Octopuses are perhaps the most amazing among the molluscs that live in sea ​​depths. Their strange appearance surprises, delights, sometimes frightens, the imagination draws giant octopuses that can easily sink even large ships, this kind of demonization of the octopus was greatly facilitated by the work of many famous writers, for example, Victor Hugo in his novel "Toilers of the Sea" described the octopus as "the absolute embodiment of evil." In reality, octopuses, of which there are more than 200 species in nature, are completely harmless creatures, and it is more likely that they should be afraid of us, people, and not vice versa.

The closest relatives of octopuses are squids and cuttlefish, they themselves belong to the genus of cephalopods, the family of octopuses proper.

Octopus: description, structure, characteristics. What does an octopus look like?

The appearance of an octopus is confusing, it is not immediately clear where its head is, where its mouth is, where its eyes and limbs are. But then everything becomes clear - the sac-shaped body of an octopus is called a mantle, which is fused with a large head, there are eyes on its upper surface. The eyes of an octopus are convex.

The mouth of an octopus is tiny and surrounded by chitinous jaws called a beak. The latter is necessary for the octopus to grind food, since they do not know how to swallow prey whole. He also has a special grater in his throat, she grinds pieces of food into gruel. Around the mouth are tentacles that are genuine calling card octopus. The tentacles of the octopus are long, muscular, their lower surface is dotted with different size taste buds (yes, the octopus has taste buds on its suckers). How many tentacles does an octopus have? There are always eight of them, in fact, the name of this animal came from this number, since the word "octopus" means "eight legs" (well, that is, tentacles).

Also, twenty species of octopuses have special fins that serve as a kind of steering wheel when they move.

An interesting fact: octopuses are the most intelligent among mollusks, the octopus brain is surrounded by special cartilage, strikingly similar to the skull of vertebrates.

All the senses of octopuses are well developed, especially vision, the eyes of octopuses are very similar in structure to human eyes. Each of the eyes can see separately, but if the octopus needs to examine some object more closely, the eyes easily approach and focus on a given object, in other words, octopuses have the rudiments of binocular vision. And octopuses are able to pick up infrasound.

Structure internal organs octopus is extraordinarily complex. For example, their circulatory system is closed, and the arterial vessels are almost connected to the venous ones. The octopus also has three hearts! One of them is the main one, and two small gills, whose task is to push blood to the main heart, otherwise it already directs the flow of blood throughout the body. Speaking of octopus blood, it's blue! Yes, all octopuses are real aristocrats! But seriously, the color of the blood of octopuses is due to the presence of a special pigment in it - geocyamine, which plays the same role in them that we have hemoglobin.

Another interesting body that the octopus possesses is the siphon. The siphon leads to the mantle cavity, where the octopus draws water, and then, abruptly releasing it, creates a real jet that pushes its body forward. True, the octopus’s jet device is not as perfect as that of its squid relative (which became the prototype for creating a rocket), but it’s also up to par.

The sizes of octopuses differ from species, the largest of them has 3 meters in length and weighs about 50 kg. Most species of medium octopuses are from 0.2 to 1 meter in length.

As for the color of octopuses, they usually have red, brown, or yellow colors, but they can also easily change their color like that. Their color change mechanism is the same as that of reptiles - special chromatophore cells located on the skin can stretch and contract in a matter of seconds, simultaneously changing color and making the octopus invisible to potential predators, or expressing its emotions (for example, angry the octopus turns red, even turns black).

Where does the octopus live

The habitat of octopuses is almost all the seas and oceans, with the exception of the northern waters, although they sometimes penetrate there. But most often octopuses live in warm seas, both in shallow water and at very great depths - some deep-sea octopuses can penetrate to depths of up to 5000 m. Many octopuses like to settle in coral reefs.

What do octopuses eat

Octopuses, however, like other cephalopods, are predatory creatures; their diet consists of a variety of small fish, as well as crabs and lobsters. They first capture their prey with tentacles and kill with poison, then they begin to absorb, since they cannot swallow whole pieces, then they first grind the food with their beak.

