At what depth are octopuses found? Marine life. Octopus. Description, features. How many legs does an octopus have? Octopuses are masters of camouflage

There are many various types mollusks inhabiting the depths of the planet’s oceans, so Interesting Facts about octopuses will help you take a fresh look at the life of cephalopods.

1. These soft-bodied creatures have three hearts, each of which performs its own function.! If the first one drives blood through the body, then the other two push it out through the gills. They all beat in the same rhythm, and the number of their contractions depends on the temperature of the water.
2. Octopus blood is bluish in color. This is explained by the fact that hemoglobin is not produced in the body. Instead, there is an enzyme present - hemocyanin, containing copper oxides. In cold waters blue blood provides mollusks with rapid access of oxygen to tissues.

   

3. In octopuses big eyes in relation to body size. This gives them the opportunity to see danger in time and react to it. Soft-bodied animals have color vision, which they can focus, and distinguish the shape of objects.

   

4. Cephalopods are able to camouflage themselves environment . Central nervous system in their body it gives impulses to the octopus’ skin cells. The latter begin to stretch and contract. This is how the animal changes color. In its normal state its color is brown.

   

5. The octopus often releases an ink cloud towards the enemy. Dark paint misleads attackers, creating the appearance of another creature. At this time, the mollusk swims away. This technique is especially good when being pursued by a shark, which relies on smell to hunt. The ink helps disorient the predator.

   

6. As a last resort, soft-bodied ones are ready to part with any of their tentacles in order to escape. When an octopus is grabbed by a limb, it easily separates it from the body and moves away from the attacker. Then the regeneration process occurs, and the tentacle grows.

   

7. Cephalopods have soft and flexible bodies. The only hard part of the animal is its beak. The latter limits the penetration of octopuses into very narrow holes, as it simply does not fit there.

   

8. These soft-bodied creatures have a powerful "jet engine". They first draw water into the mantle, then sharply contract the muscles and throw jets out through the resulting funnel. Such “devices” are generally rarely found in animals.

   

9. Octopuses are clean mollusks. Their home is free from various waste. After eating, they throw the leftovers into piles in front of the house. Experienced divers know about this and, if they want to see an animal, they look for places where marine debris consisting of shells accumulates.

   

10. Octopuses have very interesting way fertilization. Males insert a special tentacle into the mantle cavity of the female, the hectocotylus, with the help of which spermatophores are transferred. The process of reproduction in the life of octopuses occurs once.

    

11. Female cephalopods jealously guard their laid eggs.. For a month they do not allow anyone near the masonry. Constantly being close to future offspring, octopuses stop hunting and gradually weaken. After the birth of the cubs, the female often dies.

    

12. Some of the octopuses move on solid ground. They push off from the soil with their tentacles and, lifting their body, drag it in the desired direction. However, soft-bodied animals cannot “walk” on land for a long time, since then dehydration will occur.

    

13. These mollusks have developed intelligence. They can be trained, correctly determine the size of objects and remember the location of things. Octopuses get used to the people who feed them, so that they later recognize them and become completely tame.

    

14. One of the most poisonous animals on Earth is the blue-ringed octopus, which lives off the coast of Australia and in Indian Ocean. They are often kept in home aquariums, which is dangerous. After all, one such mollusk can poison 25 adults. Scientists have not yet come up with an antidote for it. In an effective way salvation in this case is long-term artificial ventilation.

    

15. Octopus is a unique delicacy for the Japanese.. They consume them boiled and eat them alive. Usually the soft-bodied ones are cut into small pieces and, while they are still twitching in convulsions, they chew the shellfish with appetite.

    

Niramin - Dec 11th, 2016

Octopuses live in almost all seas and oceans, but most often they can be found in warm seas among coral reefs. These marine inhabitants prefer to settle in shallow water, but among them there are also deep-sea species that penetrate to depths of up to 5 thousand meters.

