Reasons an octopus can fascinate you!
I’m sure most of you have looked up at the sky and wondered about the mysteries hidden in the vast universe, but have you ever looked at the ocean and thought the same? Well, if not, let me tell you that we have an almost alien world living in our deep seas. With about 80% of the oceans still unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored oceans are teeming with life that is bound to astound you.
Living in these waters is an invertebrate that may be the closest to alien life we may ever get to witness. Few creatures on planet Earth are as remarkable and bizarre as the octopus. Octopuses are highly evolved cephalopods that are found in every ocean in numerous environments such as deep seas, coral reefs, kelp forests, and rocky shores. Octopuses can be massive or absolutely tiny. Some are venomous, strange-looking and some you might also find cute. The octopus with its curious characteristics and heightened cognitive abilities has left many baffled, researchers and laymen alike.
Here are some reasons this captivating creature of the deep sea can leave you fascinated:
An Octopus’s Biology
Eight arms, three hearts, and blue blood! And yet that is still not where the list of jaw-dropping biological characteristics of an octopus stops. They have elaborate cardiovascular and nervous systems. They have around half a billion neurons, two-thirds of which are located throughout their body, especially their arms. Their arms have suckers that can smell and taste and according to some scientists, can even see. Research has found that an octopus’s arm is capable of thinking independently, enabling it to analyze its environment quickly. These cephalopods are members of the mollusk phylum which generally have a soft body and hard protective shells such as snails, oysters, and clams. The lineage that produced the octopus is believed to have evolved and lost their shells around 140 million years ago leaving them with their soft and agile body. An octopus has no hard parts except a beak. It can squeeze through any tiny hole as long as it is larger than its eyeball. This allows these bodily vulnerable creators to hide and seek protection against the abundance of predators in the sea. Another feature that protects the octopus from its predators is its venomous ink. This simple yet deadly combination of mucus and melanin can impair predators' sight, taste, and smell that is enough to distract, confuse and sometimes suffocate them. Even so, don’t let these methods of survival deceive you into thinking of the octopus as an insensitive or ruthless creature. Octopuses make the ultimate sacrifice for their young ones. Mating in octopuses proves to be fatal for the smaller-sized male whereas the female, though surviving the mating process dies after guarding and laying the eggs in eight weeks by a method of self-destruction known as cellular suicide.
Octopuses are extremely intelligent
Octopuses can use tools, exhibit foresight, and retain complex memories. Researchers have observed sophisticated use of tools in octopuses especially in the Coconut carrying octopus. (Scientific name: Amphioctopus Marginatus). This octopus will carry with itself coconut halves while navigating through shelterless sea beds just to bring them up and surround itself with the coconut halves when feeling tired or in need of protection. This strenuous task for an animal its size requires the ability to understand past events, foresee future needs, and perform current actions accordingly.
Octopuses are known to quickly adapt and show vast behavioral changes in changing environments. They are able to differentiate efficiently in not just their natural habitat but also among the humans they have interacted with.
Octopuses are masters of mimicry and disguise
The open ocean can be a dangerous place for an Octopus with its soft muscled body. Through this need for self-preservation, the octopus has evolved to master some extraordinarily sophisticated tricks of mimicry and disguise.
Octopuses mimic their environment such as coral to deceive their predators. They use cells called papillae that can to deformed to make them look spiky, textured, and subsequently less identifiable. They can also modify the color of their skin to match that of other fish or their surroundings in an instant. This is brought about by the use of cells just beneath their skin called Chromatophores. These cells help them produce patterns on their skin such as bands, strips, or spots in a way that makes them almost indistinguishable to many oceanic creatures. The mimic octopus (Scientific name: Thaumoctopus mimicus) found in the oceans of Indonesia and the Great barrier reef, has been found to change the color of its skin, its shape, and the way it moves and behaves to look life either flatfish, sea snakes or the deadly red lionfish.
Octopuses can play
Play is often found in animals that live in groups such as dogs and dolphins. Play, owing to its complex nature, is generally believed to be limited to mammals and some birds that use it for social bounding. But the octopus is a solitary creature that has exhibited playful behavior umpteen times that has lead researchers to question the reason for the development of such an advanced form of intelligence in the octopus and the evolutionary idea of play in animals at large. Octopuses, both in aquariums and in the oceans, have shown various instances of playful behavior. Recently in an aquarium in Tampa Florida an octopus, named Farallon, showed her painting skills. In the video posted by the aquarium, Farallon swims her way closer to the edge of her tank enclosure and allows her caretaker to place one of her tentacles on the canvas. As the aquarium employee acts as an easel to hold up the canvas, Farallon uses several of her limbs to spread out the paint under the plastic wrap.
Human beings enabled by their own intelligence have the privilege to observe and analyze various species that the Earth supports. The octopus is so different from us and has evolved so differently from us. It gives the human race a chance of observing just how awe-inspiring life forms can be. It’s said, “out of sight, out of mind”, but let’s make sure that the fascinating Octopus living out of sight gets the fair share of attention and appreciation it deserves.
