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{{Short description|Soft-bodied eight-limbed order of molluscs}}
{{About |the order of cephalopod}}
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{{Featured article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2017}}
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NOTE: This article uses the common pluralization "octopuses". This is correct and intentional; please do not change it. Other variants are discussed in the Terminology section. NOTE: This article uses the English pluralization, "octopuses". This is correct and intentional, please maintain it. Other variants are discussed in the Etymology and pluralization section.
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{{Automatic taxobox
{{otheruses}}
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Middle Jurassic|0|] – recent}}
{{Taxobox
| image = Octopus2.jpg
| name = Octopus
| image_caption = ]<br/>(''Octopus vulgaris'')
| image = Octopus2.jpg
| image_alt = Common octopus on seabed
| image_width = 250px
| display_parents = 3
| image_caption = The ], ''Octopus vulgaris''.
| taxon = Octopoda
| regnum = ]ia
| authority = ], 1818<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=82589 |title=ITIS Report: Octopoda Leach, 1818 |publisher=Itis.gov |date=10 April 2013 |access-date=4 February 2014}}</ref>
| phylum = ]
| subdivision_ranks = Suborders
| classis = ]a
| subdivision = (traditional)
| subclassis = ]
* ]
| superordo = ]
* ]
| ordo = '''Octopoda'''
See {{section link||Evolution}} for families
| ordo_authority = ], 1818
| synonyms = * Octopoida<br/><small>Leach, 1817</small><ref name="Mikko">{{cite web |url=http://www.helsinki.fi/~mhaaramo/metazoa/protostoma/mollusca/cephalopoda/coleoidea.html |website=Mikko's Phylogeny Archive |title=Coleoidea&nbsp;– Recent cephalopods}}</ref>
| subdivision_ranks = ]s
| subdivision =
†'']'' <small>('']'')</small><br>
†'']'' <small>('']'')</small><br>
†'']'' <small>('']'')</small><br>
]<br>
]
| synonyms =
*Octopoida<br><small>Leach, 1817</small>
}} }}
The '''octopus''' ({{pronEng|ˈɒktəpəs}}, from ] {{Unicode|Ὀκτώπους}}, 'eight-footed',<ref>] from ] ὀκτώποδ-, ὀκτώπους (also ὀκτάποδ- ὀκτάπους) "eight-footed" > ὀκτώ- or ὀκτά- and πόδ-, πούς "foot". Cf. ] χταπόδι <οκταπόδι <οκταπόδιον <ὀκτάπους.</ref> with plural forms: '''octopuses''' {{IPA|}}, '''octopi''' {{IPA|}}, or '''octopodes''' {{IPA|}}, see ]) is a ] of the ] '''Octopoda''' that inhabits many diverse regions of the ], especially ]s. The term may also refer to only those creatures in the ] '']''. In the larger sense, there are around 300 recognized octopus ], which is over one-third of the total number of known cephalopod species.


An '''octopus''' ({{Plural form}}: '''octopuses''' or '''octopodes'''{{efn|See {{slink||Etymology and pluralisation}} for variants.}}) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed ] of the ] '''Octopoda''' ({{IPAc-en|ɒ|k|ˈ|t|ɒ|p|ə|d|ə}}, {{respell|ok|TOP|ə|də}}<ref>{{cite Merriam-Webster|Octopoda|access-date=12 July 2021}}</ref>). The order consists of some 300 ] and is grouped within the class ]a with ]s, ], and ]s. Like other cephalopods, an octopus is ] with two eyes and a ]ed mouth at the centre point of the eight limbs.{{efn|"]" is a common ] for cephalopod limbs. In ] context, octopuses have "arms" with suckers along their entire length while "tentacle" is reserved for appendages with suckers only near the end of the limb, which octopuses lack.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://aquarium.ucsd.edu/blog/get-to-know-the-four-types-of-cephalopods/|title=Get to Know th Four Types of Cephalopod|publisher=U CSan Diego|date=October 11, 2018|last=Scully|first=Caitlin}}</ref>}} The soft body can radically alter its shape, enabling octopuses to squeeze through small gaps. They trail their eight appendages behind them as they swim. The ] is used both for ] and for ], by expelling a jet of water. Octopuses have a complex nervous system and excellent sight, and are among the most intelligent and behaviourally diverse of all ]s.
==Biology==
Octopuses are characterized by their eight ] (as distinct from the ]s found in ] and ]), usually bearing ]s. These arms are a type of ]. Unlike most other cephalopods, the majority of octopuses &mdash; those in the suborder most commonly known, ] &mdash; have almost entirely soft bodies with no internal ]. They have neither a protective outer ] like the ], nor any vestige of an internal shell or ]s, like cuttlefish or squid. A ], similar in shape to a ]'s beak, is the only hard part of their body. This enables them to squeeze through very narrow slits between underwater rocks, which is very helpful when they are fleeing from ]s or other predatory fish. The octopuses in the less familiar ] suborder have two fins and an internal shell, generally reducing their ability to squeeze into small spaces.


Octopuses inhabit various regions of the ], including ]s, ] waters, and the ]; some live in the ] and others at ]. Most species grow quickly, mature early, and are short-lived. In most species, the male uses a specially adapted arm to deliver a bundle of sperm directly into the female's mantle cavity, after which he becomes ] and dies, while the female deposits fertilised eggs in a den and cares for them until they hatch, after which she also dies. Strategies to defend themselves against predators include the expulsion of ], the use of ] and ], the ability to jet quickly through the water and hide, and even deceit. All octopuses are ], but only the ]es are known to be deadly to humans.
]s during ]]]


Octopuses appear in ] as sea monsters like the ] of Norway and the ] of the ], and possibly the ] of ]. A battle with an octopus appears in ]'s book '']'', inspiring other works such as ]'s '']''. Octopuses appear in Japanese erotic art, '']''. They are eaten and considered a delicacy by humans in many parts of the world, especially the ] and the Asian seas.
Octopuses have a relatively short ], and some species live for as little as six months. Larger species, such as the ], may live for up to five years under suitable circumstances. However, reproduction is a cause of death: males can only live for a few months after mating, and females die shortly after their eggs hatch. They neglect to eat during the (roughly) one month period spent taking care of their unhatched eggs, but they don't die of starvation. Endocrine secretions from the two optic glands are the cause of genetically-programmed death (and if these glands are surgically removed, the octopus may live many months beyond reproduction, until she finally starves).


==Etymology and pluralisation==<!--Avoid changing. Used in links to subsection.-->
Octopuses have three hearts. Two pump blood through each of the two ]s, while the third pumps blood through the body. Octopus ] contains the ]-rich protein ] for transporting ]. Although less efficient under ] than the ]-rich ] of vertebrates, in cold conditions with low oxygen pressure, hemocyanin oxygen transportation is more efficient than hemoglobin oxygen transportation. The hemocyanin is dissolved in the ] instead of being bound in ]s and gives the blood a blue color. Octopuses draw water into their mantle cavity where it passes through its gills. As ], octopuses have gills that are finely divided and vascularized outgrowths of either the outer or the inner body surface.
{{See also|Plural form of words ending in -us}}
The ] term {{wikt-lang|la|octopus}} was derived from ] {{wikt-lang|grc|ὀκτώπους}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|oktōpous}}), a ] form of {{wikt-lang|grc|ὀκτώ}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|oktō}}, 'eight') and {{wikt-lang|grc|πούς}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|pous}}, 'foot'), itself a variant form of {{wikt-lang|grc|ὀκτάπους}}, a word used for example by ] ({{circa|525}} – {{circa|605}}) for the common octopus.<ref name=etym>{{OEtymD|octopus}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/octopus |title=Octopus |website=Dictionary.reference.com |access-date=4 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{LSJ|o)kta/pous|ὀκτάπους}}, {{LSJ|o)ktw/pous|ὀκτώπους|ref}}.</ref> The standard ]ised form of ''octopus'' in English is ''octopuses'';<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Michel |first1=Jean-Baptiste |last2=Shen |first2=Yuan |last3=Aiden |first3=Aviva |last4=Veres |first4=Adrian |last5=Gray |first5=Matthew |last6=Pickett |first6=Joseph |last7=Hoiberg |first7=Dale |last8=Clancy |first8=Dan |last9=Norvig |first9=Peter |last10=Orwant |first10=Jon |last11=Pinker |first11=Steven |author11-link=Steven Pinker |last12=Nowak |first12=Martin |title=Quantitative Analysis of Culture Using Millions of Digitized Books |journal=Science |year=2011 |volume=331 |issue=6014 |pages=176–182 |doi=10.1126/science.1199644 |pmid=21163965 |pmc=3279742| bibcode=2011Sci...331..176M }} .</ref> the Ancient Greek plural {{lang|grc|ὀκτώποδες}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|octopodes}} ({{IPAc-en|ɒ|k|ˈ|t|ɒ|p|ə|d|iː|z}}), has also been used historically.<ref name=OD>{{cite web |url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/octopus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121030205455/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/octopus |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 October 2012 |title=Octopus |publisher=Oxforddictionaries.com |date=2014 |access-date=4 February 2014}}</ref> The alternative plural ''octopi'' is usually considered incorrect because it ] that ''octopus'' is a Latin ] {{wikt-lang|la|-us}} noun or adjective when, in either Greek or Latin, it is a ] noun.<ref>Peters, Pam (2004). ''The Cambridge Guide to English Usage''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-62181-X}}, p. 388.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Fowler |first1=Henry Watson |title=A Dictionary of Modern English Usage |date=1994 |isbn=978-1-85326-318-7 |page= |publisher=Wordsworth Editions |url=https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofmo00fowl/page/316 |quote=In Latin plurals there are some traps for non-Latinists; the termination of the singular is no sure guide to that of the plural. Most Latin words in ''-us'' have plural in ''-i'', but not all, & so zeal not according to knowledge issues in such oddities as...''octopi''...; as caution the following list may be useful:...''octopus'', ''-podes'' }}</ref>


Historically, the first plural to commonly appear in English language sources, in the early 19th century, is the latinate form ''octopi'',<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tuckey |first1=James Hingston |author-link=James Hingston Tuckey |last2=Smith|first2=Christen |author2-link=Christen Smith | date=1818 |title=Narrative of an Expedition to Explore the River Zaire |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbc0001.2020toner34663/?st=gallery |publisher=Kirk & Mercein }}</ref> followed by the English form ''octopuses'' in the latter half of the same century. The Hellenic plural is roughly contemporary in usage, although it is also the rarest.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Many Plurals of 'Octopus' |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/the-many-plurals-of-octopus-octopi-octopuses-octopodes |website=www.merriam-webster.com}}</ref>
===Intelligence===
{{main|Cephalopod intelligence}}
] (''Octopus cyanea'') observing its surroundings]]
Octopuses are highly ], probably more intelligent than any other order of ]s. The exact extent of their intelligence and learning capability is much debated among biologists,<ref name = "ham"/><ref name="doug"> By Doug Stewart. In: National Wildlife. Feb/Mar 1997, vol.35 no.2.
</ref><ref name="denizen"> </ref><ref> Slate.</ref> but maze and ] experiments have shown that they do have both ] and ]. Their short lifespans limit the amount they can ultimately learn. There has been much speculation to the effect that almost all octopus behaviors are independently learned rather than instinct-based, although this remains largely unproven. They learn almost no behaviors from their parents, with whom young octopuses have very little contact.


'']'' states that the only acceptable plural in English is ''octopuses'', that ''octopi'' is misconceived, and ''octopodes'' ];<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199661350.001.0001/acref-9780199661350-e-3956?rskey=siwVQG&result=3941|title=Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage|last1=Butterfield|first1=Jeremy|date=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-174453-2|quote=The only correct plural in English is octopuses. The Greek original is {{lang|grc|ὀκτώπους}}, {{lang|grc|-ποδ-}} (which would lead to a pedantic English pl. form ''octopodes''). The pl. form ''octopi'', which is occasionally heard (mostly in jocular use), though based on modL ''octopus'', is misconceived}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Chambers Reference Online |year=1996 |work=Chambers 21st Century Dictionary |publisher=Chambers Harrap |access-date=5 February 2024 |url=https://chambers.co.uk/search/?query=octopus&title=21st }}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |first=Kory |last=Stamper |title=Ask the editor: octopus |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/video/0015-octopus.htm |access-date=26 June 2013 |publisher=Merriam-Webster |archive-date=30 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430140919/http://www.merriam-webster.com/video/0015-octopus.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> the last is nonetheless used frequently enough to be acknowledged by the ] ''Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary'' and ''Webster's New World College Dictionary''. The '']'' lists ''octopuses'', ''octopi'', and ''octopodes'', in that order, reflecting frequency of use, calling ''octopodes'' rare and noting that ''octopi'' is based on a misunderstanding.<ref>{{OED |octopus}}</ref> The '']'' (3rd Edition, 2010) lists ''octopuses'' as the only acceptable pluralisation, and indicates that ''octopodes'' is still occasionally used, but that ''octopi'' is incorrect.<ref name=NOAD>{{cite book |title=New Oxford American Dictionary|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=sZoFRwAACAAJ}} |year=2010 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-539288-3 |edition=3rd |editor1-first=Angus |editor1-last=Stevenson |editor2-first=Christine A. |editor2-last=Lindberg}}</ref>
An octopus has a highly complex ], only part of which is localized in its ]. Two-thirds of an octopus's ]s are found in the nerve cords of its arms, which have a remarkable amount of autonomy. Octopus arms show a wide variety of complex ] actions arising on at least three different levels of the nervous system. Some octopuses, such as the ], will move their arms in ways that emulate the movements of other ].