The octopus looks quite original. His body resembles appearance the bag is called the mantle. The mantle in the front part is fused with the head, on which there are bulging eyes and a tiny mouth surrounded by chitinous plates that form the so-called beak. With the help of its beak, the octopus crushes food, which enters the pharynx, where there is a kind of grater that crushes and grinds pieces of food into a pulp. There are 8 long, muscular tentacles dotted with round suckers around the mouth. Under the eyes there is a kind of organ of movement - a siphon. With its help, water enters the mantle, and the muscle tissue of the mantle, contracting, pushes the water out. Thus, a jet of water is created, thanks to which the octopus is able to reach speeds of up to 15 km/h. System internal organs is quite complicated. However, it is noteworthy that the octopus, like a true aristocrat, has blue blood. One more distinctive feature devices of this sea ​​dweller is the presence of an ink sac, which contains a dye that protects this representative of cephalopods. It is interesting that the eyes of an octopus are similar to human eyes in structure, although these inhabitants of the depths see with each eye separately.

A special feature of the octopus is its ability to change color like a chameleon. Its color depends not only on the color of the area where it is hiding, but also on its mood. An angry octopus turns red, and a frightened one turns pale.

Octopuses feed on marine life, including crabs, lobsters, shellfish, and fish. They can easily taste their relatives too. Therefore, all octopuses lead a solitary lifestyle, are shy and constantly hide among reefs and underwater rocks, surrounding themselves with empty mollusk shells, small pebbles and various garbage. In this ambush, they patiently wait for their prey, capturing it with their tentacles and immobilizing them with poison.

See a selection of photos of octopuses:

Photo: Octopus tentacles, suckers.













Photo: Giant octopus.

Video: Octopus on the hunt Dangerous prey

Video: Amazing abilities octopuses for camouflage

Video: A giant octopus attacked a cameraman / Tin

Video: We went fishing and caught a giant octopus

There are about 300 different species of octopuses on our planet. They live in both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. These animals are not found only in fresh waters. Their life expectancy is not long - 1-2 years. Individuals that have lived 4 years are rare and are considered long-livers. The inhabitants of cold waters are much larger than their brothers from warm seas and oceans. The smallest eight-legged mollusks do not exceed one centimeter in length, and the largest Haliphron atlanticus grow up to four meters.

Octopuses are aristocrats by blood

Octopuses have blood blue color. This is explained by the fact that in their blood is saturated with copper. Blood is red inherent in man and many other creatures, is made by the iron that is part of it.

Matters of the Heart of an Octopus

Octopuses have a main heart and two secondary ones. The first, largest, drives blood throughout the body of the mollusk. The other two, smaller ones, are responsible for pushing blood through the gills. Therefore, additional hearts are called gill hearts.

Tentacles as a tasting organ

Octopuses use their tentacles not only to grab objects, but also to determine taste qualities products. There are ten thousand taste buds on each limb. And each suction cup can bear a load of 100 grams.

Phenomenal ability to regenerate

In case of danger, the octopus can independently deprive itself of one or more tentacles without unnecessary regrets. But he does not suffer from this, and after a short period of time the missing limb grows back and functions no worse than before. This technique is very similar to the maneuvers of a lizard, throwing away its tail. The octopus leaves a single limb to be torn to pieces by its enemies, and meanwhile it runs away as fast as it can.

Octopuses are born actors

All octopuses easily change their color, camouflaging themselves with their environment. This is possible due to the presence in the body of mollusks of cells with various pigments, which stretch or contract depending on the situation. IN in good condition The octopus is brown in color. When frightened, the octopus turns pale, sometimes becoming completely white. An angry person, on the contrary, blushes, frightening the offender with a bright color. Changing colors is useful both when hunting and when playing hide and seek with stronger predators.

Octopuses of the species, in addition to changing color, can successfully imitate other underwater inhabitants. Thaumoctopus mimicus easily imitates jellyfish, stingrays or crabs.

Land octopuses

Eight-legged mollusks breathe underwater with gills, but a short stay in the air does not harm them. They have a wonderful device in their body - a bag for storing water. It helps them survive the waterless period. Some types of octopuses at will leave their familiar environment. Relying on their tentacles, they move along the hard surface in search of food in small puddles left after low tide. This technique is also effective if there is a possibility of becoming lunch for a stronger opponent. There are known cases when cunning mollusks made their way into the holds of fishing vessels in order to feast on the fresh catch.