Octopus lifestyle

Octopuses usually lead a sedentary sedentary life, most of the time they hide among reefs and sea rocks, leaving their hiding place only for hunting. Octopuses live, as a rule, one by one and are very attached to their site.

How long do octopuses live

The life span of an octopus is on average 2-4 years.

Octopus Enemies

One of the most dangerous enemies of the octopus in Lately is a person, which contributes to a large extent to cooking, because many delicious and delicious dishes can be prepared from an octopus. But besides this, the octopus has other natural enemies, various marine predators: sharks, sea lions, seals, killer whales are also not averse to eating octopus.

Is an octopus dangerous for humans?

Is it only on the pages of books or in different fantasy films Octopuses are incredibly dangerous creatures that can not only easily kill people, but also destroy entire ships. In reality, they are quite harmless, even cowardly, at the slightest sign of danger, the octopus prefers to flee, no matter what happens. Although they usually swim slowly, in case of danger they turn on their jet engine, allowing the octopus to accelerate to a speed of 15 km per hour. They also actively use their ability of mimicry, merging with the surrounding space.

Some danger to scuba divers can only be represented by the most large species octopuses and then only during the breeding season. At the same time, of course, the octopus itself will never be the first to attack a person, but defending itself, it can sting him with its poison, which, although not fatal, will, of course, cause some unpleasant feelings (swelling, dizziness). The exception is blue-ringed octopus, living off the coast of Australia, whose nerve poison is still fatal to humans, but since this octopus leads a secretive lifestyle, accidents with it are very rare.

Types of octopuses, photos and names

Of course, we will not describe all 200 species of octopuses, we will focus only on the most interesting of them.

As you probably guessed from the name, this is the largest octopus in the world. It can reach up to 3 meters in length and up to 50 kg of weight, but these are the largest individuals of this species, on average, a giant octopus has 30 kg, and 2-2.5 meters in length. Lives in the Pacific Ocean from Kamchatka and Japan to west coast USA.

The most common and well-studied species of octopus that lives in the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, from England to the coast of Senegal. It is relatively small, its body length is 25 cm, and together with the tentacles 90 cm. The body weight is on average 10 cm. It is very popular in the cuisine of the Mediterranean peoples.

And this one beautiful view The octopus, which lives off the coast of Australia, is also the most dangerous among them, since it is its poison that can cause cardiac arrest in humans. One more characteristic feature of this octopus is the presence of characteristic blue and black rings on its yellow skin. A person can be attacked only in defense, so in order to avoid trouble, you just need to stay away from him. And it is also the smallest octopus, the length of its body is 4-5 cm, tentacles - 10 cm, weight 100 grams.

Octopus breeding

And now let's look at how octopuses breed, this process is very interesting and unusual for them. Firstly, they reproduce only once in their lives, and this action has dramatic consequences for them. Before the mating season, one of the tentacles of the male octopus turns into a kind of sexual organ - hectocotylus. With its help, the male transfers his spermatozoa to the mantle cavity of the female octopus. After this act, the males, alas, die. Females with male sex cells continue to lead for several months ordinary life and then they lay eggs. Them in masonry great amount up to 200 thousand pieces.

Then it lasts for several months until the young octopuses hatch, during this time the female becomes an exemplary mother, literally blowing dust particles from her future offspring. In the end, the female, exhausted from hunger, also dies. Young octopuses hatch from eggs completely ready for independent life.

  • Most recently, many people heard the famous octopus Paul, the octopus oracle, the octopus predictor, with amazing accuracy predicting the results of football matches at the European Championship in Germany in 2008. In the aquarium where this octopus lived, two feeders with the flags of the opposing teams were placed, and then the team from whose feeder the octopus Paul began his meal won the football match.
  • Octopuses play a significant place in the erotic fantasies of people, and for quite a long time, so back in 1814, a certain Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai published an erotic engraving "The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife", which depicts a naked woman in the company of two octopuses.
  • It is quite possible that as a result of evolution after millions of years, octopuses will develop into sentient beings like people.

