Tales from the Reef: An Octopus Tale….

I was greeted by an octopus this morning on my turtle adventure snorkel. A nice surprise as I don’t normally see these strange alien looking creatures. For me they belong in space rather than under the sea, but the oceans are filled with lots of weird and wonderful creatures, so why not blog about octopus.

Octopus are invertebrates which means they have no back bone. They are classified in the mollusk family, and many mollusks, like clams for instance, have no brains. Octopus on the other hand are actually very intelligent, in the invertebrate kingdom they have the biggest brain to body ratio. Researchers who study octopuses are convinced that these animals have developed intelligence, emotions, and even individual personalities!

Octopus are quite remarkable creatures. They have no bones in their body so they can squeeze into tight places. They have 3 hearts and 8 arms which are covered in hundreds of suckers that feel as well as taste. They have a sharp parrot like beak and a tongue covered with teeth. Octopus can also bite and most have neurotoxic, flesh-dissolving venom!! They can also shape shift and change colour, and to escape predators they squirt ink. Most interestingly if you chop off an octopus’s arm they will grow another one back!

Octopus are also very caring parents, well the female is! When she is ready to mate, she releases a chemical into the water that attracts males. They follow this chemical to the female, where they will often fight one another for the right to mate with the female. The same chemical that attracts the males stops the males from eating the female! Yes octopuses are known to eat each other! Once mating is over the female builds a den and will lay tens of thousands of eggs which hang from the roof of her den. She then spends the next few months caring for her eggs. She ensures that bacteria and algae do not grow on them, and she blows water across them to ensure a constant oxygen supply. When the eggs hatch the offspring swim to the surface and the mother crawls out of the den and dies. How sad, they neglect to eat during the time spent taking care of their eggs, eventually dying of starvation. The male will also only live for a few months after mating. In fact, the lifespan of a octopus is relatively quite short and some species live only for 6 months.

I have always loved octopuses. So cool to watch, changing colours right in front of you, there big beady eyes watching your every move. Their color-changing ability can also be used to communicate with or warn other octopuses. They can also use the muscles in their skin to change the texture of their mantle to achieve a greater camouflage. They turn white and smooth if they are relaxed and red and spiky if they become agitated. As soon as they know they have been spotted they dart into a hole and squeeze themselves in waiting for you go. Their main defense is to hide or not to be seen at all, either that or a fast escape. You may have to wait a long time until they finally decide to come out. This is definitely one item of seafood that I do not eat and I love seafood (only the sustainable kind of course), anyway how could I possibly eat something that’s so intelligent, it seems unfair. So I have left you with a few photos of the octopus I met this morning. He turned from white to red so obviously not as happy to see me as I was to see him.