Parrot beak clam

The body of an octopus is very soft and elastic. The only hard part is beak, very similar to the beak of a parrot. With this tool, like a hammer, the octopus breaks the crab's shell. Thanks to the flexibility of the body, the octopus can squeeze into narrow crevices in rocks and reefs. The only limitation is the nose. If he gets through, then the whole octopus will slip into the hole.

Octopuses are pedants and neaties

Octopuses are very responsible about cleaning their homes. Every day they remove debris from their burrow using a stream of water that is released from the funnel of their body. They carefully place the remains of their vital activity in one place near their home, thus creating a stationary trash can for waste.

Octopuses are intellectuals

Octopuses are considered the most intelligent among invertebrates. They recognize and become attached to their owners. After some training, they can distinguish shapes and colors. With constant contact with humans they become completely tame.

Octopus - keen eye

Octopuses have excellent vision. They see well both in the light and in the dark. The pupil of these mollusks is rectangular, like that of goats.

A blind octopus loses the ability to change color. Blind in one eye, changes color only on the side of the healthy eye.

Floating inkwell

During the chase, the octopus throws a cloud of ink at the enemy, which completely disorients him. And while the enemy comes to his senses, the mollusk quickly leaves the danger zone. Ink not only impairs visibility for attackers, but also throws off the trail due to its specific smell. Due to this, further persecution of the victim becomes impossible.

Marriage games at a distance

Octopuses are wonderful animals, often the heroes of sea fairy tales and myths. There are quite a few legends about mutant octopuses and killer octopuses. However, these are just fictions. Most representatives of this species are not dangerous to humans and are themselves afraid of human society. Most big octopus was caught off the coast of the United States in 1945. Its weight was 180 kilograms and its length was 8 meters.

The octopus is a representative of the family of cephalopods. It is popularly known as an octopus, as it has eight huge tentacles. Since ancient times, there have been many legends and myths about this inhabitant of the seas. For example, sailors believed that a giant octopus-kraken lived in the ocean, capable of dragging an entire ship under water. These representatives of cephalopods form two suborders: deep-sea octopuses (Cirrata) and true octopuses (Incirrata).

The size of most octopuses does not exceed half a meter; only the common octopus, Apollyon, Hong Kong and Doflein octopus are considered large. Some species are poisonous. They live in subtropical and tropical seas and oceans, most often in coastal rocky areas. They feed on crustaceans, mollusks and fish. Octopuses breathe through gills and can remain out of water for a short time.

Anatomy and physiology of octopuses

The octopus or octopus shows typical representative cephalopods. Their body is compact, soft, round. The length of an adult octopus varies in the range from 1 centimeter to 4 meters. The mass of an octopus can reach 50 kilograms.

On the body of the octopus there is a mantle, which is a leather bag. The length of the mantle in males reaches 9.5 centimeters, and in females - 13.5 centimeters. An octopus has no bones. Because of this feature, it can easily change its shape and stay in a limited space.

The octopus has eight tentacles that are interconnected. A thin membrane serves as a connector. Located on the tentacles suction cups in 1-3 rows. The number of suckers in an adult can reach two thousand. One suction cup can hold approximately 100 grams of weight. In this case, retention occurs only due to the work of muscles, and not due to adhesion.

The mouth opening is where the tentacles grow. The mouth is equipped two strong jaws , similar to the beak of birds. The pharynx has a radula, similar to a grater, that grinds food. The anus is hidden under the mantle.

Common octopus may change color. This occurs under the influence of signals transmitted by the nervous system in response to external environment. In its normal state the octopus is brown, in case of danger it is white, and if it is angry it is red.

The eyes of an octopus are similar to human ones: large with lens and an outwardly oriented retina. It is noteworthy that the pupils are rectangular in shape.