==Anatomy and physiology==
In laboratory experiments, octopuses can be readily trained to distinguish between different shapes and patterns. They have been reported to practice ],<ref></ref> although the validity of these findings is widely contested on a number of grounds.<ref name="ham">. By Garry Hamilton.</ref><ref name="doug"> By Doug Stewart. In: National Wildlife. Feb/Mar 1997, vol.35 no.2.
===Size===
</ref> Octopuses have also been observed in what some have described as play: repeatedly releasing bottles or toys into a circular current in their aquariums and then catching them.<ref>. By Dr. Jennifer Mather, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, ] and Roland C. Anderson, The ]. </ref> Octopuses often break out of their aquariums and sometimes into others in search of food. They have even boarded ]s and opened holds to eat crabs.<ref name=denizen></ref>
{{See also |Cephalopod size}}
] at Echizen Matsushima Aquarium, Japan|alt=Captured specimen of a giant octopus]]


The ] ''(Enteroctopus dofleini)'' is often cited as the largest known octopus species. Adults usually weigh around {{convert|15|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, with an arm span of up to {{convert|4.3|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="FONZ">{{cite web |url=http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Invertebrates/Facts/cephalopods/FactSheets/Pacificoctopus.cfm |title=Smithsonian National Zoological Park: Giant Pacific Octopus |publisher=Nationalzoo.si.edu |access-date=4 February 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223084849/http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Invertebrates/Facts/cephalopods/FactSheets/Pacificoctopus.cfm |archive-date=23 February 2014 }}</ref> The largest specimen of this species to be scientifically documented was an animal with a live mass of {{convert|71|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref>Cosgrove, J.A. 1987. Aspects of the Natural History of ''Octopus dofleini'', the Giant Pacific Octopus. MSc Thesis. Department of Biology, University of Victoria (Canada), 101 pp.</ref> Much larger sizes have been claimed for the giant Pacific octopus:<ref name=norman03>Norman, M. 2000. ''Cephalopods: A World Guide''. ConchBooks, Hackenheim. p. 214.</ref> one specimen was recorded as {{convert|272|kg|lb|abbr=on}} with an arm span of {{convert|9|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=High |first=William L. |year=1976 |title=The giant Pacific octopus |url=http://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/mfr389/mfr3893.pdf |journal=Marine Fisheries Review |volume=38 |issue=9 |pages=17–22 |access-date=4 November 2016 |archive-date=23 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123114633/http://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/mfr389/mfr3893.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> A carcass of the ], ''Haliphron atlanticus'', weighed {{convert|61|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and was estimated to have had a live mass of {{convert|75|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=O'Shea |first1=S. |year=2004 |title=The giant octopus ''Haliphron atlanticus'' (Mollusca : Octopoda) in New Zealand waters |doi=10.1080/03014223.2004.9518353 |journal=New Zealand Journal of Zoology |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=7–13 |s2cid=84954869 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=O'Shea |first1=S. |year=2002 |title=''Haliphron atlanticus''&nbsp;– a giant gelatinous octopus |url=http://isopods.nhm.org/pdfs/27566/27566.pdf |journal=Biodiversity Update |volume=5 |page=1 }}</ref> The smallest species is '']'', which is around {{convert|2.5|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} and weighs less than {{convert|1|g|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bradford |first=Alina |date=21 July 2016 |title=Octopus Facts |publisher=Live Science |access-date=26 April 2017 |url=http://www.livescience.com/55478-octopus-facts.html}}</ref>
In some countries, octopuses are on the list of ] on which surgery may not be performed without ]. In the UK, cephalopods such as octopuses are regarded as ''honorary vertebrates'' under the ] and other ] legislation, extending to them protections not normally afforded to invertebrates.<ref></ref>


===External characteristics===
A common belief is that when stressed, an octopus may begin to eat its own arms. However, limited research conducted in this area has revealed that the cause of this abnormal behavior, called ], may be a virus that attacks the octopus's ]. Thus this behavior may be more correctly labeled as a ].{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
The octopus is ] along its dorso-ventral (back to belly) axis; the head and ] are at one end of an elongated body and function as the anterior (front) of the animal. The head includes the mouth and brain. The foot has evolved into a set of flexible, prehensile ], known as "arms", that surround the mouth and are attached to each other near their base by a webbed structure.<ref name=Ruppert/> The arms can be described based on side and sequence position (such as L1, R1, L2, R2) and divided into four pairs.{{sfnp|Wells|1978|pp=11–12}}<ref name=Ruppert/> The two rear appendages are generally used to walk on the sea floor, while the other six are used to forage for food.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Does ''Octopus vulgaris'' have preferred arms? |first1=Byrne |last1=Ruth A. |last2=Kuba |first2=Michael J. |last3=Meisel |first3=Daniela V. |last4=Griebel |first4=Ulrike |last5=Mather |first5=Jennifer A. |journal=] |volume=120 |number=3 |date=August 2006 |pages=198–204 |doi=10.1037/0735-7036.120.3.198 |pmid=16893257 }}</ref> The bulbous and hollow ] is fused to the back of the head and is known as the visceral hump; it contains most of the vital organs.{{sfnp|Mather|Anderson|Wood|2010|pp=13–15}}{{sfnp|Courage|2013|pp=40–41}} The mantle cavity has muscular walls and contains the gills; it is connected to the exterior by a funnel or ].<ref name=Ruppert/><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Semmens |title=Understanding octopus growth: patterns, variability and physiology |date=2004 |doi=10.1071/MF03155 |volume=55 |issue=4 |journal=Marine and Freshwater Research |page=367 |s2cid=84208773 }}</ref> The mouth of an octopus, located underneath the arms, has a sharp hard ].{{sfnp|Courage|2013|pp=40–41}}


] (eyespot), web, arms, suckers, ] and ] labelled.]]
===Defense===
]
] (''Hapalochlaena lunulata'')]]
An octopus's main (primary) defense is to hide, either not to be seen at all, or not to be detected as an octopus.<ref name=behaviour>Hanlon, R.T. & J.B. Messenger 1996. ''Cephalopod Behaviour''. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.</ref> Octopuses have several secondary defenses (defenses they use once they have been seen by a predator). The most common secondary defense is fast escape. Other defenses include the use of ]s, ], and ].


The skin consists of a thin outer ] with mucous cells and sensory cells and a connective tissue ] consisting largely of ] fibres and various cells allowing colour change.<ref name=Ruppert/> Most of the body is made of soft tissue allowing it to lengthen, contract, and contort itself. The octopus can squeeze through tiny gaps; even the larger species can pass through an opening close to {{convert|2.5|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} in diameter.{{sfnp|Courage|2013|pp=40–41}} Lacking skeletal support, the arms work as ]s and contain longitudinal, transverse and circular muscles around a central axial nerve. They can extend and contract, twist to left or right, bend at any place in any direction or be held rigid.<ref name=Crowfootcrawling>{{cite web |url=http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoLoco.php# |title=Octopuses and Relatives: Locomotion, Crawling |last=Carefoot |first=Thomas |work=A Snail's Odyssey |access-date=19 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522005231/http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoLoco.php |archive-date=22 May 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zelman |first1=I. |last2=Titon |first2=M. |last3=Yekutieli |first3=Y. |last4=Hanassy |first4=S. |last5=Hochner |first5=B. |last6=Flash |first6=T.|year=2013|title=Kinematic decomposition and classification of octopus arm movements |journal=Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience |volume=7 |page=60 |doi=10.3389/fncom.2013.00060 |pmid=23745113 |pmc=3662989 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
]
Most octopuses can eject a thick blackish ink in a large cloud to aid in escaping from predators. The main colouring agent of the ink is melanin, which is the same chemical that gives humans their hair and ]. This ink cloud is thought to dull ], which is particularly useful for evading predators that are dependent on smell for hunting, such as ]s. Ink clouds of some species might serve as pseudomorphs, or decoys that the predator attacks instead.<ref>Caldwell, R. L. (2005). "An Observation of Inking Behavior Protecting Adult ''Octopus bocki'' from Predation by Green Turtle (''Chelonia mydas'') Hatchlings." ''Pacific Science'' '''59'''(1): 69–72.</ref>


The interior surfaces of the arms are covered with circular, adhesive suckers. The suckers allow the octopus to anchor itself or to manipulate objects. Each sucker is usually circular and bowl-like and has two distinct parts: an outer shallow cavity called an ] and a central hollow cavity called an ], both of which are thick muscles covered in a protective chitinous cuticle. When a sucker attaches to a surface, the orifice between the two structures is sealed. The infundibulum provides adhesion while the acetabulum remains free, and muscle contractions allow for attachment and detachment.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tramacere |first1=F. |last2=Beccai |first2=L. |last3=Kuba |first3=M. |last4=Gozzi |first4=A. |last5=Bifone |first5=A. |last6=Mazzolai |first6=B. |year=2013|title=The morphology and adhesion mechanism of ''Octopus vulgaris'' suckers |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=8 |issue=6 |page=e65074 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0065074 |pmid=23750233 |pmc=3672162|bibcode=2013PLoSO...865074T |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=kier>{{cite journal |last1=Kier |first1=W. M. |last2=Smith |first2=A. M. |title=The structure and adhesive mechanism of octopus suckers |year=2002 |journal=Integrative and Comparative Biology |volume=42 |issue=6 |pages=1146–1153 |pmid=21680399 |doi=10.1093/icb/42.6.1146|citeseerx=10.1.1.512.2605 |s2cid=15997762 }}</ref> Each of the eight arms senses and responds to light, allowing the octopus to control the limbs even if its head is obscured.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Katz |first1=Itamar |last2=Shomrat |first2=Tal |last3=Nesher |first3=Nir |date=1 January 2021 |title=Feel the light – sight independent negative phototactic response in octopus' arms |url=https://jeb.biologists.org/content/early/2021/02/01/jeb.237529 |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=224 |issue=5 |doi=10.1242/jeb.237529 |issn=0022-0949 |pmid=33536305 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
An octopus's camouflage is aided by certain specialized skin cells which can change the apparent color, opacity, and reflectiveness of the epidermis. ]s contain yellow, orange, red, brown, or black pigments; most species have three of these colors, while some have two or four. Other color-changing cells are reflective ]s, and ]s (white).<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.dnr.sc.gov/marine/sertc/species_month.htm | title = Tales from the Cryptic: The Common Atlantic Octopus | accessdate = 2006-07-27 | author = Meyers, Nadia|publisher = Southeastern Regional Taxonomic Center}}</ref> This color-changing ability can also be used to communicate with or warn other octopuses. The very venomous ] becomes bright yellow with blue rings when it is provoked. Octopuses can use muscles in the skin to change the texture of their mantle in order to achieve a greater camouflage. In some species the mantle can take on the spiky appearance of seaweed, or the scraggly, bumpy texture of a rock, among other disguises. However in some species skin anatomy is limited to relatively patternless shades of one color, and limited skin texture. It is thought that octopuses that are day-active and/or live in complex habitats such as coral reefs have evolved more complex skin than their nocturnal and/or sand-dwelling relatives.<ref name=behaviour />


]'' species with its atypical octopus body plan|alt=A stubby round sea-creature with short ear-like fins]]
When under attack, some octopuses can perform arm ], in a similar manner to the way ]s and other ]s detach their tails. The crawling arm serves as a distraction to would-be predators.


The eyes of the octopus are large and at the top of the head. They are similar in structure to those of a fish, and are enclosed in a ] capsule fused to the cranium. The ] is formed from a ] epidermal layer; the slit-shaped ] forms a hole in the ] just behind the cornea. The lens is suspended behind the pupil; photoreceptive ] cover the back of the eye. The pupil can be adjusted in size; a retinal pigment screens incident light in bright conditions.<ref name=Ruppert/>
A few species, such as the ], have a fourth defense mechanism. They can combine their highly flexible bodies with their color changing ability to accurately mimic other, more dangerous animals such as ], ], and ]s.<ref>Norman, M.D., J. Finn & T. Tregenza (2001). {{PDFlink|}} ''Proceedings of the Royal Society'' '''268''': 1755–1758.</ref><ref>Norman, M.D. & F.G.Hochberg (2005). The "Mimic Octopus" (''Thaumoctopus mimicus'' n. gen. et sp.), a new octopus from the tropical Indo-West Pacific (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae). ''Molluscan Research'' '''25''': 57–70. </ref>

Some species differ in form from the typical octopus body shape. ] species, the ], have stout gelatinous bodies with webbing that reaches near the tip of their arms, and two large ] above the eyes, supported by an ]. Fleshy papillae or ] are found along the bottom of the arms, and the eyes are more developed.<ref name="marinebio">{{cite web |title=Finned Deep-sea Octopuses, Grimpoteuthis spp |date=18 May 2017 |publisher=MarineBio |url=https://www.marinebio.org/species/finned-deep-sea-octopuses/grimpoteuthis-spp/ |access-date=14 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="Corporation2004"/>

===Circulatory system===
Octopuses have a closed ], in which the blood remains inside blood vessels. Octopuses have three hearts; a systemic or main heart that circulates blood around the body and two branchial or gill hearts that pump it through each of the two gills. The systemic heart becomes inactive when the animal is swimming. Thus the octopus tires quickly and prefers to crawl.{{sfnp|Wells|1978|pp=31–35}}{{sfnp|Courage|2013|pp=42–43}} Octopus blood contains the ]-rich protein ] to transport oxygen. This makes the blood very ] and it requires considerable pressure to pump it around the body; octopuses' ]s can exceed {{convert|75|mmHg|kPa|-1|abbr=on}}.{{sfnp|Wells|1978|pp=31–35}}{{sfnp|Courage|2013|pp=42–43}}<ref name="Schmidt">{{cite book |last=Schmidt-Nielsen |first=Knut |author-link=Knut Schmidt-Nielsen |year=1997 |title=Animal Physiology: Adaptation and Environment |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=117 |isbn=978-0-521-57098-5}}</ref> In cold conditions with low oxygen levels, haemocyanin transports oxygen more efficiently than ]. The haemocyanin is dissolved in the plasma instead of being carried within blood cells and gives the blood a bluish colour.{{sfnp|Wells|1978|pp=31–35}}{{sfnp|Courage|2013|pp=42–43}}

The systemic heart has muscular contractile walls and consists of a single ventricle and two atria, one for each side of the body. The blood vessels consist of arteries, capillaries and veins and are lined with a cellular ] which is quite unlike that of most other ]s. The blood circulates through the aorta and capillary system, to the vena cavae, after which the blood is pumped through the gills by the branchial hearts and back to the main heart. Much of the venous system is contractile, which helps circulate the blood.<ref name=Ruppert/>

===Respiration===
]

Respiration involves drawing water into the mantle cavity through an aperture, passing it through the gills, and expelling it through the siphon. The ingress of water is achieved by contraction of radial muscles in the mantle wall, and flapper valves shut when strong circular muscles force the water out through the siphon.<ref name=Crowfootjetting>{{cite web |url=http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoJet.php# |title=Octopuses and Relatives: Locomotion, jet propulsion |last=Carefoot |first=Thomas |work=A Snail's Odyssey |access-date=26 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428032706/http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoJet.php |archive-date=28 April 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Extensive connective tissue lattices support the respiratory muscles and allow them to expand the respiratory chamber.{{sfnp|Wells|1978|pp=24–26}} The ] structure of the gills allows for a high oxygen uptake, up to 65% in water at {{convert|20|C|F}}.<ref name="Wells, M.J. 1995">{{cite journal |last1=Wells |first1=M. J. |last2=Wells |first2=J. |year=1995 |title=The control of ventilatory and cardiac responses to changes in ambient oxygen tension and oxygen demand in ''Octopus'' |journal=The Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=198 |issue=Pt 8 |pages=1717–1727 |doi=10.1242/jeb.198.8.1717 |url=http://jeb.biologists.org/content/198/8/1717 |pmid=9319626 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Water flow over the gills correlates with locomotion, and an octopus can propel its body when it expels water out of its siphon.{{sfnp|Wells|1978|pp=24–26}}<ref name="Schmidt"/>

The thin skin of the octopus absorbs additional oxygen. When resting, around 41% of an octopus's oxygen absorption is through the skin. This decreases to 33% when it swims, as more water flows over the gills; skin oxygen uptake also increases. When it is resting after a meal, absorption through the skin can drop to 3% of its total oxygen uptake.<ref name="Wells, J. 1996">{{cite journal |last=Wells |first=J. |year=1996 |title=Cutaneous respiration in ''Octopus vulgaris'' |journal=The Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=199 |issue=Pt 11 |pages=2477–2483 |doi=10.1242/jeb.199.11.2477 |url=http://jeb.biologists.org/content/199/11/2477|pmid=9320405}}</ref>

===Digestion and excretion===
The digestive system of the octopus begins with the ] which consists of the mouth with its ]ous beak, the pharynx, ] and salivary glands.{{sfnp|Wells|1978|pp=73–79}} The radula is a spiked, muscular tongue-like organ with multiple rows of tiny teeth.{{sfnp|Courage|2013|pp=40–41}} Food is broken down and is forced into the oesophagus by two lateral extensions of the esophageal side walls in addition to the radula. From there it is transferred to the ], which is mostly suspended from the roof of the mantle cavity by numerous membranes. The tract consists of a ], where the food is stored; a stomach, where food is ground down; a ] where the now sludgy food is sorted into fluids and particles and which plays an important role in absorption; the ], where liver cells break down and absorb the fluid and become "brown bodies"; and the intestine, where the accumulated waste is turned into faecal ropes by secretions and blown out of the funnel via the rectum.{{sfnp|Wells|1978|pp=73–79}}