Octopus life video

And finally, interesting documentary about octopuses from National Geographic.

The mysterious world of the ocean hides many secrets, one of which is its giant inhabitants. A few centuries ago, the stories of experienced sailors about the incredible size of krakens caused a special thrill. But if the kraken is still mythical monster, then the article will talk about very real cephalopods, whose size and weight make the human race shudder even today!

Meet the largest octopus according to the Guinness Book of Records, it became cephalopod, bearing the name of the German zoologist Doflein, its length was 9.6 m, and its body weight was 272 kg. It's hard to believe, but such a monster grows from a larva only 3-4 mm in size. Doflein's octopuses are also called sea devils for their growths in the form of horns located above the eyes. According to, for the same growths they are called eared.

gigantomania

As befits all monsters, octopuses hide at great depths, among stones and algae. Nevertheless, scientists managed to introduce the world to another giant. A relative of the 9-meter octopus, which took 1st place in the ranking of the largest octopuses, was registered in the 40s. XX century. Its weight is 180 kg, and its body length is 8 m. In scientific circles, these octopuses are recognized as both the largest and the most studied, since they are not deep-sea, like many of their relatives.


Doflein's octopuses are lovers of cool waters. Optimum temperature for them - +12 C. These mollusks prefer night hunting for fish, crustaceans and similar cephalopods. Doflein's skin is slightly wrinkled. Octopuses make it so on purpose to merge with the relief coral reef or rocks.

In the Pacific

The Pacific octopus was found dead off the coast of New Zealand, which did not prevent him from entering the ranking of the most-most. Its body length is 4 m, and its weight is 75 kg. His predecessor was much more fortunate, he managed not only to survive, but also to get into the Guinness Book of Records. It also turned out to be a Pacific cephalopod mollusk weighing 58 kg and with a tentacle length of 3.5 m.


Pacific octopuses nimble enough. So, a 12-kilogram octopus managed to escape from one aquarium. Without a skeleton, octopuses can easily seep into small holes. Another feature of cephalopods is that they can do without water for several hours.


Unfortunately, nature has arranged it so that representatives of any species, reaching enormous sizes, live a little. The age of octopuses is already short: about 4 years. For giants, this age is reduced to 2 years. Scientists suggest that in the future, large individuals will begin to disappear from the planet, because, from the point of view of evolution, size is not the main thing!

Angel of Death

The apollyon octopus was named after the angel of the abyss and death. The mollusk got its far from harmless name for its ability to kill the victim with a stream of poison and suck out its flesh. He hunts mainly for crabs. If an apollyon bites a person, the symptoms will be the same as those of a snake bite, but they are not fatal. The swelling from the bite goes away in 2-3 weeks.


It is known for certain that octopuses do not attack people, rather, they avoid meeting with them. In most cases, all bites are self-defense.

According to the author of the book "Primates of the Sea" I. Akimushkin, in late XIX V. a representative of the glorious genus of Apollyons was found, 5 m in size and with a tentacle span of 8.5 m. At the same time, the “angels of death” weigh very little, and their body sizes reach no more than 30 cm. Apollyon lives off the coast of Alaska, California and Canada.

Yanagi-dako

One of the giant octopuses is considered to be the true Japanese "yanagi-dako", or willow octopus, which lives off the coast of about. Hokkaido. Its length reaches 3 m. The Japanese consider it a delicacy, especially since intensive fishing has reduced its population, and octopuses came to the court, or rather to the table of the Japanese, just in time.


Octopuses are amazing animals. Cephalopods are definitely not heartless. They have as many as 3 hearts. Blue blood flows in their veins, and they are very smart. Remember the most famous predictor octopus Paul (he belonged to ordinary octopuses), who very accurately predicted the outcome of football matches. In honor of Paul, a monument in the form of a soccer ball was even unveiled. The Germans were so kind to their oracle that they kept his ashes and placed them inside the monument.