Features of the organism of octopuses

This cephalopod has three hearts: one is responsible for distributing blood throughout the body, the other two are responsible for conducting blood through the gills.

Octopus has highly developed brain and rudiments of the cortex. The shape of the brain resembles a donut. This shape allows the brain to be compactly positioned around the esophagus. Cephalopods are capable of perceiving not only ordinary sounds, but also infrasound.

Also, thanks to the huge number of taste buds, the edibility of food is determined. Compared to other invertebrates, the octopus very large genome. It has 28 pairs of chromosomes and approximately 33 thousand protein-coding genes. According to the latter indicator, the octopus is even ahead of humans.

Octopus lifestyle and behavior

Octopuses live in all seas and oceans in the tropics and subtropics. As a rule, these animals lead a benthic lifestyle alone. They prefer to settle among stones and algae. They can settle in the empty shells of other underwater inhabitants.

For living, they choose a den with a narrow entrance, but spacious inside. Cleanliness is achieved using a funnel. Garbage and leftovers are not kept inside the habitat. On a hard surface, even a vertical one, octopuses move by crawling with the help of tentacles.

If an octopus needs to swim, then to do this, the octopus draws water into the cavity where its gills are located and forcefully pushes it into reverse movement direction. If a change in direction is required, the funnel through which the water is pushed is rotated.

Any of the octopus's movement options is very slow, so for hunting the animal actively uses ambushes and color changes to obtain food.

The main enemies of octopuses are:

• dolphins;
• whales;
• sea ​​lions;
• sharks;
• seals.

In case of danger, the octopus will often flees for his life, while releasing a dark liquid from special glands. How long does this liquid remain compact in the water, allowing the octopus to hide? Some zoologists believe that these shapeless spots also act as decoys.

In addition, if a tentacle is grabbed, it can come off due to strong muscle contraction. The tentacle continues to move for some time, which allows the octopus to break away from the enemy.

Reproduction of octopuses

Breeding periods occur in April and October. In some areas the dates have been shifted and fall to June and October. An octopus mates by releasing sperm from the mantle of the male into the mantle of the female.

Female octopuses after fertilization lay eggs. For laying, they choose depressions in the ground and make a nest, covering it with shells and stones. The eggs of octopuses are spherical, united in groups of 8–20 pieces.

In one clutch there may be 80 thousand eggs. The octopus takes care of the eggs, passing water, removing dirt and foreign objects. Until the eggs hatch, the female remains at the nest without food. It happens that she even dies after the young hatch.

During the first months, newborn octopuses feed on plankton and lead only a benthic lifestyle. After a month and a half, they already reach 12 millimeters and weigh several grams, and upon reaching 4 months they weigh about a kilogram.

Of the entire clutch, only one or two individuals reach sexual maturity. The lifespan of animals can reach 4 years, but on average octopuses live 1−2 years.

What do octopuses eat?

By the nature of their feeding, bottom-dwelling octopuses are classified as lurking predators. Hidden in their shelter, they patiently watch for passing fish, crabs, lobsters, lobsters and quickly rush at them, enveloping them with their long arms. The favorite food of octopuses is Kamchatka crabs.

Having caught a crab, the octopus carries it, holding it with its tentacles like hands, to its shelter. Sometimes one octopus drags several crabs at once. Octopuses also catch large gobies and flounders. Capture of prey occurs with the help of suction cups on the tentacles. Their strength is amazing: a suction cup with a diameter of 3 centimeters can withstand 2.5-3.5 kilograms.

This is a lot, especially since these animals have hundreds of suckers. Very ingenious experiments were carried out to determine the strength of the suction cups. Octopuses kept in an aquarium were given a crab tied to a dynamometer. He instantly grabbed the crab with his hands and hurried to hide with it in the shelter, but the leash did not allow him to do this.

Then the octopus firmly attached itself to the crab and began to forcefully pull it towards itself. At the same time, he held the crab with three hands, and with the rest he stuck to the bottom of the aquarium. Octopuses weighing about 1 kilogram or more could develop a force equal to 18 kilograms.