During ], fluid is added to the ] of the branchial hearts. The octopus has two ] (equivalent to vertebrate kidneys) which are associated with the branchial hearts; these and their associated ducts connect the pericardial cavities with the mantle cavity. Before reaching the branchial heart, each branch of the ] expands to form renal appendages which are in direct contact with the thin-walled nephridium. The urine is first formed in the pericardial cavity, and is modified by excretion, chiefly of ammonia, and selective absorption from the renal appendages, as it is passed along the associated duct and through the nephridiopore into the mantle cavity.<ref name=Ruppert/>{{sfnp|Wells|1978|pp=54–56}}

] (''Octopus vulgaris'') moving around. Its nervous system allows the arms to move with some autonomy.|alt=video of an octopus crawling about, its suckered arms moving]]

===Nervous system and senses===
Octopuses (along with ]) have the highest ]s of all invertebrates;<ref name="Albertin Simakov 2015"/> this is greater than that of many vertebrates.<ref name="Pilleri1984">{{cite book |last=Pilleri |first=Georg |title=Investigations on Cetacea |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TZFCAQAAMAAJ |access-date=30 July 2018 |volume=16–17 |year=1984 |publisher=Hirnanatomisches Institut der Universität |page=161}}</ref> Octopuses have the same ] that are active in the human brain, implying an ] at molecular level.<ref name="Petrosino Ponte Volpe 2022">{{cite journal | last1=Petrosino | first1=Giuseppe | last2=Ponte | first2=Giovanna | last3=Volpe | first3=Massimiliano | last4=Zarrella | first4=Ilaria | last5=Ansaloni | first5=Federico | last6=Langella | first6=Concetta | last7=Di Cristina | first7=Giulia | last8=Finaurini | first8=Sara | last9=Russo | first9=Monia T. | last10=Basu | first10=Swaraj | last11=Musacchia | first11=Francesco | last12=Ristoratore | first12=Filomena | last13=Pavlinic | first13=Dinko | last14=Benes | first14=Vladimir | last15=Ferrante | first15=Maria I. | last16=Albertin | first16=Caroline | last17=Simakov | first17=Oleg | last18=Gustincich | first18=Stefano | last19=Fiorito | first19=Graziano | last20=Sanges | first20=Remo |display-authors=3 | title=Identification of LINE retrotransposons and long non-coding RNAs expressed in the octopus brain | journal=BMC Biology | volume=20 | issue=1 | date=18 May 2022 | page=116 | doi=10.1186/s12915-022-01303-5 | pmid=35581640 | pmc=9115989 | s2cid=231777147 | doi-access=free }}</ref> The ] is complex, only part of which is localised in its brain, which is contained in a cartilaginous capsule.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hochner |first=B. |year=2012 |title=An Embodied View of Octopus Neurobiology |journal=Current Biology |volume=22 |issue=20 |pages=R887–R892 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.001 |pmid=23098601 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2012CBio...22.R887H }}</ref> Two-thirds of an octopus's ]s are in the nerve cords of its arms. This allows their arms to perform complex ] actions without input from the brain.<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=15829594 |doi=10.1152/jn.00684.2004 |volume=94 |issue=2 |first1=Y. |last1=Yekutieli |first2=R. |last2=Sagiv-Zohar |first3=R. |last3=Aharonov |first4=Y. |last4=Engel |first5=B. |last5=Hochner |first6=T. |last6=Flash |title=Dynamic model of the octopus arm. I. Biomechanics of the octopus reaching movement |year=2005 |journal=Journal of Neurophysiology |pages=1443–1458 |s2cid=14711055 }}</ref> Unlike vertebrates, the complex motor skills of octopuses are not organised in their brains via internal ]s of their bodies.<ref>{{cite journal |pmid=19765993 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2009.07.067 |volume=19 |issue=19 |title=Nonsomatotopic organization of the higher motor centers in Octopus |first1=L. |last1=Zullo |first2=G. |last2=Sumbre |first3=C. |last3=Agnisola |first4=T. |last4=Flash |first5=B. |last5=Hochner |year=2009 |pages=1632–1636 |journal=Current Biology |s2cid=15852956 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2009CBio...19.1632Z }}</ref> The nervous system of cephalopods is the most complex of all invertebrates.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Chung | first1=Wen-Sung | last2=Kurniawan | first2=Nyoman D. | last3=Marshall | first3=N. Justin | title=Comparative brain structure and visual processing in octopus from different habitats | journal=Current Biology | volume=32 | issue=1 | date=2022-01-10 | issn=1879-0445 | pmid=34798049 | doi=10.1016/j.cub.2021.10.070 | pages=97–110.e4| bibcode=2022CBio...32E..97C | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Budelmann |first=B. U. |year=1995 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dW5e6FHOH-4C&pg=PA115 |chapter=The cephalopod nervous system: What evolution has made of the molluscan design |editor-last1=Breidbach |editor-first1=O. |editor-last2=Kutsch |editor-first2=W. |title=The nervous systems of invertebrates: An evolutionary and comparative approach |publisher=Birkhäuser |isbn=978-3-7643-5076-5 |lccn=94035125}}</ref> The giant ] fibers of the cephalopod ] have been widely used for many years as experimental material in ]; their large diameter (due to lack of ]) makes them relatively easy to study compared with other animals.<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Tasaki | first1=I. | last2=Takenaka | first2=T. | title=Resting and Action Potential of Squid Giant Axons Intracellularly Perfused with Sodium-Rich Solutions | journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume=50 | issue=4 | date=1963 | issn=0027-8424 | pmid=14077488 | pmc=221236 | doi=10.1073/pnas.50.4.619 | pages=619–626| doi-access=free | bibcode=1963PNAS...50..619T }}</ref>

]|alt=Close up of an octopus showing its eye and an arm with suckers]]

Like other cephalopods, octopuses have camera-like eyes,<ref name="Albertin Simakov 2015"/> and can distinguish the ] of light. ] appears to vary from species to species, for example, being present in ''O. aegina'' but absent in ''O. vulgaris''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kawamura |first1=G. |year=2001 |title=Color Discrimination Conditioning in Two Octopus ''Octopus aegina'' and ''O. vulgaris'' |journal=Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=35–39 |doi=10.2331/suisan.67.35 |display-authors=etal |df=dmy-all |doi-access=free }}</ref>
]s in the skin respond to different wavelengths of light and help the animals choose a colouration that camouflages them; the chromatophores in the skin can respond to light independently of the eyes.<ref name="Kingston Kuzirian 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Kingston |first1=Alexandra C. N. |last2=Kuzirian |first2=Alan M. |last3=Hanlon |first3=Roger T. |last4=Cronin |first4=Thomas W. |title=Visual phototransduction components in cephalopod chromatophores suggest dermal photoreception |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=218 |issue=10 |year=2015 |pages=1596–1602 |issn=1477-9145 |doi=10.1242/jeb.117945|pmid=25994635 |doi-access=free |hdl=11603/13387 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Ramirez Oakley 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Ramirez |first1=M. Desmond |last2=Oakley |first2=Todd H. |title=Eye-independent, light-activated chromatophore expansion (LACE) and expression of phototransduction genes in the skin of Octopus bimaculoides |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=218 |issue=10 |year=2015 |pages=1513–1520 |issn=1477-9145 |doi=10.1242/jeb.110908|pmid=25994633 |pmc=4448664 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
An alternative hypothesis<!--Stubbs et al--> is that ]s in species that only have a single ] may use ] to turn monochromatic vision into colour vision, though this sacrifices image quality. This would explain pupils shaped like the letter "U", the letter "W", or a ], as well as the need for colourful mating displays.<ref name="StubbsStubbs2016">{{cite journal |last1=Stubbs |first1=Alexander L. |last2=Stubbs |first2=Christopher W. |title=Spectral discrimination in color blind animals via chromatic aberration and pupil shape |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=113 |issue=29 |year=2016 |pages=8206–8211 |issn=0027-8424 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1524578113|pmid=27382180 |pmc=4961147 |bibcode=2016PNAS..113.8206S |doi-access=free }}</ref>

Attached to the brain are two organs called ]s (sac-like structures containing a mineralised mass and sensitive hairs), that allow the octopus to sense the orientation of its body. They provide information on the position of the body relative to gravity and can detect angular acceleration. An ] response keeps the octopus's eyes oriented so that the pupil is always horizontal.<ref name=Ruppert/> Octopuses may also use the statocyst to hear sound. The common octopus can hear sounds between 400&nbsp;Hz and 1000&nbsp;Hz, and hears best at 600&nbsp;Hz.<ref name="HuYan2009">{{cite journal |last1=Hu |first1=Marian Y. |last2=Yan |first2=Hong Young |last3=Chung |first3=Wen-Sung |last4=Shiao |first4=Jen-Chieh |last5=Hwang |first5=Pung-Pung |title=Acoustically evoked potentials in two cephalopods inferred using the auditory brainstem response (ABR) approach |journal=Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology |volume=153 |issue=3 |year=2009 |pages=278–283 |issn=1095-6433 |doi=10.1016/j.cbpa.2009.02.040 <!--|url=https://www.ecovis.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/squid-hearing.pdf--> |pmid=19275944 |url=http://ntur.lib.ntu.edu.tw//handle/246246/162905 |access-date=13 March 2022 |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407151928/http://ntur.lib.ntu.edu.tw//handle/246246/162905 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Octopuses have an excellent ]. Their suction cups are equipped with ] so they can ] what they touch. Octopus arms move easily because the sensors recognise octopus skin and prevent self-attachment.<ref name="Nesher Levy Grasso Hochner 2014">{{cite journal |last1=Nesher |first1=Nir |last2=Levy |first2=Guy |last3=Grasso |first3=Frank W. |last4=Hochner |first4=Binyamin |title=Self-Recognition Mechanism between Skin and Suckers Prevents Octopus Arms from Interfering with Each Other |journal=Current Biology |volume=24 |issue=11 |year=2014 |issn=0960-9822 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2014.04.024 |pages=1271–1275|pmid=24835454 |s2cid=16140159 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2014CBio...24.1271N }}</ref> Octopuses appear to have poor ] sense and must observe the arms visually to keep track of their position.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Gutnick|first1=Tamar|last2=Byrne|first2=Ruth A.|last3=Hochner|first3=Binyamin|last4=Kuba|first4=Michael|year=2011|title=''Octopus vulgaris'' Uses Visual Information to Determine the Location of Its Arm|journal=Current Biology|volume=21|issue=6|pages=460–462|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2011.01.052|pmid=21396818|s2cid=10152089|doi-access=free|bibcode=2011CBio...21..460G }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kennedy|first1=E. B. Lane|last2=Buresch|first2=Kendra C.|last3=Boinapally|first3=Preethi|last4=Hanlon|first4=Roger T.|year=2020|title=Octopus arms exhibit exceptional flexibility|journal=Scientific Reports|volume=10|issue=1|page=20872|doi=10.1038/s41598-020-77873-7|pmid=33257824|pmc=7704652}}</ref>

===Ink sac===

The ] of an octopus is located under the digestive gland. A gland attached to the sac produces the ], and the sac stores it. The sac is close enough to the funnel for the octopus to shoot out the ink with a water jet. Before it leaves the funnel, the ink passes through glands which mix it with mucus, creating a thick, dark blob which allows the animal to escape from a predator.{{sfnp|Mather|Anderson|Wood|2010|p=107}} The main pigment in the ink is ], which gives it its black colour.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Derby |first=C. D. |year=2014 |title=Cephalopod Ink: Production, Chemistry, Functions and Applications |journal=Marine Drugs |volume=12 |issue=5 |pages=2700–2730 |doi=10.3390/md12052700 |pmid=24824020 |pmc=4052311|doi-access=free }}</ref> Cirrate octopuses usually lack the ink sac.<ref name="marinebio"/>

==Life cycle==


===Reproduction=== ===Reproduction===
]'' with ]|alt=Drawing of a male octopus with one large arm ending in the sexual apparatus]]
When octopuses reproduce, males use a specialized arm called a ] to insert ]s (packets of sperm) into the female's mantle cavity. The hectocotylus in benthic octopuses is usually the third right arm. Males die within a few months of mating. In some species, the female octopus can keep the sperm alive inside her for weeks until her eggs are mature. After they have been fertilized, the female lays about 200,000 eggs (this figure dramatically varies between families, genera, species and also individuals). The female hangs these eggs in strings from the ceiling of her lair, or individually attaches them to the ] depending on the species. The female cares for the eggs, guarding them against predators, and gently blowing currents of water over them so that they get enough oxygen. The female does not eat during the roughly one-month period spent taking care of the unhatched eggs. At around the time the eggs hatch, the mother dies and the young larval octopuses spend a period of time drifting in clouds of ], where they feed on ]s, larval ]s and larval ] until they are ready to sink down to the bottom of the ocean, where the cycle repeats itself. In some deeper dwelling species, the young do not go through this period. This is a dangerous time for the larval octopuses; as they become part of the plankton cloud they are vulnerable to many plankton eaters.


Octopuses are ] and have a single, posteriorly-located gonad which is associated with the ]. The ] in males and the ] in females bulges into the ] and the ]s are released here. The gonocoel is connected by the ] to the ], which it enters at the ].<ref name=Ruppert/> An ] creates hormones that cause the octopus to mature and age and stimulate gamete production. The gland may be triggered by environmental conditions such as temperature, light and nutrition, which thus control the timing of reproduction and lifespan.{{sfnp|Mather|Anderson|Wood|2010|p=147}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wells |first1=Martin J. |last2=Wells |first2=J. |year=1972 |title=Optic glands and the state of the testis in ''Octopus'' |journal=Marine Behaviour and Physiology |volume=1 |issue=1–4 |pages=71–83 |doi=10.1080/10236247209386890}}</ref>
===Sensation===
]'']]
Octopuses have keen eyesight. Although their slit-shaped ]s might be expected to afflict them with ], it appears that this is not a problem in the light levels in which an octopus typically hunts. Surprisingly, they do not appear to have ], although they can distinguish the ] of light. Attached to the brain are two special organs, called ]s, that allow the octopus to sense the orientation of its body relative to horizontal. An ] response keeps the octopus's eyes oriented so that the pupil slit is always horizontal.


