Salty Pets

Intelligent Octopus

November 9, 2011
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Looking eye to eye you see into the face of an Octopus, close up of its tentacles and beak. He is as interested about you as you are about him. Common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) One of the most widespread inhabitants of Planet Ocean, the common octopus lives in all but the most frigid ocean waters, at depths up to 500 ft. You can find an octopus home by looking for empty shells from clams, crabs, and shrimp piled outside of a burrow, which is actually the octopus den. An octopus spends its days in the den, coming out at night to find food, or possibly a mate. A hungry octopus can use its eight legs to grab food. The legs, called tentacles, are lined with two rows of suckers that help draw the octopus meal towards its mouth located in the center of its body. The mouth has a powerful beak to crush even thick, hard clam shells. A baby octopus hatches from a cluster of up to a quarter million eggs. Hatch-lings are microscopic plankton and many become food for other animals. Very few babies survive to adulthood. Only large fish and dolphins can eat an adult octopus. An adult common octopus grows two to three feet in length and can weigh up to 15 lbs. This is tiny compared to its giant Pacific cousin who reaches 30 feet and weighs 100 lbs. An octopus does not have an internal skeleton. The only hard part of its body is the powerful beak. Its flexible body and tentacles enable the octopus to do some amazing things. It can squeeze through a space as small as its beak.

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