You can also see octopuses in captivity, for example, a giant Pacific octopus lives in the Exotarium of the Moscow Zoo.

In fact, there are more than 300 species of octopuses with bizarre shapes and colors. In our ranking, we have identified the largest octopuses.

  1. Doflein's octopus - 9.6 m, weight 272 kg.
  2. Doflein's octopus - 8 m, weight 180 kg.
  3. Apollyon - 5 m ( exact weight not specified. The octopus is inferior in weight to all the species mentioned in the rating).
  4. Pacific octopus - 4 m, weight 75 kg
  5. Pacific octopus - 3.5 m, weight 58 kg.
  6. Willow octopus - 3 m (weight not specified).

Perhaps the world will still know more than one fact from life sea ​​giants, which, giving odds to man, suddenly emerge from the depths of the sea.

The giant octopus belongs to the order of the octopus. The habitat of this species extends to the coastal northern regions. Pacific Ocean. These cephalopods can be found along the west coast of America. This is Alaska British Columbia, Washington State, Oregon, California. At the eastern tip of Eurasia, representatives of the species live near Japan, Korea, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, Kamchatka, the Aleutian and Commander Islands. They live on sea soil at a depth of up to 2 km, hiding in underground caves and crevices. Preference is given to cold, oxygenated water.

Adults, as a rule, weigh about 15 kg with extended tentacles up to 4.3 m. Larger specimens weighing up to 50 kg and up to 6 m long come across. The suction cups could hold the entire 16kg. These representatives of the species have 8 tentacles, each of which has 2 rows of suckers. The mouth opening is located where the tentacles converge. The mouth has 2 jaws resembling a parrot's beak. There is a special grater in the pharynx that grinds food.

There are 3 hearts. Main distills blue blood over the body. And two auxiliary or gill push blood through the gills. Since these individuals do not have bones, they can easily change their shape. They disguise themselves as other fish, pass through narrow openings and hide in caves, the volume of which is only a quarter of their body volume. Slowly crawl along the bottom, but are able to develop on a short time speed up to 35 km/h. They change their color to suit their environment. The normal color of the body is brown, but it can be light gray when frightened and red when angry.

Reproduction and lifespan

During the breeding season, giant octopuses move to shallow depths and form large colonies. It happens in summer period. At the end of spawning, adults quickly disperse throughout their habitat and do not form any clusters. The female mates only once in her life and lays from 20 thousand to 100 thousand eggs. Eggs are combined into clusters, each of which has 200 to 300 eggs.

The female is near the eggs during the entire incubation period. All this time, she removes dirt from them and ventilates, passing water. It often happens that females die of exhaustion, because at this time they do not eat anything. The eggs hatch into larvae 9-10 mm long. 3 months after the appearance, they begin to grow rapidly and go to the depth. IN wild nature The giant octopus lives an average of 4.5 years. The maximum life expectancy is 5 years.

Behavior and nutrition

These cephalopods lead a solitary lifestyle. They constantly sit in their lairs, and leave them only to get food. When they escape from predators, they release an ink-colored stream, which is produced by special glands. They crawl along the bottom with the help of tentacles. They swim backwards with their tentacles, while taking water into the cavity where the gills are located, and then pushing it out with force. Hunting is carried out from an ambush.

The diet consists of shellfish, fish, crabs, squid. The prey is dragged to their lair, and the remains are left near their lairs. Octopuses are considered intelligent invertebrates. They have 300 million neurons in their brains, allowing adults to solve simple puzzles. In captivity, they can open bottles, tank valves, and disassemble equipment. Some researchers argue that they have personal characteristics and characters.

This species is on the list of gradually disappearing inhabitants of the oceans. At the same time, the commercial capture of giant octopuses does not greatly affect the size of the population. At least that's how it's supposed to be. Numbers are affected by toxins and ocean acidification.