When octopuses reproduce, the male uses a specialised arm called a ] to transfer ]s (packets of sperm) from the terminal organ of the reproductive tract (the cephalopod "penis") into the female's mantle cavity.<ref name=TOL>{{cite web |last1=Young |first1=R. E. |last2=Vecchione |first2=M. |last3=Mangold |first3=K. M. |year=1999 |url=http://tolweb.org/accessory/Cephalopoda_Glossary?acc_id=587 |title=Cephalopoda Glossary |website=Tree of Life web project}}</ref> The hectocotylus in ] octopuses is usually the third right arm, which has a spoon-shaped depression and modified suckers near the tip. In most species, fertilisation occurs in the mantle cavity.<ref name=Ruppert>{{cite book |title=Invertebrate Zoology |last1=Ruppert |first1=Edward E. |last2=Fox |first2=Richard S. |last3=Barnes |first3=Robert D. |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=W2v0kQEACAAJ |page=363}}|year=2008 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-81-315-0104-7 |pages=363–364 }}</ref>
Octopuses also have an excellent ]. An octopus's suction cups are equipped with ] so that the octopus can ] what it is touching. The arms contain ] sensors so that the octopus knows whether its arms are stretched out. However, the octopus has a very poor ] sense. The tension receptors are not sufficient for the octopus brain to determine the position of the octopus's body or arms. (It is not clear that the octopus brain would be capable of processing the large amount of information that this would require; the flexibility of an octopus's arms is much greater than that of the limbs of vertebrates, which devote large areas of ] to the processing of proprioceptive inputs.) As a result, the octopus does not possess ]; that is, it does not form a ] of the overall shape of the object it is handling. It can detect local texture variations, but cannot integrate the information into a larger picture.<ref name="wells">Wells. Martin John. ''Octopus: physiology and behaviour of an advanced invertebrate''. London : ] ; New York : distributed in the U.S.A. by Halsted Press, 1978.</ref>


The reproduction of octopuses has been studied in only a few species. One such species is the ], in which courtship is accompanied, especially in the male, by changes in skin texture and colour. The male may cling to the top or side of the female or position himself beside her. There is some speculation that he may first use his hectocotylus to remove any spermatophore or sperm already present in the female. He picks up a spermatophore from his spermatophoric sac with the hectocotylus, inserts it into the female's mantle cavity, and deposits it in the correct location for the species, which in the giant Pacific octopus is the opening of the oviduct. Two spermatophores are transferred in this way; these are about one metre (yard) long, and the empty ends may protrude from the female's mantle.<ref name=Crowfootreproduction>{{cite web |url=http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoRepr.php |title=Octopuses and Relatives: Reproduction |last=Carefoot |first=Thomas |work=A Snail's Odyssey |access-date=11 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422215052/http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoRepr.php |archive-date=22 April 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> A complex hydraulic mechanism releases the sperm from the spermatophore, and it is stored internally by the female.<ref name=Ruppert/>
The neurological autonomy of the arms means that the octopus has great difficulty learning about the detailed effects of its motions. The brain may issue a high-level command to the arms, but the nerve cords in the arms execute the details. There is no neurological path for the brain to receive feedback about just how its command was executed by the arms; the only way it knows just what motions were made is by observing the arms visually.<ref name="wells"/>

]

About forty days after mating, the female giant Pacific octopus attaches strings of small fertilised eggs (10,000 to 70,000 in total) to rocks in a crevice or under an overhang. Here she guards and cares for them for about five months (160 days) until they hatch.<ref name=Crowfootreproduction/> In colder waters, such as those off ], it may take up to ten months for the eggs to completely develop.<ref name = "AZAmanual" />{{rp|74}} The female aerates them and keeps them clean; if left untended, many will die.<ref name=Scheel>{{cite web |last=Scheel |first=David |title=Giant Octopus: Fact Sheet |url=http://marine.alaskapacific.edu/octopus/factsheet.html |publisher=Alaska Pacific University |access-date=9 April 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121115121756/http://marine.alaskapacific.edu/octopus/factsheet.html |archive-date=15 November 2012 }}</ref> She does not feed during this time and dies soon after. Males become ] and die a few weeks after mating.{{sfnp|Mather|Anderson|Wood|2010|p=147}}

The eggs have large yolks; ] (division) is superficial and a ] develops at the pole. During ], the margins of this grow down and surround the yolk, forming a yolk sac, which eventually forms part of the gut. The dorsal side of the disc grows upward and forms the embryo, with a shell gland on its dorsal surface, gills, mantle and eyes. The arms and funnel develop as part of the foot on the ventral side of the disc. The arms later migrate upward, coming to form a ring around the funnel and mouth. The yolk is gradually absorbed as the embryo develops.<ref name=Ruppert/>

], a ]ic hatchling|alt=A microscopic view of a small round-bodied transparent animal with very short arms]]

Most young octopuses hatch as ]e and are ]ic for weeks to months, depending on the species and water temperature. They feed on ]s, ] larvae and other ], eventually settling on the ocean floor and developing directly into adults with no distinct ] that are present in other groups of ] larvae.<ref name=Ruppert/> Octopus species that produce larger eggs – including the ], ], ], '']''<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Forsythe |first1=J. W. |last2=Hanlon |first2=R. T. |title=A closed marine culture system for rearing ''Octopus joubini'' and other large-egged benthic octopods |journal=Laboratory Animals |year=1980 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=137–142 |doi=10.1258/002367780780942737 |pmid=7431823 |s2cid=19492476 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and deep sea octopuses – instead hatch as benthic animals similar to the adults.<ref name = "AZAmanual" />{{rp|74–75}}

In the ] (paper nautilus), the female secretes a fine, fluted, papery shell in which the eggs are deposited and in which she also resides while floating in mid-ocean. In this she broods the young, and it also serves as a buoyancy aid allowing her to adjust her depth. The male argonaut is minute by comparison and has no shell.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/2015/01/absurd-creature-of-the-week-argonaut/ |title=Absurd Creature of the Week: The Beautiful Octopus Whose Sex Is All About Dismemberment |last=Simon |first=Matt |date=16 January 2015 |magazine=Wired: Science |access-date=20 May 2017}}</ref>

===Lifespan===

Octopuses have short lifespans, and some species complete their lifecycles in only six months. The ], one of the two largest species of octopus, usually lives for three to five years. Octopus lifespan is limited by reproduction.<ref name=NewScientist/> For most octopuses, the last stage of their life is called senescence. It is the breakdown of cellular function without repair or replacement. For males, this typically begins after mating. Senescence may last from weeks to a few months, at most. For females, it begins when they lay a clutch of eggs. Females will spend all their time aerating and protecting their eggs until they are ready to hatch. During senescence, an octopus does not feed and quickly weakens. Lesions begin to form and the octopus literally degenerates. Unable to defend themselves, octopuses often fall prey to predators.<ref name="auto">{{cite journal |journal=Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science |last1=Anderson |first1=Roland C. |last2=Wood |first2=James B. |last3=Byrne |first3=Ruth A. |title=Octopus Senescence: The Beginning of the End |year=2002 |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=275–283 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7545324 |doi=10.1207/S15327604JAWS0504_02| pmid=16221078 |citeseerx=10.1.1.567.3108 |s2cid=28355735 }}</ref> This makes most octopuses effectively ]. The ] (LPSO) is an exception, as it can reproduce repeatedly over a life of around two years.<ref name=NewScientist>{{cite news |title=Octopuses were thought to be solitary until a social species turned up |work=New Scientist |date=Dec 21, 2019 |last=Hooper |first=Rowan |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24432610-400-octopuses-were-thought-to-be-solitary-until-a-social-species-turned-up/}}</ref>

Octopus reproductive organs mature due to the ] influence of the optic gland but result in the inactivation of their digestive glands. Unable to feed, the octopus typically dies of starvation.<ref name="auto"/> Experimental removal of both optic glands after spawning was found to result in the cessation of ], the resumption of feeding, increased growth, and greatly extended lifespans. It has been proposed that the naturally short lifespan may be functional to prevent rapid overpopulation.<ref name="hormones">{{cite journal |journal=] |last1=Wodinsky |first1=Jerome |title=Hormonal Inhibition of Feeding and Death in ''Octopus'': Control by Optic Gland Secretion |year=1977 |volume=198 |issue=4320 |pages=948–951 |doi=10.1126/science.198.4320.948 |pmid=17787564| bibcode=1977Sci...198..948W |s2cid=22649186 }}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat==
]

Octopuses live in every ocean, and different species have adapted to different ]s. As juveniles, common octopuses inhabit shallow ]s. The Hawaiian day octopus ('']'') lives on coral reefs; ] drift in ]. '']'' mostly lives in near-shore ] beds. Some species are adapted to the cold, ocean depths. The spoon-armed octopus ('']'') is found at depths of {{convert|1000|m|ft|abbr=on}}, and '']'' lives near ]s at {{convert|2000|m|ft|abbr=on}}.{{sfnp|Mather|Anderson|Wood|2010|pp=13–15}} The ] species are often free-swimming and live in deep-water habitats.<ref name="Corporation2004">{{cite book |author=Marshall Cavendish Corporation |title=Encyclopedia of the Aquatic World |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=swGA8GtK4n8C|page=764}} |date=2004 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=978-0-7614-7424-1 |page=764}}</ref> Although several species are known to live at ] and ] depths, there is only a single indisputable record of an octopus in the ]; a species of '']'' (dumbo octopus) photographed at {{cvt|6957|m|ft}}.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Jamieson |first1=A.J. |last2=Vecchione |first2=M. |title=First in situ observation of Cephalopoda at hadal depths (Octopoda: Opisthoteuthidae: Grimpoteuthis sp.) |journal=Marine Biology |year=2020 |volume=167 |issue=82 |doi=10.1007/s00227-020-03701-1 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2020MarBi.167...82J }}</ref> No species are known to live in fresh water.<ref>{{cite web |last=Norman |first=Mark |date=16 January 2013|title=Ask an expert: Are there any freshwater cephalopods?|publisher=ABC Science |access-date=26 April 2017 |url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/01/16/3670198.htm}}</ref>

==Behaviour and ecology==

Most species are solitary when not mating,<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/04/basic-instincts-octopus-mating/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160329050203/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/04/basic-instincts-octopus-mating/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 March 2016 |magazine=National Geographic |date=April 2016| first=Patricia |last=Edmonds |title=What's Odd About That Octopus? It's Mating Beak to Beak}}</ref> though a few are known to occur in high densities and with frequent interactions, such as signaling, mate defending and evicting individuals from dens. This is likely the result of abundant food supplies combined with limited den sites.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Scheel |first=D. |display-authors=etal |year=2017 |title=A second site occupied by ''Octopus tetricus'' at high densities, with notes on their ecology and behavior |journal=Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=285–291 |doi=10.1080/10236244.2017.1369851 |bibcode=2017MFBP...50..285S |s2cid=89738642}}</ref> The LPSO has been described as particularly social, living in groups of up to 40 individuals.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rodaniche |first=Arcadio F. |date=1991 |title=Notes on the behavior of the Larger Pacific Striped Octopus, an undescribed species of the genus Octopus |journal=Bulletin of Marine Science |volume=49 |pages=667}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Caldwell |first1=Roy L. |last2=Ross |first2=Richard |last3=Rodaniche |first3=Arcadio |last4=Huffard |first4=Christine L. |year=2015 |title=Behavior and Body Patterns of the Larger Pacific Striped Octopus |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=10 |issue=8 |pages=e0134152 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0134152 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=4534201 |pmid=26266543 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1034152C|doi-access=free }}</ref> Octopuses hide in dens, which are typically crevices in rocky outcrops or other hard structures, though some species burrow into sand or mud. Octopuses are not ] but generally remain in a home range; they may leave in search of food. They can ] back to a den without having to retrace their outward route.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtful-animal/how-do-octopuses-navigate/ |title=How do octopuses navigate? |last=Goldman |first=Jason G. |date=24 May 2012 |journal=Scientific American |volume=168 |issue=4 |pages=491–497 |doi=10.1007/BF00199609 |s2cid=41369931 |access-date=8 June 2017}}</ref> They are not migratory.{{sfnp|Courage|2013|pp=45–46}}

Octopuses bring captured prey to the den, where they can eat it safely. Sometimes the octopus catches more prey than it can eat, and the den is often surrounded by a ] of dead and uneaten food items. Other creatures, such as fish, ]s, molluscs and ]s, often share the den with the octopus, either because they have arrived as ]s, or because they have survived capture.<ref name=Crowfootfeeding>{{cite web |url=http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoFeed.php |title=Octopuses and Relatives: Feeding, diets and growth |last=Carefoot |first=Thomas |work=A Snail's Odyssey |access-date=13 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508060739/http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoFeed.php |archive-date=8 May 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On rare occasions, octopuses ], with fish as their partners. They regulate the ] of the hunting {{nowrap|group{{tsp}}{{mdash}}}}{{tsp}}and the behavior of their {{nowrap|partners{{tsp}}{{mdash}}}}{{tsp}}by punching them.<ref name="Sampaio 2020">{{cite journal |last1=Sampaio |first1=Eduardo |last2=Seco |first2=Martim Costa |last3=Rosa |first3=Rui |last4=Gingins |first4=Simon |title=Octopuses punch fishes during collaborative interspecific hunting events |journal=] |publisher=]/] |date=18 December 2020 |volume=102 |issue=3 |pages=e03266 |issn=0012-9658 |doi=10.1002/ecy.3266 |pmid=33338268 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Feeding===
] eating a crab|alt=An octopus in an open seashell on a sandy surface, surrounding a small crab with the suckers on its arms]]

Nearly all octopuses are predatory; bottom-dwelling octopuses eat mainly ]s, ]s, and other molluscs such as ]s and ]s; open-ocean octopuses eat mainly prawns, fish and other cephalopods.<ref name="feeding"/> Major items in the diet of the giant Pacific octopus include ] such as the cockle '']'', clams and scallops and crustaceans such as crabs and ]. Prey that it is likely to reject include ] because they are too large and ]s, ], ]s and ], because they are too securely fixed to the rock.<ref name=Crowfootfeeding/> Small cirrate octopuses such as those of the genera '']'' and '']'' typically prey on polychaetes, ]s, ]s and ]s.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Martin A.|last2=Villanueva|first2=Roger|date=June 2006|title=Taxonomy, ecology and behaviour of the cirrate octopods|journal=Oceanography and Marine Biology|series=Oceanography and Marine Biology – an Annual Review|volume=44|pages=277–322|doi=10.1201/9781420006391.ch6|doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266220687|access-date=5 February 2024 |isbn=978-0-8493-7044-1}}</ref>

A benthic (bottom-dwelling) octopus typically moves among the rocks and feels through the crevices. The creature may make a jet-propelled pounce on prey and pull it toward the mouth with its arms, the suckers restraining it. Small prey may be completely trapped by the webbed structure. Octopuses usually inject crustaceans like crabs with a paralysing ] then dismember them with their beaks.<ref name="feeding">{{cite web |last1=Wassilieff |first1=Maggy |last2=O'Shea |first2=Steve |url=http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/octopus-and-squid/3 |title=Octopus and squid – Feeding and predation |website=Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand |date=2 March 2009}}</ref>{{sfnp|Wells|1978|pp=74–75}} Octopuses feed on shelled molluscs either by forcing the valves apart, or by drilling a hole in the shell to inject a ].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wodinsky |first=Jerome |year=1969 |title=Penetration of the Shell and Feeding on Gastropods by ''Octopus'' |url=https://academic.oup.com/icb/article-pdf/9/3/997/602205/9-3-997.pdf |journal=American Zoologist |volume=9 |issue=3 |pages=997–1010 |doi=10.1093/icb/9.3.997 |doi-access=free }}</ref>{{sfnp|Wells|1978|pp=74–75}} It used to be thought that the hole was drilled by the radula, but it has now been shown that minute teeth at the tip of the salivary papilla are involved, and an enzyme in the toxic saliva is used to dissolve the calcium carbonate of the shell. It takes about three hours for ''O. vulgaris'' to create a {{convert|0.6|mm|in|3|abbr=on}} hole. Once the shell is penetrated, the prey dies almost instantaneously, its muscles relax, and the soft tissues are easy for the octopus to remove. Crabs may also be treated in this way; tough-shelled species are more likely to be drilled, and soft-shelled crabs are torn apart.<ref name=Crowfoothandling>{{cite web |url=http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoHand.php |title=Octopuses and Relatives: Prey handling and drilling |last=Carefoot |first=Thomas |work=A Snail's Odyssey |access-date=21 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606005247/http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoHand.php |archive-date=6 June 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Some species have other modes of feeding. ''Grimpoteuthis'' has a reduced or non-existent radula and swallows prey whole.<ref name="marinebio"/> In the deep-sea genus '']'', some of the muscle cells that control the suckers in most species have been replaced with ]s which are believed to fool prey by directing them to the mouth, making them one of the few ] octopuses.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.2307/1542994 |pmid=28296499 |last1=Johnsen |first1=S. |first2=E. J. |last2=Balser |first3=E. C. |last3=Fisher |first4=E. A. |last4=Widder |year=1999 |url=http://www.biology.duke.edu/johnsenlab/pdfs/pubs/octopusbiolbull.pdf |title=Bioluminescence in the deep-sea cirrate octopod ''Stauroteuthis syrtensis'' Verrill (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) |journal=The Biological Bulletin |volume=197 |issue=1 |pages=26–39 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305114611/http://www.biology.duke.edu/johnsenlab/pdfs/pubs/octopusbiolbull.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2011 |jstor=1542994 }}</ref>


