawls using tentacles with suction cups. It can also swim with its tentacles backwards - taking in water and pushing it out with force. He is inferior in speed to the fish. Therefore, the octopus prefers to hunt from an ambush, and tries to hide from the pursuers.

octopuses have unusual ability- due to the absence of bones, they can change shape. Some octopuses during the hunt are flattened on the bottom, disguised as a flounder. They can also freely pass through holes with a diameter of 6 centimeters.

Thanks to their soft, elastic body, octopuses can penetrate through holes and crevices that are much smaller than their usual body sizes, which allows them to hide in all sorts of shelters. They settle even in boxes, cans, car tires and rubber boots. Prefer shelters with a narrow entrance and a spacious room. They keep their dwelling clean: they “sweep” with a jet of water, put the leftovers outside in a garbage heap. When enemies approach, they flee, hiding in the crevices of rocks and under stones.

When fleeing, octopuses of many species release streams of ink - a dark liquid produced by special glands. This liquid hangs in the water in the form of shapeless translucent spots. These spots are a kind of decoy designed to divert the attention of the attacker and allow the octopus to hide.

Octopuses have a protective device - a tentacle grabbed by an enemy can come off, but continue to move and distract the predator of the pursuing octopus.

Intelligence

Octopuses are considered the most “intelligent” among all invertebrates: they are trainable, have a good memory, and distinguish geometric shapes. If you spend enough time with an octopus, it becomes tame.

reproduction

The female arranges a nest in a hole lined with a shaft of stones and shells or in a cave in shallow water, where she lays up to 80 thousand eggs. The female always takes care of the eggs: she constantly ventilates them, passing water. Tentacles she removes foreign objects and dirt.

Octopuses are a class of cephalopods. (Cephalopoda) known for their intelligence, uncanny ability to blend in with their surroundings, unique movement style ( jet propulsion), as well as splash 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). The fins 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 most famous species of octopus, most of which are bottom-dwelling.

2 Octopus Tentacles Are Called Arms

The average person won't be able to tell the difference between tentacles and arms, but marine biologists clearly separate the two. The arms of cephalopods are covered with suckers along their entire length, and the tentacles have suckers only at the tips and serve to capture food. By this standard, most octopuses have eight arms and no tentacles, while the other two 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 merely serves as a visual distraction to buy the octopuses time to escape, but it also affects predators' sense of smell (sharks that can smell hundreds of meters away are particularly vulnerable to this olfactory attack).

4 Octopuses Are Extremely Intelligent

Octopuses are the only marine animals other than whales and pinnipeds that are able to solve certain problems and recognize various images. But regardless of the intelligence level of octopuses, it is very different from human: 70% of octopus neurons are located along the entire length of their arms, not in the brain, and there is no conclusive evidence that these are able to communicate with each other.

5. Octopuses have three hearts

All vertebrates have one heart, but octopuses are equipped with three: one pumps blood throughout the body of the octopus (including the arms of the animal), and two distill blood through the gills, with which they breathe underwater. There is another key difference from vertebrates: the main component of octopus blood is hemocyanin, which contains copper atoms, and not iron-containing hemoglobin, which explains the blue color of octopus blood.

6 Octopuses Use Three Ways To Move

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

7. Octopuses are masters of disguise

Octopus skin is covered with three types of specialized cells that can quickly change color, reflectivity, and transparency, allowing the animals to blend in with their surroundings. 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 masking. Thanks to this arsenal of cells, some octopuses are able to disguise themselves as algae!

8. Giant octopus, 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 drown them. big ships. The biggest known species octopus - giant octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini), on average it weighs about 15 kg, and the length of the arms (tentacles) is about 3-4 m. However, there is some doubtful evidence of significantly large individuals of the giant octopus, weighing more than 200 kg.

9 Octopuses Have A Very Short Lifespan

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

10. The octopus squad has another name.

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

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A more or less close acquaintance with octopuses became possible thanks to the appearance 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 cannot stand unnecessary fuss.

