Octopus

The octopus is a sweet and kind animal. The octopus is NOT a mean or harmful animal. It is one of the nicest animals to people. The octopus protects itself with its legs, but they do not hurt humans. However, they do bite. It has a hooked jaw like a parrot's beak.  There is only one deadly octopus and that is the Tiny Blue Ringed Octopus which lives in Australia. Like a snake it is deadly because of the venom that it produces.  The venom will kill a person.

The octopus has 8 legs. The stem "octo" means eight. The octopus has many suction cups on each of its legs. The suction cups help the octopus to walk along the creepy, scary, and dark ocean floor. The suction cups also help it protect itself and pick different objects up. The octopus has no skeleton. But it is still a very strong animal. The octopus has a very soft body and belongs to the group of invertebrates. Marine scientists think that the octopus is very smart although it is not known for its brain power. The octopus is a cousin of the squid. The octopus defends itself with its suction cups (AKA: suckers). It also defends itself with its amazing parrot-like beak. The octopus can range in many sizes.  They can be from the size of a thumbnail to the size 600 LBS.

There are many different species of octopus. There are about 100 or more species. Some species can blend in with their surroundings. Some are just normal creatures the don't do anything special. The octopus eats mainly shrimp, crab, and other yummy marine animals. They also eat bigger things such as whales, sharks, and sea turtles. Octopuses are known for their cloud of "black ink". They spray a cloud of black ink to help them get away from their hunting prey.