===Locomotion=== ===Locomotion===
] ]
Octopuses mainly move about by relatively slow crawling with some swimming in a head-first position. ] or backward swimming, is their fastest means of locomotion, followed by swimming and crawling.<ref name="biologists2006">{{cite journal |first=Christine L. |last=Huffard |title=Locomotion by ''Abdopus aculeatus'' (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae): walking the line between primary and secondary defenses |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |year=2006 |volume=209 |issue=Pt 19 |pages=3697–3707 |doi=10.1242/jeb.02435 |pmid=16985187| doi-access=free }}</ref> When in no hurry, they usually crawl on either solid or soft surfaces. Several arms are extended forward, some of the suckers adhere to the substrate and the animal hauls itself forward with its powerful arm muscles, while other arms may push rather than pull. As progress is made, other arms move ahead to repeat these actions and the original suckers detach. During crawling, the heart rate nearly doubles, and the animal requires ten or fifteen minutes to recover from relatively minor exercise.<ref name=Crowfootcrawling/>
Octopuses move about by crawling or swimming. Their main means of slow travel is crawling, with some swimming. Jet propulsion is their fastest means of locomotion, followed by swimming and bipedal walking.<ref></ref>


Most octopuses swim by expelling a jet of water from the mantle through the siphon into the sea. The physical principle behind this is that the force required to accelerate the water through the orifice produces a reaction that propels the octopus in the opposite direction.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kassim |first1=I. |last2=Phee |first2=L. |last3=Ng |first3=W. S. |last4=Gong |first4=F. |last5=Dario |first5=P. |last6=Mosse |first6=C. A. |year=2006 |title=Locomotion techniques for robotic colonoscopy |journal=IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Magazine |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=40–56 |doi=10.1109/MEMB.2006.1636351 |pmid=16764431 |s2cid=9124611 }}</ref> The direction of travel depends on the orientation of the siphon. When swimming, the head is at the front and the siphon is pointed backward but, when jetting, the visceral hump leads, the siphon points at the head and the arms trail behind, with the animal presenting a ] appearance. In an alternative method of swimming, some species flatten themselves dorso-ventrally, and swim with the arms held out sideways; this may provide lift and be faster than normal swimming. Jetting is used to escape from danger, but is physiologically inefficient, requiring a mantle pressure so high as to stop the heart from beating, resulting in a progressive oxygen deficit.<ref name="biologists2006"/>
They crawl by walking on their arms, usually on many at once, on both solid and soft surfaces, while supported in water. In 2005 it was reported that some octopuses (''Abdopus aculeatus'' and ''Amphioctopus marginatus'' under current taxonomy) can walk on two arms, while at the same time resembling plant matter.<ref> </ref> This form of locomotion allows these octopuses to move quickly away from a potential predator while possibly not triggering that predator's search image for octopus (food).<ref></ref> Octopuses lack bones and are extremely vulnerable to predators.


]''|alt=Three images in sequence of a two-finned sea creature swimming with an 8-cornered web]]
Octopuses swim by expelling a jet of water from a contractile ], and aiming it via a muscular ].


Cirrate octopuses cannot produce jet propulsion and rely on their fins for swimming. They have neutral buoyancy and drift through the water with the fins extended. They can also contract their arms and surrounding web to make sudden moves known as "take-offs". Another form of locomotion is "pumping", which involves symmetrical contractions of muscles in their webs producing ]. This moves the body slowly.<ref name="marinebio"/>
===Size===
{{see also|Cephalopod size}}
The ], ''Enteroctopus dofleini'', is often cited as the largest octopus species. Adults usually weigh around 15 kg (33 lb), with an arm span of up to 4.3 m (14 ft).<ref name="FONZ"></ref> The largest specimen of this species to be scientifically documented was an animal with a live mass of 71 kg (156.5 lb).<ref>Cosgrove, J.A. 1987. Aspects of the Natural History of ''Octopus dofleini'', the Giant Pacific Octopus. M.Sc. Thesis. Department of Biology, University of Victoria (Canada), 101 pp.</ref> The alternative contender is the ], ''Haliphron atlanticus'', based on a 61 kg (134 lb) carcass estimated to have a live mass of 75 kg (165 lb).<ref>O'Shea, S. 2004. The giant octopus ''Haliphron atlanticus'' (Mollusca : Octopoda) in New Zealand waters. ''New Zealand Journal of Zoology'' '''31'''(1): 7-13.</ref><ref>O'Shea, S. 2002. ''Haliphron atlanticus'' — a giant gelatinous octopus. ''Biodiversity Update'' '''5''': 1.</ref> However, there are a number of questionable size records that would suggest ''E. dofleini'' is the largest of all octopus species by a considerable margin;<ref name=norman03>Norman, M. 2000. ''Cephalopods: A World Guide''. Hackenheim, ConchBooks, p. 214.</ref> one such record is of a specimen weighing 272 kg (600 lb) and having an arm span of 9 m (30 ft).<ref>High, W.L. 1976. The giant Pacific octopus. ''U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, Marine Fisheries Review'' '''38'''(9): 17-22.</ref>


In 2005, '']'' and veined octopus ('']'') were found to walk on two arms, while at the same time mimicking plant matter.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.1109616 |title=Underwater Bipedal Locomotion by Octopuses in Disguise |year=2005 |last1=Huffard |first1=C. L. |journal=Science |volume=307 |issue=5717 |page=1927 |pmid=15790846 |last2=Boneka |first2=F. |last3=Full |first3=R. J. |s2cid=21030132 }}</ref> This form of locomotion allows these octopuses to move quickly away from a potential predator without being recognised.<ref name="biologists2006"/> Some species of octopus can crawl out of the water briefly, which they may do between tide pools.<ref name="Wood Anderson"/>{{sfnp|Mather|Anderson|Wood|2010|p=183}} "Stilt walking" is used by the veined octopus when carrying stacked coconut shells. The octopus carries the shells underneath it with two arms, and progresses with an ungainly gait supported by its remaining arms held rigid.<ref name=Finn/>
== Terminology ==


===Intelligence===
There are three forms of the plural of ''octopus''; namely, ''octopuses'', ''octopi'', and ''octopodes''. Currently, ''octopuses'' is the most common form in the UK as well as the US; ''octopodes'' is rare, and ''octopi'' is often objected to.<ref>Peters, Pam (2004). ''The Cambridge Guide to English Usage''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-62181-X, p. 388.</ref>
{{Main |Cephalopod intelligence}}


]
The '']'' (2004 update<ref> (subscription required). Retrieved October 22, 2007.</ref>) lists ''octopuses'', ''octopi'' and ''octopodes'' (in that order); it labels ''octopodes'' "rare", and notes that ''octopi'' derives from the mistaken assumption that ''{{unicode|octōpūs}}'' is a ] ] ], which it is not. Rather, it is (Latinized) ], from ''{{unicode|oktṓpous}}'' {{polytonic|(ὀκτώπους)}}, ] masculine, whose plural is ''{{unicode|oktṓpodes}}'' ({{polytonic|ὀκτώποδες}}). If the word were native to Latin, it would be ''{{unicode|octōpēs}}'' ('eight-foot') and the plural ''{{unicode|octōpedes}}'', analogous to ''{{unicode|centipedes}}'' and ''{{unicode|mīllipedes}}'', as the plural form of ''{{unicode|pēs}}'' ('foot') is ''{{unicode|pedes}}''. In modern, informal Greek, it is called ''{{unicode|khtapódi}}'' {{Polytonic|(χταπόδι)}}, gender neuter, with plural form ''{{unicode|khtapódia}}'' {{Polytonic|(χταπόδια)}}.


Octopuses are highly ].<ref name="doug">{{cite journal |url=http://www.nwf.org/News-and-Magazines/National-Wildlife/Animals/Archives/1997/Armed-But-Not-Dangerous.aspx |title=Armed but not dangerous: Is the octopus really the invertebrate intellect of the sea |first=Doug |last=Stewart |journal=National Wildlife |year=1997 |volume=35 |issue=2}}</ref> ] and ] experiments have shown evidence of a memory system that can store both ] and ].<ref name="Zarrella Ponte Baldascino Fiorito 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Zarrella |first1=Ilaria |last2=Ponte |first2=Giovanna |last3=Baldascino |first3=Elena |last4=Fiorito |first4=Graziano |title=Learning and memory in Octopus vulgaris: a case of biological plasticity |journal=Current Opinion in Neurobiology |volume=35 |year=2015 |issn=0959-4388 |doi=10.1016/j.conb.2015.06.012 |pages=74–79|pmid=26186237 |s2cid=31682363 }}</ref> Young octopuses learn nothing from their parents, as adults provide no ] beyond tending to their eggs until the young octopuses hatch.<ref name="AZAmanual">{{cite web |url=https://www.aza.org/assets/2332/giant_pacific_octopus_care_manual_final_9514.pdf |title=Giant Pacific Octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) Care Manual |publisher=AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) Aquatic Invertebrate Taxonomic Advisory Group in association with AZA Animal Welfare Committee |date=9 September 2014 |access-date=31 May 2016}}</ref>{{rp|75}}
''Chambers 21st Century Dictionary''<ref>. Retrieved October 19, 2007.</ref> and the ''Compact Oxford Dictionary''<ref> Retrieved October 19, 2007.</ref> list only ''octopuses'', although the latter notes that ''octopodes'' is "still occasionally used"; the ] has 29 instances of ''octopuses'', 11 of ''octopi'' and 4 of ''octopodes''. ''Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary'' lists ''octopuses'' and ''octopi'', in that order; ''Webster's New World College Dictionary'' lists ''octopuses'', ''octopi'' and ''octopodes'' (in that order).


In laboratory experiments, octopuses can readily be trained to distinguish between different shapes and patterns. They have been reported to practise ],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2796607.stm |title=Octopus intelligence: Jar opening |work=BBC News |date=25 February 2003 |access-date=4 February 2014}}</ref> although the validity of these findings is contested.<ref name="doug"/> Octopuses have also been observed in what has been described as ]: repeatedly releasing bottles or toys into a circular current in their aquariums and then catching them.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mather |first1=J. A. |last2=Anderson |first2=R. C. |year=1998 |title=What behavior can we expect of octopuses? |website=The Cephalopod Page |editor1-last=Wood |editor1-first=J. B. |url=http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/behavior.php |access-date=22 October 2006 |archive-date=5 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005135515/http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/behavior.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> Octopuses often break out of their aquariums and sometimes into others in search of food.<ref name="Wood Anderson">{{cite journal |url=http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/_pdf/2004Escape.pdf |title=Interspecific Evaluation of Octopus Escape Behavior |date=2004 |journal=Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science |pages=95–106 |volume=7 |number=2 |access-date=11 September 2015 |doi=10.1207/s15327604jaws0702_2 |pmid=15234886 |last1=Wood |first1=J. B |last2=Anderson |first2=R. C |citeseerx=10.1.1.552.5888 |s2cid=16639444 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=lD8DAAAAQAAJ |page=38}} |title=Aquarium Notes – The Octopus; or, the "devil-fish" of fiction and of fact |last=Lee |first=Henry |chapter=V: The octopus out of water |date=1875 |publisher=Chapman and Hall |oclc=1544491 |location=London |access-date=11 September 2015 |pages=38–39 |quote=The marauding rascal had occasionally issued from the water in his tank, and clambered up the rocks, and over the wall into the next one; there he had helped himself to a young lump-fish, and, having devoured it, returned demurely to his own quarters by the same route, with well-filled stomach and contented mind.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/13/the-great-escape-inky-the-octopus-legs-it-to-freedom-from-new-zealand-aquarium?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other |title=The great escape: Inky the octopus legs it to freedom from aquarium |last=Ainge Roy |first=Eleanor |date=14 April 2016 |work=The Guardian (Australia)}}</ref> Growing evidence suggests that octopuses are ] and capable of experiencing ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Henriques |first=Martha |date=25 July 2022 |title=The mysterious inner life of the octopus |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220720-do-octopuses-feel-pain |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref> The ] collects discarded ] shells, then uses them to build a shelter, an example of ].<ref name=Finn>{{Cite journal |pmid=20064403 |year=2009 |last1=Finn |first1=J. K. |title=Defensive tool use in a coconut-carrying octopus |journal=Current Biology |volume=19 |issue=23 |pages=R1069–70 |last2=Tregenza |first2=T. |last3=Norman |first3=M. D. |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2009.10.052|s2cid=26835945 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2009CBio...19R1069F }}</ref>
'']'' states that "the only acceptable plural in English is ''octopuses,''" and that ''octopi'' is misconceived and ''octopodes'' ].