They have existed since ancient times. But even today there are eyewitnesses who are ready to confirm the most incredible hypotheses. Judging by the descriptions of sailors and scientists, giant octopuses still exist. They hide in the deep waters of the oceans and coastal caves, only occasionally catching the eye of a person, frightening fishermen and divers.

Information that giant octopuses really live in the sea comes from different corners planets. So, the largest octopus, caught from the deep sea, reached 22 meters in length, and the diameter of its suckers reached 15 cm. What are these monsters and why have they not been studied yet?

What do we know about octopuses?

It is their limbs that grow directly from the head, they can take any position, with which the mollusk captures the victim. The mantle covers the gills and internal organs.

The head is small with round expressive eyes. To move, the octopus grabs water with its mantle and abruptly pushes it through a funnel under its head. Thanks to this push, he moves backwards. Together with the water, ink comes out of the funnel - the waste products of the octopus. The mouth of this marine life is very interesting. It is a beak, the tongue is covered with a horn grater with many small, but very sharp teeth. One of the teeth (central) is noticeably larger than the others, with which the octopus drills holes in the shells and shells of animals.

Giant octopus: who is he?

This is a representative of the Octopus dofleini family, living on rocky shores. The largest specimen, which was described and listed in the Guinness Book of Records, had a limb length of 3.5 m (excluding the mantle). Later testimonies of sailors prove that there were also larger animals with tentacles up to 5 meters long. These giant octopuses terrified eyewitnesses, although they did not pose a certain danger to humans. The diet of these marine life does not include But they can scare a person. In an irritated state, the mollusk changes color to dark burgundy, assumes a frightening pose, raising its tentacles, and throws out dark ink.

The giant octopus pictured above has already released ink from a special ink channel and is ready to rush into battle. If the octopus throws its limbs behind its head and puts forward suction cups, it means that it is preparing to fight back the enemy - this is a typical posture for repelling an attack.

Are giant octopuses dangerous?

Aggression of this animal can be caused by roughly grabbing it or trying to pull it out of the hole. Cases of attacks on humans are not uncommon, but no deaths have been recorded from suffocation with tentacles. Octopuses are inherently shy, so they usually try to hide when they meet a person. Although in mating season some individuals are very aggressive and are not afraid of humans. The clam Octopus dofleini can bite painfully, but this bite is not poisonous, unlike the bite of some tropical relatives. These large octopuses are kept in aquariums. True, their life span is short: the female dies after the offspring appears, and the male even earlier, immediately after mating.

People have long considered the giant octopus to be a dangerous sea monster. In fact, this is a smart, resourceful, amazing and completely harmless animal.

   Type - shellfish
   Class - cephalopods
   Genus/Species - Octopus dofleini

   Basic data:
DIMENSIONS
Arm span: up to 9 m.
Weight: up to 70 kg; observations have shown that the deeper the octopus lives, the larger it is.

BREEDING
Puberty: about 1 year; adult females are larger than males.
Number of eggs: up to 100,000.
Incubation period: 160 days.

LIFESTYLE
Habits: loners.
Food: shellfish, crustaceans, sometimes fish.
Lifespan: up to 6 years old.

RELATED SPECIES
The giant octopus is related to the garden snail, since both animals belong to the class of molluscs. Its closest relatives are other octopuses and squids.

   Octopuses are very unusual creatures. These mobile and extremely smart molluscs, having a good developed organs senses, perfectly adapted to the existence in the marine environment. Although they are classified as protozoa, biologists consider them to be the most real invertebrates.