An outwardly unattractive marine animal with 8 writhing tentacles on its head with hemispherical suction cups and sensitive antennae (cirres), a short sac-like body, a curved beak and cold, unblinking eyes, has a well-developed nervous system. Octopuses are known to have high intelligence and an extraordinary sense of parental duty.

These representatives of cephalopods form two suborders: deep-sea octopuses (Cirrata) and real octopuses (Incirrata). The sizes of most octopuses do not exceed half a meter, only the common octopus, Apollyon, Hong Kong octopus and Doflein are classified as 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 with gills, they can be 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 it. Due to the lack of bones, the gelatinous, jelly-like animal easily changes shape, which helps it hide from predators-pursuers. In addition, the skin of an ordinary octopus contains a special pigment, with which the monster changes color, adapting to the environment. Because of the blue blood, which contains hemocyanin instead of hemoglobin, and iron is replaced by copper, octopuses are often called " sea ​​aristocrats". The animal has three hearts: the main one drives blood through the body, and two gills push it through the gills. Octopus has big eyes with a rectangular pupil and a human-like lens.

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

Giant octopus attacked cameraman / Animal attacks on people

Octopus: bizarre inhabitants of the deep sea

Octopuses are the most famous of the cephalopods, but nevertheless hide many secrets of their biology. There are 200 species of octopuses in the world, allocated in a separate order. Their closest relatives are squid and cuttlefish, and distant are all gastropods and bivalves.

Giant octopus (Octopus dofleini).

The appearance of the octopus is a little discouraging. Everything in this animal is not obvious - it is not clear where the head is, where the limbs are, where the mouth is, where the eyes are. In fact, everything is simple. The sac-like body of an octopus is called a mantle, on the front side it is fused with a large head, on upper surface with bulging eyes. The mouth of octopuses is tiny and surrounded by chitinous jaws - the beak. The beak is necessary for octopuses to grind food, since they cannot swallow prey whole. In addition, they have a special grater in their throats, which grinds pieces of food into gruel. The mouth is surrounded by tentacles, the number of which is always equal to 8. Octopus tentacles are long and muscular, their lower surface is dotted with suckers of different sizes. The tentacles are connected by a small membrane - umbrella. The 20 species of finned octopuses have small fins on the sides of their bodies that are used more as rudders than engines.

Finned octopuses because of the pterygoid fins resembling ears, in English language They are called Dumbo octopuses.

If you look closely, you can see a hole or a short tube under the eyes - this is a siphon. The siphon leads to the mantle cavity, into which the octopus draws water. By contracting the muscles of the mantle, he forcefully squeezes water out of the mantle cavity, thereby creating a jet stream that pushes his body forward. It just turns out that the octopus swims backwards.

Just below the eye is the siphon of an octopus.

Octopuses have a rather complex device internal organs. Yes, their circulatory system almost closed and tiny arterial vessels are almost connected with venous ones. These animals have as many as three hearts: one large (three-chambered) and two small gills. Gill hearts push blood to the main heart, which directs the flow of blood to the entire body. Octopuses have blue blood! The blue color is due to the presence of a special respiratory pigment - hemocyanin, which in octopuses replaces hemoglobin. The gills themselves are located in the mantle cavity; they serve not only for respiration, but also for the excretion of decay products (together with the renal sacs). The metabolism of octopuses is unusual, because nitrogenous compounds are excreted not in the form of urea, but in the form of ammonium, which gives the muscles a specific smell. In addition, octopuses have a special ink sac that accumulates a dye for protection.

The funnel-shaped octopus suction cups use the suction force of a vacuum.

