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Octopuses belong to the phylum Mollusca which includes snails, clams, and chinos. They have eight tentacles and they are really very gentle creatures. The largest octopus is the north Pacific Octopus that may grow over 30 feet and weigh more than 100 pounds. The smallest is the california octopus which grows from 3/8" to 1" in length.

Octopuses spend most of their time on the seabed. They have great camouflage by changing colors to match their surroundings. When octopuses need to go fast, they jet backwards by sucking in seawater and pumping it back out through a funnel in their head. Octopuses, like humans, use their fingers or tentacles to sense and find things. They also use their tentacles to grab things or get a grip on something. Octopus eyes are like chameleon's because they can look backwards and forwards at the same time.

Sometimes octopuses are not so lucky and they are bitten by an eel or a crab. If the octopus is very healthy, he can regrow tentacles. When octopus get in trouble, they squirt out an ink cloud and jet away to safety. The cloud of ink confuses the enemy.

Because octopuses have no bones, they can squeeze into tiny places. Mother octopuses looks for dens that are well hidden and safe. An octopus can lay up to 60,000 eggs at a time. They hang them from the roof of the den and they look like grapes on strings. The mother octopus guards them from anything that tries to hurt them. While their babies are growing, the mother never eats or rests. After about 5 months, the babies hatch and go out into the ocean. Approximately 2 out of 60,000 will survive to become adults. The mother octopus dies after all the babies hatch.