===Camouflage and colour change===
The term ''octopod'' (plural ''octopods'' or ''octopodes'') is taken from the ] Octopoda but has no classical equivalent. The collective form ''octopus'' is usually reserved for animals consumed for food.
]


Octopuses use ] when hunting and to avoid predators. To do this, they use specialised skin cells that change the appearance of the skin by adjusting its colour, opacity, or reflectivity. ]s contain yellow, orange, red, brown, or black pigments; most species have three of these colours, while some have two or four. Other colour-changing cells are reflective iridophores and white leucophores.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.docdatabase.net/more-tales-from-the-cryptic-the-common-atlantic-octopus-octopus-vulgaris-13832.html |title=Tales from the Cryptic: The Common Atlantic Octopus |access-date=27 July 2006 |last=Meyers |first=Nadia |publisher=Southeastern Regional Taxonomic Centre |archive-date=5 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305152911/http://www.docdatabase.net/more-tales-from-the-cryptic-the-common-atlantic-octopus-octopus-vulgaris-13832.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> This colour-changing ability is also used to communicate with or warn other octopuses.{{sfnp|Mather|Anderson|Wood|2010|pp=90–97}} The energy cost of the complete activation of the chromatophore system is very high equally being nearly as much as all the energy used by an octopus at rest.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sonner |first1=Sofie C. |last2=Onthank |first2=Kirt L. |date=2024 |title=High energetic cost of color change in octopuses |url=https://pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2408386121 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=121 |issue=48 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2408386121 |issn=0027-8424}}</ref>
== Relationship to humans ==
{{cephalopod topics}}
] Lima, Peru.]]
Ancient peoples of the ] were cognizant of the octopus, as evinced by certain artworks and designs of prehistory. For example, a stone carving found in the archaeological recovery from ] ] ] at ] has a depiction of a fisherman carrying an octopus.<ref></ref>


Octopuses can create distracting patterns with waves of dark colouration across the body, a display known as the "passing cloud". Muscles in the skin change the texture of the mantle to achieve greater camouflage. In some species, the mantle can take on the spiky appearance of algae; in others, skin anatomy is limited to relatively uniform shades of one colour with limited skin texture. Octopuses that are diurnal and live in shallow water have evolved more complex skin than their nocturnal and deep-sea counterparts.{{sfnp|Mather|Anderson|Wood|2010|pp=90–97}}
The ] people of ancient ] worshipped the sea and its animals; moreover, octopuses were often depicted in their art.<ref>Berrin, Katherine & Larco Museum. ''The Spirit of Ancient Peru:Treasures from the ].'' New York: ], 199 7.</ref>


A "moving rock" trick involves the octopus mimicking a rock and then inching across the open space with a speed matching that of the surrounding water.<ref>{{cite book |title=Cephalopod Behaviour |publisher=Cambridge University Press |last1=Hanlon |first1=R. T. |last2=Messenger |first2=J. B. |year=2018 |pages=110–111 |edition=2nd|isbn=978-0-521-72370-1}}</ref>
=== In mythology ===


===Defence===
The ] ] relates that the present cosmos is only the last of a series, having arisen in stages from the wreck of the previous universe. In this account, the octopus is the lone survivor of the previous, alien universe.<ref name=Dixon>{{cite book | title = The Mythology of All Races | subtitle = Oceanic | volume = 9 | last = Dixon | first = Roland Burrage | year = 1916 | publisher = Marshall Jones | page = 15 | authorlink = Roland Burrage Dixon}}</ref>
] of ] (''Hapalochlaena lunulata'')|alt=An octopus among coral displaying conspicuous rings of turquoise outlined in black against a sandy background]]


Aside from humans, octopuses may be preyed on by fishes, ]s, ]s, ]s, ]ns, and other cephalopods.<ref name=Crowfootdefense/> Octopuses typically hide or disguise themselves by camouflage and ]; some have conspicuous ] or ] (“bluffing” a seemingly threatening appearance).{{sfnp|Mather|Anderson|Wood|2010|pp=90–97}} An octopus may spend 40% of its time hidden away in its den. When the octopus is approached, it may extend an arm to investigate. 66% of ''Enteroctopus dofleini'' in one study had scars, with 50% having amputated arms.<ref name=Crowfootdefense>{{cite web |url=http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoPred.php |title=Octopuses and Relatives: Predators and Defenses |last=Carefoot |first=Thomas |work=A Snail's Odyssey |access-date=13 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421151656/http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoPred.php |archive-date=21 April 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The blue rings of the highly venomous blue-ringed octopus are hidden in muscular skin folds which contract when the animal is threatened, exposing the iridescent warning.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mäthger |first1=L. M. |last2=Bell |first2=G. R. |last3=Kuzirian |first3=A. M. |last4=Allen |first4=J. J. |last5=Hanlon |first5=R. T. |year=2012 |title=How does the blue-ringed octopus (''Hapalochlaena lunulata'') flash its blue rings? |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=215 |issue=21 |pages=3752–3757 |doi=10.1242/jeb.076869 |pmid=23053367 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The ] (''Callistoctopus macropus'') turns bright brownish red with oval white spots all over in a high contrast display.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/MarineInvertebrateZoology/Octopusmacropus1.html |title=Grass octopus (''Octopus macropus'') |work=Marine Invertebrates of Bermuda |publisher=] |access-date=10 August 2018 |last1=Wigton |first1=Rachel |last2=Wood |first2=James B. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160119135721/http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/MarineInvertebrateZoology/Octopusmacropus1.html |archive-date=19 January 2016 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Displays are often reinforced by stretching out the animal's arms, fins or web to make it look as big and threatening as possible.<ref>{{cite book |title=Cephalopod Behaviour |publisher=Cambridge University Press |last1=Hanlon |first1=R. T. |last2=Messenger |first2=J. B. |year=1998 |pages=80–81, 111 |edition=1st|isbn=978-0-521-64583-6}}</ref>
]]]
=== As food ===


Once they have been seen by a predator, they commonly try to escape but can also create a distraction by ejecting an ink cloud from their ink sac. The ink is thought to reduce the efficiency of olfactory organs, which would aid evasion from predators that employ ] for hunting, such as ]s. Ink clouds of some species might act as ], or decoys that the predator attacks instead.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Caldwell |first1=R. L. |year=2005 |title=An Observation of Inking Behavior Protecting Adult ''Octopus bocki'' from Predation by Green Turtle (''Chelonia mydas'') Hatchlings |journal=Pacific Science |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=69–72 |doi=10.1353/psc.2005.0004 |url=http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/24161/1/PacSci_069_072.pdf |hdl=10125/24161 |s2cid=54223984 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
Many species of octopus are eaten as food by human cultures around the world. The arms and sometimes other parts of the body are prepared in various ways, often depending on the species being eaten.


When under attack, some octopuses can perform arm ], in a manner similar to the way ]s and other ]s detach their tails. The crawling arm may distract would-be predators. Such severed arms remain sensitive to stimuli and move away from unpleasant sensations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/octopus-chronicles/2013/08/27/even-severed-octopus-arms-have-smart-moves/ |title=Even Severed Octopus Arms Have Smart Moves |first=Katherine |last=Harmon |date=27 August 2013 |work=Octopus Chronicles |publisher=Scientific American}}</ref> Octopuses can ].{{sfnp|Mather|Anderson|Wood|2010|p=85}}
Care must be taken to boil the octopus properly, to rid it of slime and the smell, as well as any residual ink.
]s]]Octopus is a common ingredient in ], including ], ], and ]. Some small species are sometimes ] as a novelty and ] (mostly in ]). Similarly, a live octopus may be sliced up and the legs eaten while still squirming, which they continue to do for some minutes.


Some octopuses, such as the ], can combine their highly flexible bodies with their colour-changing ability to mimic other, more dangerous animals, such as ], sea snakes, and ]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Norman |first1=M. D. |last2=Finn |first2=J. |last3=Tregenza |first3=T. |title=Dynamic mimicry in an Indo-Malayan octopus |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society |volume=268 |issue=1478 |pages=1755–8 |date=2001 |pmid=11522192 |pmc=1088805 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2001.1708 |url=http://marinebio.org/upload/files/mimic.pdf |access-date=1 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210191131/http://marinebio.org/upload/files/mimic.pdf |archive-date=10 February 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Norman |first=M. D. |year=2005 |title=The 'Mimic Octopus' (''Thaumoctopus mimicus'' n. gen. et sp.), a new octopus from the tropical Indo-West Pacific (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) |url=http://www.mapress.com/mr/content/v25/2005f/n2p070.htm |journal=Molluscan Research |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=57–70 |doi=10.11646/mr.25.2.1 |s2cid=260016769 }}</ref>
Octopus are also eaten regularly in ], many of the popular dishes being Asian in origin. Locally known by their Hawaiian or Japanese name, ("he'e" and "tako" respectively) octopus are also a popular catch used as fish bait.


===Pathogens and parasites===
Octopus is also a common food in ]. In ], ] (fair style octopus) is a local delicacy. Restaurants which specialize or serve this dish are known as pulperías.
The diseases and parasites that affect octopuses have been little studied, but cephalopods are known to be the intermediate or final ] of various parasitic ], ]s and copepods; 150 species of ]an and ]n parasites have been recognised.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pascal |first1=Santiago |last2=Gestal |first2=Camino |last3=Estevez |first3=J. |last4=Arias |first4=Christian Andrés |year=1996 |title=Parasites in commercially-exploited cephalopods (Mollusca, Cephalopoda) in Spain: An updated perspective |journal=Aquaculture |volume=142 |issue=1–2 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.1016/0044-8486(96)01254-9 |bibcode=1996Aquac.142....1P }}</ref> The ] are a family of tiny worms that are found in the renal appendages of many species;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Furuya |first1=Hidetaka |last2=Tsuneki |first2=Kazuhiko |date=2003 |title=Biology of Dicyemid Mesozoans |journal=Zoological Science |volume=20 |issue=5 |pages=519–532 |doi=10.2108/zsj.20.519 |pmid=12777824|s2cid=29839345 |doi-access=free }}</ref> it is unclear whether they are parasitic or ]s. ]ns in the genus '']'' living in the gut cause severe disease to the host. Octopuses have an ]; their ] respond to infection by ], encapsulation, infiltration, or cytotoxic activities to destroy or isolate the pathogens. The haemocytes play an important role in the recognition and elimination of foreign bodies and wound repair. Captive animals are more susceptible to pathogens than wild ones.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Castellanos-Martínez |first1=Sheila |last2=Gestal |first2=Camino |year=2013 |title=Pathogens and immune response of cephalopods |journal=Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology |volume=447 |pages=14–22 |url=https://www.academia.edu/6443538 |doi=10.1016/j.jembe.2013.02.007 |bibcode=2013JEMBE.447...14C }}</ref> A gram-negative bacterium, '']'', can cause skin lesions, exposure of muscle and sometimes death.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Farto |first1=R. |last2=Armada |first2=S. P. |last3=Montes |first3=M. |last4=Guisande |first4=J. A. |last5=Pérez |first5=M. J. |last6=Nieto |first6=T. P. |year=2003 |title=''Vibrio lentus'' associated with diseased wild octopus (''Octopus vulgaris'') |journal=Journal of Invertebrate Pathology |volume=83 |issue=2 |pages=149–156 |doi=10.1016/S0022-2011(03)00067-3|pmid=12788284 |bibcode=2003JInvP..83..149F }}</ref>
{{Wikibookspar|Cookbook|Octopus}}


==Evolution==
According to the USDA Nutrient Database (2007), cooked octopus contains approximately 139 calories per three ounce portion, and is a source of ], ], ], ], and ].<ref></ref>
{{Further|Evolution of cephalopods}}


The scientific name Octopoda was first coined and given as the order of octopuses in 1818 by English biologist ],<ref>{{cite WoRMS |last=Gofas |first=S.|year=2009 |title=Octopoda |id=11718 |access-date=5 May 2017 }}</ref> who classified them as Octopoida the previous year.<ref name="Mikko"/> The Octopoda consists of around 300 known species{{sfnp|Mather|Anderson|Wood|2010|p=145}} and were historically divided into two suborders, the ] and the Cirrina.<ref name="Corporation2004"/> More recent evidence suggests Cirrina is merely the most basal species, not a unique ].<ref name="Sanchez et al, 2018"/> The incirrate octopuses (the majority of species) lack the cirri and paired swimming fins of the cirrates.<ref name="Corporation2004"/> In addition, the internal shell of incirrates is either present as a pair of ] or absent altogether.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fuchs |first1=D. |first2=C. |last2=Ifrim |first3=W. |last3=Stinnesbeck |year=2008 |title=A new ''Palaeoctopus'' (Cephalopoda: Coleoidea) from the Late Cretaceous of Vallecillo, north-eastern Mexico, and implications for the evolution of Octopoda |journal=Palaeontology |volume=51 |issue=5 |pages=1129–1139 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00797.x |bibcode=2008Palgy..51.1129F |doi-access=free}}</ref>
=== As pets ===


===Fossil history and phylogeny===
] through a thin crack.]]
] (fossil pictured) in the ] period.<ref name="Fuchs Iba 2019"/>|alt=Fossil of crown group coleoid on a slab of Jurassic rock from Germany]]
Though octopuses can be difficult to keep in captivity, some people keep them as pets. Octopuses often escape even from supposedly secure tanks, due to their problem solving skills, mobility and lack of rigid structure.


The Cephalopoda evolved from a mollusc resembling the ] in the ] some 530 million years ago. The Coleoidea diverged from the nautiloids in the ] some 416 million years ago. In turn, the coleoids (including the squids and octopods) brought their shells inside the body and some 276 million years ago, during the ], split into the Vampyropoda and the Decabrachia.<ref name="Kröger 2011">{{cite journal |last1=Kröger |first1=Björn |last2=Vinther |first2=Jakob |last3=Fuchs |first3=Dirk |title=Cephalopod origin and evolution: A congruent picture emerging from fossils, development and molecules |journal=BioEssays |volume=33 |issue=8 |year=2011 |pages=602–613 |issn=0265-9247 |doi=10.1002/bies.201100001|pmid=21681989 |s2cid=2767810 }}</ref> The octopuses arose from the ] within the Vampyropoda in the ]. The earliest octopus likely lived near the sea floor (] to ]) in shallow marine environments.<ref name="Kröger 2011"/><ref name="Fuchs Schweigert 2018">{{Cite journal |last1=Fuchs |first1=Dirk |last2=Schweigert |first2=Günter |year=2018 |title=First Middle–Late Jurassic gladius vestiges provide new evidence on the detailed origin of incirrate and cirrate octopuses (Coleoidea) |journal=PalZ |volume=92 |issue=2 |pages=203–217 |doi=10.1007/s12542-017-0399-8 |bibcode=2018PalZ...92..203F |s2cid=135245479 |issn=0031-0220}}</ref><ref name="Fuchs Iba 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Fuchs |first1=Dirk |last2=Iba |first2=Yasuhiro |last3=Heyng |first3=Alexander |last4=Iijima |first4=Masaya |last5=Klug |first5=Christian |last6=Larson |first6=Neal L. |last7=Schweigert |first7=Günter |last8=Brayard |first8=Arnaud |title=The Muensterelloidea: phylogeny and character evolution of Mesozoic stem octopods |journal=Papers in Palaeontology |volume=6 |issue=1 |year=2019 |pages=31–92 |issn=2056-2802 |doi=10.1002/spp2.1254|s2cid=198256507 }}</ref> Octopuses consist mostly of soft tissue, and so fossils are relatively rare. As soft-bodied cephalopods, they lack the external shell of most molluscs, including other cephalopods like the ] and the extinct ].<ref name="CephGroup">{{cite web |title=A Broad Brush History of the Cephalopoda |url=http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/evolution.php |publisher=The Cephalopod Group |access-date=27 March 2017 |archive-date=16 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716165558/http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/evolution.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> They have eight limbs like other ], but lack the extra specialised feeding appendages known as ]s which are longer and thinner with suckers only at their club-like ends.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Young |first1=R. E. |first2=M. |last2=Vecchione |first3=K. M. |last3=Mangold |year=1999 |url=http://tolweb.org/accessory/Cephalopoda_Glossary?acc_id=587 |title=Cephalopoda Glossary |publisher=Tree of Life web project |access-date=30 May 2017}}</ref> The vampire squid ('']'') also lacks tentacles but has sensory filaments.<ref>{{cite web |last=Seibel |first=B. |title=''Vampyroteuthis infernalis'', Deep-sea Vampire squid |publisher=The Cephalopod Page |url=http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/vampy.php |access-date=31 May 2017 |archive-date=16 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716165547/http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/vampy.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The variation in size and life span among octopus species makes it difficult to know how long a new specimen can naturally be expected to live. That is, a small octopus may be just born or may be an adult, depending on the species. By selecting a well-known species, such as the ], one can choose a small octopus (around the size of a ]) and be confident that it is young with a full life ahead of it.