Octopuses are the most intelligent of all invertebrates. Their brain is surrounded by special cartilage, which surprisingly resembles the skull of vertebrates. Octopuses have well developed sense organs. Eyes have reached the highest perfection: they are not only very large (occupy most head), but also complex. The device of the eye of an octopus is fundamentally no different from the human eye! Octopuses see each eye separately, but when they want to take a closer look at something, they bring their eyes closer and focus them on an object, that is, they also have the rudiments of binocular vision. The angle of view of the bulging eyes approaches 360°. In addition, photosensitive cells are scattered in the skin of octopuses, which allow you to determine general direction Sveta. Taste buds in octopuses are located ... on the hands, more precisely on the suction cups. Octopuses do not have hearing organs, but they are able to pick up infrasounds.

The pupils of octopuses are rectangular.

Octopuses are often colored brown, red, yellowish, but they can change color no worse than chameleons. Color change is carried out according to the same principle as in reptiles: in the skin of octopuses there are chromatophore cells containing pigments, they can stretch and contract in a matter of seconds. Cells contain only red, brown and yellow pigment, alternating stretching and contraction of cells different color creates a variety of patterns and shades. In addition, special irridiocyst cells are located under the layer of chromatophores. They contain plates that turn, change the direction of light and reflect it. As a result of refraction of rays in irridiocysts, the skin can turn green, blue and Blue colour. Just like chameleons, the color change of octopuses is directly related to color. environment, well-being and mood of the animal. A frightened octopus turns pale, and an angry one blushes and even turns black. Interestingly, the color change directly depends on visual signals: a blinded octopus loses the ability to change color, a blinded octopus changes color only on the “seeing” side of the body, tactile signals from the tentacles also play a role, they also affect skin color.

"Furious" blue reef octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus) of unusual coloring. At rest, these octopuses are brown with blue suckers.

The largest giant octopus reaches a length of 3 m and weighs 50 kg at the same time, most species are medium and small in size (0.2-1 m in length). A special exception is the male Argonaut octopus, which is much smaller than the females of its species and barely reaches a length of 1 cm!

Habitat various kinds octopuses cover almost the entire world, only in the polar regions you will not meet them, but nevertheless they penetrate north further than other cephalopods. Most often, octopuses are found in warm seas in shallow waters and among coral reefs at a depth of up to 150 m. deep sea species can penetrate to a depth of up to 5000 m. Shallow-water species usually lead a sedentary benthic lifestyle, most of the time they hide in reef shelters, between rocks, under stones and come out only for hunting. But among octopuses there are also pelagic species, that is, those that constantly move in the water column away from the coast. Most pelagic species are deep sea. Octopuses live alone and are very attached to their site. These animals are active at night, they sleep with open eyes(only pupils constrict), in a dream octopuses turn yellow.

The same blue reef octopus in a calm state. These octopuses are very fond of settling in bivalve shells.

There is an opinion that octopuses are aggressive and dangerous to humans, but this is nothing more than prejudice. In reality, only the most large species and only during the breeding season. Otherwise, octopuses are cowardly and cautious. Even with an enemy of equal size, they prefer not to get involved, but hide from large ones in every possible way. There are many ways to protect these animals. First, octopuses can swim fast. Usually they move along the bottom on half-bent tentacles (as if crawling) or swim slowly, but when frightened, they can jerk at speeds up to 15 km / h. A fleeing octopus seeks to hide in a shelter. Since octopuses have no bones, their body has amazing plasticity and is able to squeeze into a very narrow crack. Moreover, octopuses build shelters with their own hands, surrounding the crevices with stones, shells and other debris, behind which they hide like behind a fortress wall.

Octopus in hiding surrounded himself building material- flaps of shells.

Secondly, octopuses change color, masquerading as the surrounding landscape. They do this even in a calm environment (“just in case”), and skillfully imitate any surface: stone, sand, broken shells, corals. Mimic octopus from Indonesian waters imitates not only color but also shape 24 species marine organisms (sea ​​snakes, stingrays, brittle stars, jellyfish, flounders, etc.), and the octopus always imitates the species that the predator that attacked it is afraid of.

Mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus) masquerading as a spiny lobster.