Octopuses recognize the taste of food not with their tongue, which is converted into a grater, but with their hands. The entire inner surface of the tentacles and suckers are involved in tasting food. These sea animals have an unusually subtle sense of taste; they can even taste their enemies.

Octopuses prefer to eat:

1. Fish.
2. Crustaceans.
3. Marine animals and shellfish.

If you drop a drop of water near an octopus, taken from an aquarium where a moray eel, the worst enemy of mollusks, lives, the octopus will immediately turn purple and run away.

Like many others cephalopods, octopuses belong to carnivorous animals. They grab their food with their tentacles and kill it with poison, and only then begin to consume it internally. If the victim is caught with a shell, then the octopus breaks it with its “beak” located near the mouth.

We will tell you about such an animal as the octopus, find out where it lives, what kind of life it leads, what it eats and other interesting facts that will introduce you better to this marine inhabitant.

Marine animals, octopuses, prefer to live at the bottom of seas and oceans and can exist exclusively in water. To survive in such conditions, there is a special flexible soft body with eight tentacles.

With the help of suction cups, it can move along the seabed, rocks and stones, and grab prey.

Thanks to them, he is able to determine the edibility of a product - there are up to 10 thousand taste buds on the suction cups. Between the tentacles there is a mouth shaped like a parrot's beak and is capable of grinding food.

The size of octopuses depends on their species and age. Its dimensions can vary from 1 cm to 4 m in adults. Average duration life is 2 years. There are cases when the animal lived up to 4 years.

Weight can reach up to 50 kg. Octopus is an animal with 3 hearts. One is the main one, and the rest are intended for the gills, dispersing blood. Octopuses are the most intelligent creatures among invertebrates.

There are more than 200 species of octopuses. The closest relatives of mollusks are squid and cuttlefish. Thanks to a special pigment called hemocyanin, octopus blood is blue. The mollusk is able to change color and camouflage itself with surrounding objects for the purpose of protection.

The main color is brown, but in a critical situation it takes on a color depending on the occasion. This is also an indicator of its condition. When a clam is frightened, it becomes white, angry - red, and in a dream they turn yellow.

Octopuses are quite resistant to any climate, due to which they live all over the world, where there is salty water from 30%, except in the north. They prefer to live separately and not encounter their relatives.

They reproduce 2 times a year, in autumn and spring, connecting with tentacles. After a week, the female can lay up to 80 thousand eggs, which will lie for up to 5 months until the cubs hatch.

They can live in shallow water and depths of up to 150 meters, but other species prefer deep water and can settle at a depth of 5000 m.

Octopuses prefer rocky terrain, settling in cracks and caves for living. Marine animals try not to leave their shelter, lead a sedentary lifestyle and hunt near their home. They are able to build their own nest where they can hide from others. dangerous inhabitants depths, collecting pebbles and corals together.

Octopuses are nocturnal inhabitants and do not leave the reefs during the day, getting out into dark time days to get food. The diet includes plankton, fish, crayfish and other shellfish. They sleep with their eyes open and only their pupils constrict. There are species of octopuses that are active and mobile. They spend time in motion during sleep and constantly move along the plane of the water.

Mollusks are able to fight for life to the last, trying to escape by any means. Their body is capable of doing unimaginable things to escape from the enemy:

1. They have high speed movement. During periods of danger, the body can accelerate to 16 km/h. They are able to move backwards, thanks to the structural features of the body. Water enters under the head in the form of a bag and is jerked out from there under pressure, moving it over long distances.

2. With the help of a flexible and plastic body without bones, they can fit into the narrowest and most inconvenient places where a predator cannot reach.

3. The octopus is capable of taking on any color, masquerading as the surrounding area and other inhabitants of the seas and oceans, choosing the image that is most terrible to the enemy. Even when he is safe and calm, he repaints himself to match his surroundings to eliminate the slightest possibility of being discovered.

4. They release chemical weapon in the form of a dark liquid that robs the enemy of his sense of smell and deprives him of his sight. The shape of the released liquid for some time has the outline of the octopus itself.