The ]s are based on Sanchez et al., 2018, who created a ] based on ]l and ] marker sequences.<ref name="Sanchez et al, 2018">{{cite journal |last1=Sanchez |first1=Gustavo |last2=Setiamarga |first2=Davin H. E. |last3=Tuanapaya |first3=Surangkana |last4=Tongtherm |first4=Kittichai |last5=Winkelmann |first5=Inger E. |last6=Schmidbaur |first6=Hannah |last7=Umino |first7=Tetsuya |last8=Albertin |first8=Caroline |last9=Allcock |first9=Louise |last10=Perales-Raya |first10=Catalina |last11=Gleadall |first11=Ian |last12=Strugnell |first12=Jan M. |last13=Simakov |first13=Oleg |last14=Nabhitabhata |first14=Jaruwat |title=Genus-level phylogeny of cephalopods using molecular markers: current status and problematic areas |journal=PeerJ |volume=6 |year=2018 |doi=10.7717/peerj.4331 |pmid=29456885 |pmc=5813590 |page=e4331 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The position of the Eledonidae is from Ibáñez et al., 2020, with a similar methodology.<ref name="Ibáñez Fenwick 2020">{{cite journal |last1=Ibáñez |first1=Christian M. |last2=Fenwick |first2=Mark |last3=Ritchie |first3=Peter A. |last4=Carrasco |first4=Sergio A. |last5=Pardo-Gandarillas |first5=M. Cecilia |title=Systematics and Phylogenetic Relationships of New Zealand Benthic Octopuses (Cephalopoda: Octopodoidea) |journal=Frontiers in Marine Science |volume=7 |year=2020 |issn=2296-7745 |doi=10.3389/fmars.2020.00182|doi-access=free }}</ref> Dates of divergence are from Kröger et al., 2011 and Fuchs et al., 2019.<ref name="Kröger 2011"/><ref name="Fuchs Iba 2019"/>
Octopuses are also quite strong for their size. Octopuses kept as pets have been known to open the covers of their aquariums and survive for a time in the air in order to get to a nearby feeder tank and gorge themselves on the fish there. They have also been known to catch and kill some species of ]s.<ref>, from The Octopus Show by ]</ref>


{{clade
==Classification==
|label1=]|sublabel1=530 mya<!--<ref name="Kröger 2011"/>-->
{{Wikispecies|Octopoda}}
|1={{clade
{{Wikibookspar|Dichotomous Key|Octopoda}}
|label1=]s
{{commons}}
|1='']'' ]
]
|label2=]|sublabel2=416 mya<!--<ref name="Kröger 2011"/>-->
*Class ]
|2={{clade
**Subclass ]: nautilus
|label1=]
**Subclass ]
|1=] ]
***Superorder ]: ], ]
|label2=Vampyropoda|sublabel2=276 mya<!--<ref name="Kröger 2011"/>-->
***Superorder ]
|2={{clade
****Order ]: Vampire Squid
|label1=]
****'''Order Octopoda'''
|1=]
*****Genus †'']'' <small>('']'')</small>
|label2='''Octopods'''|sublabel2=155 mya
*****Genus †'']'' <small>('']'')</small>
|2=]
*****Genus †'']'' <small>('']'')</small>
}}
*****Suborder ]: finned ] octopus
}}
******Family ]: umbrella octopus
}}
******Family ]
}}
******Family ]

*****Suborder ]
The molecular analysis of the octopods shows that the suborder Cirrina (Cirromorphida) and the superfamily Argonautoidea are ] and are broken up; these names are shown in quotation marks and italics on the cladogram.
******Family ]: ]

******Family ]: gelatinous octopus
{{clade
******Family ]: benthic octopus
|label1='''Octopoda'''
******Family ]: Glass Octopus
|1={{clade
******Superfamily ]
|label1="'']''" part
*******Family ]: Seven-arm Octopus
|1={{clade
*******Family ]: argonauts
|1=] ]
*******Family ]: Tuberculate Pelagic Octopus
|2=] ]
*******Family ]: blanket octopus
}}
|2={{clade
|label1="'']''" part
|1={{clade
|1=] ]
|2=] ]
}}
|label2=]
|2={{clade
|label1="'']''" part
|1={{clade
|1=] ]
|2=] ]
}}
|2={{clade
|1={{clade
|label1="'']''" part
|1={{clade
|1=] ]
|2=] ]
}}
|label2=]
|2={{clade
|1=] ]
|2={{clade
|1=] ]
|2={{clade
|1=] ]
|2={{clade
|1=] ]
|2=] ]
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}
|2={{clade
|1=] ]
|2={{clade
|1=] ]
|2=] ]
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}
}}

===RNA editing and the genome===

Octopuses, like other coleoid cephalopods but unlike more ] cephalopods or other molluscs, are capable of greater ], changing the ] of the ] of RNA molecules, than any other organisms. Editing is concentrated in the nervous system, and affects proteins involved in neural excitability and neuronal morphology. More than 60% of RNA transcripts for coleoid brains are recoded by editing, compared to less than 1% for a human or ]. Coleoids rely mostly on ] enzymes for RNA editing, which requires large ] structures to flank the editing sites. Both the structures and editing sites are conserved in the coleoid genome and the mutation rates for the sites are severely hampered. Hence, greater transcriptome plasticity has come at the cost of slower genome evolution.{{sfnp|Courage|2013|pp=46–49}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Liscovitch-Brauer |first1=N. |last2=Alon |first2=S. |last3=Porath |first3=H. T. |last4=Elstein |first4=B. |last5=Unger |first5=R. |last6=Ziv |first6=T. |last7=Admon |first7=A. |last8=Levanon |first8=E. Y. |last9=Rosenthal |first9=J. J. C. |last10=Eisenberg |first10=E. |year=2017 |title=Trade-off between transcriptome plasticity and genome evolution in cephalopods |journal=Cell |volume=169 |issue=2 |pages=191–202 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2017.03.025 |pmid=28388405 |pmc=5499236}}</ref>

The octopus genome is unremarkably ] except for large developments of two gene families: ]s, which regulate the development of neurons; and the ] transcription factors. Many genes specific to cephalopods are expressed in the animals' skin, suckers, and nervous system.<ref name="Albertin Simakov 2015"/>

==Relationship to humans==

===In art, literature, and mythology===
] clay vase with octopus decoration, c. 1500 BC|alt=An ancient nearly spherical vase with 2 handles by the top, painted all over with an octopus decoration in black]]

Ancient seafaring people were aware of the octopus, as evidenced by artworks and designs. For example, a stone carving found in the archaeological recovery from Bronze Age ] at ] (1900–1100 BC) depicts a fisherman carrying an octopus.<ref>{{cite web |last=Hogan |first=C. Michael |date=22 December 2007 |url=http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/10854/knossos.html#fieldnotes |title=Knossos fieldnotes |website=The Modern Antiquarian}}</ref> The terrifyingly powerful ] of ] may have been inspired by the octopus or squid, the octopus itself representing the severed head of ], the beak as the protruding tongue and fangs, and its tentacles as the snakes.<ref>{{cite book |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=OnHO4orvz18C}} |title=Medusa: Solving the Mystery of the Gorgon |last=Wilk |first=Stephen R. |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-988773-6}}</ref> The ] are legendary sea monsters of giant proportions said to dwell off the coasts of Norway and Greenland, usually portrayed in art as giant octopuses attacking ships. ] included it in the first edition of his 1735 '']''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Linnaeus |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Linnaeus |title=Systema Naturae |publisher=Laurentius Salvius |year=1735 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=WfQTAAAAQAAJ|page=82}} }}</ref><ref name=metropolitana>{{cite book |first1=Edward |last1=Smedley |first2=Hugh James |last2=Rose |first3=Henry John |last3=Rose |title=Encyclopaedia Metropolitana, Or, Universal Dictionary of Knowledge: Comprising the Twofold Advantage of a Philosophical and an Alphabetical Arrangement, with Appropriate Engravings |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=3X1GAQAAIAAJ|page=255}} |year=1845 |publisher=B. Fellowes |pages=255–}}</ref> One translation of the Hawaiian ] the ] suggests that the octopus is the lone survivor of a previous age.<ref name=Dixon>{{cite book |volume=9 |last=Dixon |first=Roland Burrage |author-link=Roland Burrage Dixon |title=Oceanic |series=The Mythology of All Races |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=gLIIAQAAIAAJ&pg=PP2}} |date=1916 |publisher=Marshall Jones Company |pages=2–}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_s4EBAAAAQAAJ |title=Die heilige Sage der Polynesier: Kosmogonie und Theogonie |last=Bastian |first=Adolf |date=1881 |publisher=F. A. Brockhaus |others=Oxford University |location=Leipzig |pages=–108}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Ir_cgqw_9QC |title=The Kumulipo: A Hawaiian Creation Chant |last=Beckwith|first=Martha Warren|year=1981|publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-0771-9 |pages=52–53}}</ref> The ] is a gigantic octopus-like ] from ] folklore, worshipped in ].<!--<ref name="Batchelor">{{cite book |last=Batchelor |first=John |title=The Ainu and Their Folklore |url=https://archive.org/details/b29010664 |location=London |publisher=The Religious Tract Society |year=1901 |page=NEEDED; it may be there but not obvs and not in index }}</ref>--><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Srinivasan |first1=A. |title=The Sucker, the Sucker! |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10024715/3/Srinivasan_Octopuses.pdf |journal=] |volume=39 |issue=17 |pages=23–25 |date=2017}}</ref>

A battle with an octopus plays a significant role in ]'s 1866 book ''Travailleurs de la mer'' ('']'').<ref>{{cite web |title= The Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo & Translated by James Hogarth |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/victor-hugo/the-toilers-of-the-sea/ |publisher=] |access-date=14 May 2021 |date=2002}}</ref> ]'s 1966 short story collection '']'', and the 1983 ] were partly inspired by Hugo's book.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cohen-Vrignaud |first1=Gerard |title=On Octopussies, or the Anatomy of Female Power |journal=Differences |date=2012 |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=32–61 |doi=10.1215/10407391-1533520 }}</ref> Japanese erotic art, '']'', includes ] woodblock prints such as ]'s 1814 print ''Tako to ama'' ('']''), in which an ] is sexually intertwined with a large and a small octopus.<ref name=Helsinki>{{cite book |first1=Sointu |last1=Fritze |first2=Saara |last2=Suojoki |title=Forbidden Images: Erotic Art from Japan's Edo Period |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=QRtmAAAACAAJ|pate=23}} |year=2000 |publisher=Helsingin kaupungin taidemuseo |isbn=978-951-8965-54-4| language=fi |pages=23–28 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Japanese Erotic Fantasies: Sexual Imagery of the Edo Period |last1=Uhlenbeck |first1=Chris |last2=Winkel |first2=Margarita |last3=Tinios |first3=Ellis |last4=Newland |first4=Amy Reigle |year=2005 |publisher=Hotei |isbn=978-90-74822-66-4 |page=161}}</ref> The print is a forerunner of ].<ref name=Briel>{{cite book |last=Briel |first=Holger |date=2010 |chapter=The Roving Eye Meets Traveling Pictures: The Field of Vision and the Global Rise of Adult Manga |editor1-last=Berninger |editor1-first=Mark |editor2-last=Ecke |editor2-first=Jochen |editor3-last=Haberkorn |editor3-first=Gideon |title=Comics As a Nexus of Cultures: Essays on the Interplay of Media, Disciplines |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=e-aWWTZeergC|page=203}}| publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-3987-4 |page=203}}</ref> The biologist ] noted in his science blog, '']'', that octopuses appear in "extraordinary" graphic illustrations involving women, tentacles, and bare breasts.<ref>{{cite web |last=Myers |first=Paul Zachary |author-link1=PZ Myers |title=Extraordinary Octopus Illustrations |url=http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/05/17/extraordinary-octopus-illustra/ |website=] |access-date=18 March 2017 |date=17 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Myers |first=Paul Zachary |author-link=PZ Myers |title=Definitely not safe for work |url=http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/10/29/definitely-not-safe-for-work/ |website=] |access-date=18 March 2017 |date=29 October 2006}}</ref>

Since it has numerous arms emanating from a common centre, the octopus is often used as a symbol for a powerful and manipulative organisation, company, or country.<ref>{{cite web |last=Smith |first=S. |url=http://www.imediaethics.org/why-mark-zuckerberg-octopus-cartoon-evokes-nazi-propaganda-german-paper-apologizes/ |title=Why Mark Zuckerberg Octopus Cartoon Evokes 'Nazi Propaganda,' German Paper Apologizes |publisher=iMediaEthics |date=26 February 2010 |access-date=31 May 2017}}</ref>

The Beatles song "]", on the band's 1969 album ''],'' was written by ] after he was told about how octopuses travel along the sea bed picking up stones and shiny objects with which to build gardens.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Beatles Songwriting & Recording Database: Abbey Road |url=http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dba11road.html |access-date=2024-04-02 |website=www.beatlesinterviews.org}}</ref>

===Danger to humans===
] drawing of an imagined ] attacking a ship, by the ] ], 1801|alt=Coloured drawing of a huge octopus rising from the sea and attacking a sailing ship's three masts with its spiralling arms]]

Octopuses generally avoid humans, but ]. For example, a {{convert|2.4|metre|feet|0|adj=on}} Pacific octopus, said to be nearly perfectly camouflaged, "lunged" at a diver and "wrangled" over his camera before it let go. Another diver recorded the encounter on video.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ross |first=Philip |title=8-Foot Octopus Wrestles Diver Off California Coast, Rare Encounter Caught on Camera |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/8-foot-octopus-wrestles-diver-calif-coast-rare-encounter-caught-camera-video-1556415 |work=] |date=18 February 2014}}</ref> All species are venomous, but only blue-ringed octopuses have venom that is lethal to humans.<ref name="Fry Roelants 2009">{{cite journal |last1=Fry |first1=B. G. |last2=Roelants |first2=K. |last3=Norman |first3=J. A. |title=Tentacles of Venom: Toxic Protein Convergence in the Kingdom Animalia |journal=Journal of Molecular Evolution |volume=68 |issue=4 |year=2009 |pages=311–321 |issn=0022-2844 |doi=10.1007/s00239-009-9223-8|pmid=19294452 |bibcode=2009JMolE..68..311F |s2cid=13354905 }}</ref> Blue-ringed octopuses are among the deadliest animals in the sea; their bites are reported each year across the animals' range from Australia to the eastern Indo-Pacific Ocean. They bite only when provoked or accidentally stepped upon; bites are small and usually painless. The venom appears to be able to penetrate the skin without a puncture, given prolonged contact. It contains ], which causes paralysis by blocking the transmission of ]s to the muscles. This causes death by respiratory failure leading to ]. No antidote is known, but if breathing can be kept going artificially, patients recover within 24 hours.<ref>{{cite web |title=Blue-ringed Octopuses, ''Hapalochlaena maculosa'' |url=http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=403 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120524092455/http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=403 |archive-date=2012-05-24 |access-date=12 April 2017 |publisher=The MarineBio Conservation Society}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Caldwell |first1=Roy <!--University of California at Berkeley--> |title=What makes blue-rings so deadly? Blue-ringed octopus have tetrodotoxin |url=http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/bluering2.php |website=The Cephalopod Page |access-date=12 April 2017 |archive-date=18 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718144602/http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/bluering2.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> Bites have been recorded from captive octopuses of other species; they leave swellings which disappear in a day or two.{{sfnp|Wells|1978|pp=68}}