On soft soils, octopuses burrow into the sand, from which only a pair of inquisitive eyes sticks out. But all these methods of protection are nothing compared to the know-how of octopuses - the "ink bomb". They resort to this method of protection only when they are very frightened. A floating octopus releases a dark-colored liquid from its bag, which disorients the enemy and not only ... The liquid affects the nerve receptors, for example, deprives the sense of smell for a while predatory moray eels, a case is known when a liquid got into the eyes of a scuba diver and changed his color perception, for several minutes a person saw everything in yellow. The musk octopus also smells like musk ink. Moreover, often the released liquid does not dissolve in water instantly, but retains the shape of ... the octopus itself for several seconds! Here is such a decoy and chemical weapon slips an octopus on his pursuers.

And this is an octopus imitator, but already pretending to be a stingray.

Finally, if all the tricks did not help, the octopuses can enter into an open battle with the enemy. They show an unbending will to live and resist to the last: they bite, try to gnaw through the nets, try to mimic to the last breath (there is a known case when an octopus, pulled out of the water, reproduced on its body ... lines from the newspaper on which it was lying!), caught by one tentacle, the octopuses sacrifice it to the enemy and discard part of the arm. Some species of octopuses are poisonous, their poison is not fatal to humans, but causes swelling, dizziness, and weakness. An exception is the blue-ringed octopus, whose nerve-paralytic venom is lethal and causes cardiac and respiratory arrest. Luckily, these Australian octopuses are small and secretive, so accidents are rare.

Large blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena lunulata).

All octopuses are active predators. They feed on crabs, lobsters, bottom mollusks, and fish. Octopuses catch moving prey with tentacles and immobilize with poison, and the suction force of the tentacles is great, because only one suction cup of a large octopus develops a force of 100 g. They gnaw through the shells of inactive mollusks with their beak and grind with a grater, the poison also slightly softens the shells of crabs.

Swimming giant octopus moves back side body forward and head back.

A clutch of spiny octopus (Abdopus aculeatus) peeps between the tentacles of a caring mother.

Female octopuses are exemplary mothers. They braid the masonry with their hands and carefully lull it, blow off the smallest debris with water from their siphon, they do not eat anything all the time they incubate (1-4 months) and eventually die from exhaustion (they sometimes even overgrow their mouths). Males also die after mating. Octopus larvae are born with an ink sac and can make an ink veil from the first minutes of life. In addition, small octopuses sometimes decorate their tentacles with stinging cells. poisonous jellyfish, which replace their own poison. Octopuses grow quickly, small species live only 1-2 years, large ones - up to 4 years.

A giant octopus displays a web (umbrella) between its outstretched tentacles.

In nature, octopuses have many enemies, they feed on them. big fish, seals, sea ​​lions and cats sea ​​birds. Large octopuses can dine with a small relative, so they hide from each other no less than from other animals. People have been hunting octopuses for a long time. Most of these animals are harvested in the Mediterranean Sea and off the coast of Japan. In Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine, there are many dishes with octopus meat. When catching octopuses, they use their habit of hiding in secluded places, for this, broken jugs and pots are lowered to the bottom, inside which octopuses crawl, then they, together with a false house, are raised to the surface.

common octopus ( Octopus vulgaris) Paul "draws lots" - opens the feeder.

It is difficult to keep octopuses at home, but they are welcome guests in public aquariums. It is interesting to watch these animals, they can develop elementary conditioned reflexes, some tasks octopuses solve no worse than rats. For example, octopuses perfectly distinguish various geometric shapes, and they recognize not only triangles, circles, squares, but they can also distinguish a lying rectangle from a standing one. At good care they recognize the person caring for them and greet him, crawling out of the shelter. The most famous pet was common octopus Paul from the aquarium "Center marine life» in Oberhausen (Germany). The octopus became famous for accurately predicting the victory of the German football team during the 2010 World Cup. Of the two feeders offered, the octopus always opened the feeder with the symbols of the winning team. The mechanism of the "prophecies" remained unknown, Paul died in 2010 at the age of about 2 years, which corresponds to the natural life expectancy.