BREEDING

   The giant octopus becomes sexually mature at the age of 3, and sometimes even 5-6 years. It is not difficult to distinguish a sexually mature male from a female - he has a modified right hand the third pair, which turns into a hectocotyl. During mating (at a depth of 30-100 m), the male transfers 1 or 2 spermatophores into the mantle cavity of the female with the help of a hectocotylus and places them in her oviducts. The female lays her eggs 40 days after mating. Octopus eggs are small, they are like grains of rice. The eggs are placed in mucous cords, which the female hangs from the ceiling of her "house". Throughout the entire period of incubation of the eggs, the female protects them and provides an influx of fresh water. She does not eat anything, weakens so much that, having given life to a new generation, she dies. After mating the male does not feed and also dies.After 160 days (sometimes more), larvae 3-4 mm long emerge from the eggs, which rise to the surface, where they stay for the first two months, and reaching 5 cm in height, sink to the bottom.

SELF DEFENSE

   The greatest danger to octopuses are sharks, seals and individuals of their own species, which outnumber them. The best protection from enemies is speed and dexterity - it is these features that allow the animal to hide in time in a safe shelter. Octopuses successfully hide from their pursuers behind a dark cloud of ink, which, if necessary, is released from the ink bag. The giant octopus is able to change color, becoming the same color as environment. Having lost one or more arms in a fight with the enemy, the octopus does not die - new limbs grow in it.

LIFESTYLE

    The giant octopus spends most of the day in a shelter that is located in a rock gorge or other secluded place at the bottom of the sea, and only comes out to hunt at night. The permanent hole of an octopus can be found by the "garbage heap" that is located near it, the remnants of food - shells, shells and other parts of the body of the eaten prey. Octopuses feed on marine crustaceans, various types bivalves and snails. Thanks to the repulsive power of the water, the octopus can walk along the bottom “on its fingertips”, relying only on the ends of its arms. This mollusk moves very elegantly in the water column, using underwater currents and its own funnel motor for this. average speed giant octopus is 4 km/h. If necessary, he can move faster.
   With the help of suction cups on the hands, the octopus is kept on rocks and rocky outcrops.

FOOD

   The giant octopus eats absolutely everything that it can only catch and swallow. There are many legends about the bloodthirstiness of the octopus, although in fact it feeds mainly on crabs and bivalves, as well as holothurians, fish, shrimp and small octopuses. During the hunt, the octopus is guided mainly by sight. Noticing the desired prey nearby, the octopus stretches out most of its arms to it and grabs the prey.
   Along the perimeter of each disc-sucker are receptor cells that determine the edibility of a particular object. An octopus can kill its prey with the poison it releases. salivary glands, but usually powerful suckers are enough for this. The giant octopus splits the shells of bivalve mollusks with a strong beak, which is very reminiscent of a parrot's beak. The octopus assimilates the meat and soft tissues of the prey, and throws out those parts that it cannot digest.
  

DO YOU KNOW WHAT...

  • The giant octopus is also called Doflein's octopus. The weight of the record-breaking octopus of this species reached 270 kg, and the arm span was about 9.6 m.
  • The giant octopus is a common inhabitant of the coastal zone. Rarely does it go deeper than 100-300 meters. This octopus is nocturnal. During the day, he usually hides in various shelters.
  • Blood throughout the body of the octopus is pumped by three not very hardy hearts, so the cephalopod quickly gets tired and cannot withstand a long struggle.
  

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF THE GIANT OCTOPUS

   Suckers: the octopus uses them to tear its prey and attaches itself to the rocks with their help. Sensitive receptors on the suckers transmit information about objects that the octopus touches.
   Funnel, or siphon: water enters it, from which the octopus extracts oxygen for breathing. Then the water is pushed out of the mantle cavity with force, due to which the mollusk moves quickly.
   Beak: With a strong horny beak, the octopus bites through the shells of crustaceans.
   Hands: the octopus has eight long arms with powerful muscles - which serve to capture food.

PLACES OF ACCOMMODATION
The giant octopus lives in the North Pacific, from Alaska and the Sea of ​​Japan to California in the south.
PRESERVATION
Pollution marine environment for the octopus is not dangerous. Unlike his hunted relatives, he does not need to be afraid of a person.