O octopus is a mollusk which is characterized by having a soft body with eight tentacles protruding from the head. Found in marine environments, the octopuses they are animals that live alone, hidden among rocks and caves, and look for a partner only when they are reproducing. They weigh from 3 to 40 kg, and can reach up to three meters in length.
Animals that feed on fish, crustaceans and other invertebrate animals, the octopuses they have very well-developed eyes, similar to those of vertebrate animals, which aid in escape and also in capturing food.
You octopus tentacles they have two rows of adhesive suction cups that are used for locomotion and for capturing prey. Also, at the end of each tentacle there are cells that specialize in picking up smells.
Octopus suction cups help you move around and catch food
At the time of reproduction, the female of the octopus releases a hormone into the water to attract the male. After mating, the female lays the eggs, about 150,000, inside a cave, and is careful not to prey on them. During the time that the female is watching over her eggs, she does not feed and, for this reason, she dies soon after the chicks hatch.
This animal has various ways to defend yourself from your predators: one of them is the release of a dark ink to throw the enemy off while fleeing. At other times, when the enemy manages to arrest one of the octopus tentacles, he leaves that tentacle with the enemy and runs away. Days later, another tentacle is born in the place of the one that was torn off.
When they feel threatened, octopuses release paint to outwit the predator
other way than the octopus uses to defend itself is the camouflage. In a matter of seconds, this animal is able to completely change its color, getting the same colors as sand or a stone, deceiving its predators and also its prey.
Camouflage is a means of defense for octopuses
There is a kind of octopus call of octopus-veil which uses a very interesting form of defense. When he feels threatened by an animal, he unrolls a large membrane that spreads and ripples in the water. as if it were a cape, giving the impression that the animal is much bigger, which ends up driving away the predators.
The membrane that the octopus-veil unwraps makes the animal look much larger.
by Paula Louredo
Graduated in Biology
