Did you ever wonder why an octopus has
suction cups?
What it eats, does, and where it lives? If you want to know more
fascinating
facts about octopi click on the flippers.
| Description | How it lives | Habitat | Defense System | Interesting Facts |
Some different kinds of
foods that the octopus eats are clams, its favorite, lobster, and many other
shelled foods. The octopus can taste with its
suction cups so when it is in the dark it can tell between the objects it would eat and the
objects it would not eat. It injects a poison that will
paralyze
its prey. When it gets back to its den if the prey has a shell the
octopus will either tear the shell off or use its file-like tongue to drill
through the shell. Then the octopus will eat its prey.
There are more than
150 types of octopus. Most of the 150 octopi live in tropical or subtropical
areas. Different octopi live in different water, some live in shallow water, and
others live in deep water. Also some octopi live in different places. For
example, some octopi live in the Coral Reef. Also the octopus lives in its den
by itself.
How
an Octopus Defends
An octopus can defend itself from
predators such as whales, moray eels, birds, humans, and barracudas. One way an octopus
defends itself is by changing its color and texture to match the colors around
it. The octopus can also fit into small cracks, which is helpful in hiding from
predators. Another way an
octopus can escape from predators is by spraying black ink, which has the scent
of an octopus. This will confuse
the predator to attack the ink. This will give the
octopus just enough time to change to the color of white and escape.
1. The 1st thing
that happens to the octopus in its life cycle is the octopus hatches from an
egg.
2. Next the octopus grows up
into an adult octopus.
3. After growing up the
octopus mates around age 1 or 2.
4. Then the female octopus
lays her eggs.
5. The octopus guards the
eggs until they hatch. At this point the octopus dies.
7. Finally we are back to
the beginning of the life cycle.
1. The octopus is a very
intelligent animal. The octopus can
open a jar that has a piece of prey in it. The smarts are that the octopus
figures out how to open a jar. An octopus can learn by watching another octopus.
For example, scientists put two balls out and one of the balls had a snack
hidden behind it. After a few tries the octopus found out which ball always had
the snack behind it. Then the octopus could find the snack easily. There was a
second octopus on the side that was watching the octopus. When the experiment
was tried on the second octopus, it found the snack on the first try repeatedly.
2. Sometimes known as the
large sea creature of the deep some octopi are only a few centimeters across.
3. The largest type of
octopus is the North Pacific Octopus, which may be thirty feet and can weigh
more then one hundred lbs. The smallest type of octopus is the Californian
Octopus, which only reaches to 3/8” to 1”.
4. The Blue Ringed Octopus
has enough poison to kill humans. When the Blue Ringed Octopuses rings turn deep
blue that means it may attack at any time. The Blue Ringed Octopus can be four
inches long and ten centimeters across.
5. Generally the smaller the
octopus the more of a poisonous bite it has.
6. The octopus is most
likely known as a cephalopod.
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