15 Bizarre Facts You’ll Probably Hear For The First Time About Octopuses
15 Bizarre Facts You'll Probably Hear For The First Time About Octopuses; Octopuses belong to the cephalopod class, and of all invertebrate creatures, they are the smartest and most diverse group of behaviors.
Octopuses belong to the cephalopod class, and of all invertebrate creatures, they are the smartest and most diverse group of behaviors. Let’s get to know these creatures a little better, called the” brains of the seas”!
1. Octopuses, like all of us, love to play.
Scientists think octopuses have individual personalities. Studies have shown that octopuses prefer different toys to play with, depending on their temperaments.
2. Their acting skills may be better than you.
One of the protective behaviors from predators is the mimicry feature. Thanks to their imitation abilities, you can see them running, sometimes in different colors. Sometimes you may not even be able to see them because they can be invisible. Thanks to the chromatophore cells, they adapt to their environment by changing the shape and color of their skin. This feature saves them from prey most of the time.
3. During mating, the male is always on the right side of the female.
The male puts the sperm into the female’s tubular tube or the female takes it from the male with his arms. He’s lucky if the man can escape immediately after transferring the sperm! Because after mating, the female strangles the male and eats it. It has not yet been explained that he always keeps the man on his right side. It is thought that the reason for this aggressiveness of females is to protect their eggs against all kinds of threats, like a kind of maternal instinct.
4. Their lifespan is very short, some species only live six months.
After the mating period, the males die within a few weeks, even if they are still alive. Females, on the other hand, continue to live until the eggs hatch. However, as they stop feeding until the eggs hatch, the offspring starve to death after a while.
5. They are intelligent creatures because of their well-developed nervous systems.
Some scientists believe that if octopuses were able to live longer, they could be the species that dominated the Earth thanks to their intelligence.
6. They like to decorate their balconies / gardens like you.
The sea bottom shells of crustaceans, even discarded coconut are collecting walnuts in their shells even picking habitat. The reason for this is thought to be to protect against predators.
7. The Big Blue-Ringed Octopus can cause you to die.
Almost all octopuses are poisonous. This blue-ringed octopus (Haoalochlaena lunulata) is the most venomous octopus in the world. It can kill you in one bite. There is no antidote yet.
8. Octopuses can move in and out of very small areas and solve all kinds of problems related to getting rid of these areas.
Because their skeletal systems are suitable for getting in and out of tight spaces, they can escape or hide from their predators in this way.
9. Octopuses are very lonely creatures.
Octopuses do not live in groups. For this reason, each of them keeps their species under control by avoiding prey with their agile behavior. For this reason, they are known as super hunters. The difficulties of living alone may lie behind their intelligence.
10. Octopuses contain blue blood.
In order to survive in the deep sea, hemocyanin is present in their blood as a respiratory pigment that carries oxygen. It contains copper in the structure of hemocyanin and appears blue when combined with oxygen. This system is very sensitive to acidity-alkalinity changes, if the environment is acidic, octopuses cannot get enough oxygen. For this reason, it is still a matter of debate what will happen to the creatures here as the oceans gradually become acidic due to climate change.
11. They can taste with their suction cups.
Thanks to the approximately 1600 suction cups on their arms, they can taste and smell when touched. Suction cups are full of chemoreceptors that enable them to pick up these senses.
12. 2/3 of the neurons in octopuses are in their arms.
In other words, while one arm of octopuses is busy with a task such as feeding, they can also control the area they live with with the other arms. Thanks to this neuron system in his arms, even his arms that are completely severed can continue to react for a while.
13. Octopus wrestling became a popular sport in the 1960s.
According to this sport, without breathing apparatus, divers try to catch octopuses with their hands. In April 1963, at the World Octopus Wrestling Championship, divers captured the 57-pound giant pacific octopus.
14. The word octopus means “eight-legged”.
Octopuses come from the “Octopodidae” family. It means “octo”, “eight” in Latin. In other words, this word of Latin origin, “octopus” in English, means eight-legged.
15. Octopuses are consumed alive in Korea.
Octopus has been a popular food item in East Asia, Spain, and Greece for centuries, and has recently gained popularity in the United States and beyond. Aside from eating live, in many countries it is forbidden to perform any work or surgical procedure on octopuses without anesthesia, because they are highly intelligent creatures.