===As a food source===
{{Main|Octopus as food}}
]]]
Octopus ] exist around the world with total catches varying between 245,320 and 322,999 metric tons from 1986 to 1995.<ref name=gillespie>{{cite web |last1=Gillespie |first1=G. E. |last2=Parker |first2=G. |last3=Morrison |first3=J. |date=1998 |title=A Review of Octopus Fisheries Biology and British Columbia Octopus Fisheries |publisher=Canadian Stock Assessment Secretariat |url=http://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/CSAS/Csas/DocREC/1998/98_087_e.pdf}}</ref> The world catch peaked in 2007 at 380,000 tons, and had fallen by a tenth by 2012.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rocliffe |first1=S. |last2=Harris |first2=A. |url=https://blueventures.org/publication/status-octopus-fisheries-western-indian-ocean/ |title=The status of octopus fisheries in the Western Indian Ocean |year=2016 |access-date=18 June 2017}}</ref> Methods to capture octopuses include pots, ], ], snares, drift fishing, spearing, hooking and hand collection.<ref name=gillespie/> Octopuses have a food conversion efficiency greater than that of chickens, making ] a possibility.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wells |first=Martin |year=1983 |title=Cephalopods do it differently |volume=100 |pages=333–334 |work=New Scientist |number=1382 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=qmQ8V0Htqu0C|page=333}} |issn=0262-4079 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Octopuses compete with human fisheries targeting other species, and even rob traps and nets for their catch; they may, themselves, be caught as ] if they cannot get away.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sauer |first1=Warwick H. H. |last2=Gleadall |first2=Ian G. |display-authors=etal |date=6 December 2019 |title=World Octopus Fisheries |journal=Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture |publisher=] |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=279–429 |doi=10.1080/23308249.2019.1680603 |issn=2330-8249 |s2cid=210266167 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10261/227068}}</ref>

Octopus is eaten in many cultures, such as those on the Mediterranean and Asian coasts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/octopus-and-kin/giant-pacific-octopus |title=Giant Pacific octopus |website=] |date=2017 |access-date=1 August 2015 |archive-date=4 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704213912/http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/octopus-and-kin/giant-pacific-octopus |url-status=dead }}</ref> The arms and other body parts are prepared in ways that vary by species and geography. Live octopuses or their wriggling pieces are consumed as '']'' in Japanese cuisine and '']'' in Korean cuisine.<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/nov/10/live-and-let-dine |access-date=15 April 2015| last=Eriksen |first=L. |date=10 November 2010 |work=] |title=Live and let dine}}</ref><ref name="Newyorker">{{cite magazine |date=3 October 2014 |title=Why not eat octopus? |last=Killingsworth |first=Silvia |url=http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/eating-octopus |magazine=] |access-date=15 April 2016}}</ref> If not prepared properly, however, the severed arms can still choke the diner with their suction cups, causing at least one death in 2010.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dodgson |first=Lindsay |date=2019-05-11 |title=Here's why eating a live octopus can be deadly |url=https://www.insider.com/eating-live-octopus-can-kill-you-2019-5 |website=Insider}}</ref> Animal welfare groups have objected to the live consumption of octopuses on the basis that they can experience pain.<ref name="Observer">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/may/30/food-restaurants-macho-eating-live |title=Macho foodies in New York develop a taste for notoriety |access-date=15 April 2015 |last=Ferrier |first=M. |date=30 May 2010 |work=]}}</ref>

===In science and technology===

In classical Greece, ] (384–322 BC) ] the colour-changing abilities of the octopus, both for camouflage and for ], in his '']'': "The octopus&nbsp;... seeks its prey by so changing its colour as to render it like the colour of the stones adjacent to it; it does so also ]."<ref>] (c. 350 BC). '']''. IX, 622a: 2–10. Cited in Borrelli, Luciana; ]; Fiorito, Graziano (2006). ''A catalogue of body patterning in Cephalopoda''. Firenze University Press. {{ISBN|978-88-8453-377-7}}. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206145302/http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/history_anim.9.ix.html |date=6 February 2018 }}</ref> Aristotle noted that the octopus had a hectocotyl arm and suggested it might be used in sexual reproduction. This claim was widely disbelieved until the 19th century. It was described in 1829 by the French zoologist ], who supposed it to be a parasitic worm, naming it as a new species, ''Hectocotylus octopodis''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Leroi |first=Armand Marie |author-link=Armand Marie Leroi |title=The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science |title-link=Aristotle's Lagoon |publisher=Bloomsbury |date=2014 |isbn=978-1-4088-3622-4 |pages=71–72}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Cephalopoda |url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/taxa/inverts/mollusca/cephalopoda.php|publisher=University of California Museum of Paleontology|access-date=27 March 2017}}</ref> Other zoologists thought it a spermatophore; the German zoologist ] believed it was "designed" to detach during copulation. In 1856 the Danish zoologist ] demonstrated that it is used to transfer sperm, and only rarely detaches.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mann |first=T. |title=Spermatophores: Development, Structure, Biochemical Attributes and Role in the Transfer of Spermatozoa |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=imPrCAAAQBAJ|page=28 }}|year=2012 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-642-82308-4 |page=28}}</ref>

] 'Octopus' ] arm. The BioRobotics Institute, ], ], 2011<ref name="Laschi Cianchetti 2012">{{cite journal |last1=Laschi |first1=Cecilia|author1-link=Cecilia Laschi |last2=Cianchetti |first2=Matteo |last3=Mazzolai |first3=Barbara |last4=Margheri |first4=Laura |last5=Follador |first5=Maurizio |last6=Dario |first6=Paolo |title=Soft Robot Arm Inspired by the Octopus |journal=Advanced Robotics |volume=26 |issue=7 |year=2012 |pages=709–727 |issn=0169-1864 |doi=10.1163/156855312X626343|s2cid=6104200 }}</ref>]]

Octopuses offer many ], including their ability to regenerate limbs, change the colour of their skin, behave intelligently with a distributed nervous system, and make use of 168 kinds of ]s (humans have 58), the proteins that guide the connections neurons make with each other. The California two-spot octopus has had its genome sequenced, allowing exploration of its molecular adaptations.<ref name="Albertin Simakov 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Albertin |first1=Caroline B. |last2=Simakov |first2=Oleg |last3=Mitros |first3=Therese |last4=Wang |first4=Z. Yan |last5=Pungor |first5=Judit R. |last6=Edsinger-Gonzales |first6=Eric |last7=Brenner |first7=Sydney |last8=Ragsdale |first8=Clifton W. |last9=Rokhsar |first9=Daniel S. |title=The octopus genome and the evolution of cephalopod neural and morphological novelties |journal=Nature |volume=524 |issue=7564 |year=2015 |pages=220–224 |issn=0028-0836 |doi=10.1038/nature14668|pmid=26268193 |pmc=4795812 |bibcode=2015Natur.524..220A |doi-access=free }}</ref> Having ] mammal-like intelligence, octopuses have been compared by the philosopher ], who has studied the nature of intelligence,<ref>{{cite book |last=Godfrey-Smith |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Godfrey-Smith |title=] |date=2018 |publisher=William Collins |isbn=978-0-00-822629-9 |pages=77–105, 137–157}}</ref> to hypothetical ].<ref>{{cite web |last=Baer |first=Drake |date=20 December 2016 |title=Octopuses Are 'the Closest We Will Come to Meeting an Intelligent Alien' |publisher=Science of Us |access-date=26 April 2017 |url=http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/12/octopuses-are-intelligent-aliens.html}}</ref> Their problem-solving skills, along with their mobility and lack of rigid structure enable them to escape from supposedly secure tanks in laboratories and ]s.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/04/13/octopus-slips-out-of-aquarium-tank-crawls-across-floor-escapes-down-pipe-to-ocean/ |title=Octopus slips out of aquarium tank, crawls across floor, escapes down pipe to ocean |last=Brulliard |first=Karin |date=13 April 2016 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=20 February 2017}}</ref>

Due to their intelligence, octopuses are listed in some countries as ] on which surgery may not be performed without ], a protection usually extended only to vertebrates. In the UK from 1993 to 2012, the common octopus (''Octopus vulgaris'') was the only invertebrate protected under the ].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (Amendment) Order 1993 |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1993/2103/article/3/made#text%3D%22Octopus%22 |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=18 February 2015}}</ref> In 2012, this legislation was extended to include all cephalopods<ref>{{cite web |title=The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 Amendment Regulations 2012 |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/3039/regulation/3/made |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=18 February 2015}}</ref> in accordance with a general ] directive.<ref name="EUdirective">{{cite web |title=Directive 2010/63/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council |url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:276:0033:0079:EN:PDF |publisher=Official Journal of the European Union |access-date=18 February 2015 |at=Article 1, 3(b) (see page 276/39)}}</ref>

Some ] research is exploring ] of octopus features. Octopus arms can move and sense largely autonomously without intervention from the animal's central nervous system. In 2015 a team in Italy built soft-bodied robots able to crawl and swim, requiring only minimal computation.<ref>{{cite web |title=PoseiDRONE |url=http://sssa.bioroboticsinstitute.it/projects/PoseiDRONE |publisher=The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna |access-date=14 May 2021 |archive-date=15 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515115844/http://sssa.bioroboticsinstitute.it/projects/PoseiDRONE |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Laschi 2015">{{cite book |last1=Laschi |first1=Cecilia |title=Soft Robotics |chapter=Soft Robotics Research, Challenges, and Innovation Potential, Through Showcases |year=2015 |pages=255–264 |doi=10.1007/978-3-662-44506-8_21|isbn=978-3-662-44505-1 }}</ref> In 2017 a German company made an arm with a soft ]ally controlled ] gripper fitted with two rows of suckers. It is able to grasp objects such as a metal tube, a magazine, or a ball, and to fill a glass by pouring water from a bottle.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Burgess |first=Matt |title=This robotic octopus tentacle isn't creepy at all |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/octopus-robot-tentacle |magazine=] |date=27 March 2017}}</ref>


==See also== ==See also==
*] * {{annotated link|My Octopus Teacher}}

*]
== Notes ==
* Octopus, a ] game.
{{Notelist}}
* A six-armed octopus, or "]", was found in March 2008 by British researchers.<ref name="yahoonews">{{Cite web|url=http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080303/sc_afp/sciencebritainanimalhexapusoffbeat|title=Six-legged 'hexapus' claimed as world first in Britain|date=2008-03-03|accessdate=2008-03-03}}</ref> Its subnormal complement of arms was attributed to a ].


==References== ==References==
{{reflist|2}} {{Reflist |30em}}

===Bibliography===

* {{cite book |last=Courage |first=K. H. |year=2013 |title=Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature in the Sea |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=eSMRlaceRIEC}} |publisher=] |isbn=978-0-698-13767-7}}
* {{cite book |last1=Mather |first1=J. A. |last2=Anderson |first2=R. C. |last3=Wood |first3=J. B. |year=2010 |title=Octopus: The Ocean's Intelligent Invertebrate |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=m-Mv7awvtIQC |page=13}} |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-60469-067-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Wells |first=M. J. |year=1978 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=AM_tCAAAQBAJ}} |title=Octopus, Physiology and Behaviour of an Advanced Invertebrate |publisher=] |isbn=978-94-017-2470-8}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite web |title=Studying the creativity and intelligence of the octopus |date=30 Aug 2020 |website=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/studying-the-creativity-and-intelligence-of-the-octopus-8-30-2020/}}
* {{cite web |title=Untangling the Mysteries of the Octopus |date=12 Jan 2020 |website=CBS News |format=Video 7:10 |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/untangling-the-mysteries-of-the-octopus/vi-BB18wlJr?ocid=spartan-ntp-feeds}}

==See also==
*'']'', award-winning documentary


==External links== ==External links==
{{Wikibooks |Dichotomous Key |Octopoda}}
{{sisterlinks|octopus}}
{{Commons}}
*
* * at the '']''
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929203838/http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Octopoda |date=29 September 2020 }} at the ]
*
* at ], January 11, 2022
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* - footage of an octopus eating a shark ()
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*{{PDFlink||359&nbsp;]<!-- application/pdf, 368045 bytes -->}}
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Latest revision as of 13:56, 2 December 2024

Soft-bodied eight-limbed order of molluscs This article is about the order of cephalopod. For other uses, see Octopus (disambiguation).

Octopus
Temporal range: Middle Jurassic – recent PreꞒ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Common octopus on seabed
Common octopus
(Octopus vulgaris)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
(unranked): Neocoleoidea
Clade: Vampyropoda
Superorder: Octopodiformes
Order: Octopoda
Leach, 1818
Suborders

(traditional)

See § Evolution for families

Synonyms
  • Octopoida
    Leach, 1817

An octopus (pl.: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (/ɒkˈtɒpədə/, ok-TOP-ə-də). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like other cephalopods, an octopus is bilaterally symmetric with two eyes and a beaked mouth at the centre point of the eight limbs. The soft body can radically alter its shape, enabling octopuses to squeeze through small gaps. They trail their eight appendages behind them as they swim. The siphon is used both for respiration and for locomotion, by expelling a jet of water. Octopuses have a complex nervous system and excellent sight, and are among the most intelligent and behaviourally diverse of all invertebrates.

Octopuses inhabit various regions of the ocean, including coral reefs, pelagic waters, and the seabed; some live in the intertidal zone and others at abyssal depths. Most species grow quickly, mature early, and are short-lived. In most species, the male uses a specially adapted arm to deliver a bundle of sperm directly into the female's mantle cavity, after which he becomes senescent and dies, while the female deposits fertilised eggs in a den and cares for them until they hatch, after which she also dies. Strategies to defend themselves against predators include the expulsion of ink, the use of camouflage and threat displays, the ability to jet quickly through the water and hide, and even deceit. All octopuses are venomous, but only the blue-ringed octopuses are known to be deadly to humans.

Octopuses appear in mythology as sea monsters like the Kraken of Norway and the Akkorokamui of the Ainu, and possibly the Gorgon of ancient Greece. A battle with an octopus appears in Victor Hugo's book Toilers of the Sea, inspiring other works such as Ian Fleming's Octopussy. Octopuses appear in Japanese erotic art, shunga. They are eaten and considered a delicacy by humans in many parts of the world, especially the Mediterranean and the Asian seas.

Etymology and pluralisation

See also: Plural form of words ending in -us

The scientific Latin term octopus was derived from Ancient Greek ὀκτώπους (oktōpous), a compound form of ὀκτώ (oktō, 'eight') and πούς (pous, 'foot'), itself a variant form of ὀκτάπους, a word used for example by Alexander of Tralles (c. 525 – c. 605) for the common octopus. The standard pluralised form of octopus in English is octopuses; the Ancient Greek plural ὀκτώποδες, octopodes (/ɒkˈtɒpədiːz/), has also been used historically. The alternative plural octopi is usually considered incorrect because it wrongly assumes that octopus is a Latin second-declension -us noun or adjective when, in either Greek or Latin, it is a third-declension noun.

Historically, the first plural to commonly appear in English language sources, in the early 19th century, is the latinate form octopi, followed by the English form octopuses in the latter half of the same century. The Hellenic plural is roughly contemporary in usage, although it is also the rarest.

Fowler's Modern English Usage states that the only acceptable plural in English is octopuses, that octopi is misconceived, and octopodes pedantic; the last is nonetheless used frequently enough to be acknowledged by the descriptivist Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary and Webster's New World College Dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary lists octopuses, octopi, and octopodes, in that order, reflecting frequency of use, calling octopodes rare and noting that octopi is based on a misunderstanding. The New Oxford American Dictionary (3rd Edition, 2010) lists octopuses as the only acceptable pluralisation, and indicates that octopodes is still occasionally used, but that octopi is incorrect.

Anatomy and physiology

Size

See also: Cephalopod size
Captured specimen of a giant octopus
A giant Pacific octopus at Echizen Matsushima Aquarium, Japan

The giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) is often cited as the largest known octopus species. Adults usually weigh around 15 kg (33 lb), with an arm span of up to 4.3 m (14 ft). The largest specimen of this species to be scientifically documented was an animal with a live mass of 71 kg (157 lb). Much larger sizes have been claimed for the giant Pacific octopus: one specimen was recorded as 272 kg (600 lb) with an arm span of 9 m (30 ft). A carcass of the seven-arm octopus, Haliphron atlanticus, weighed 61 kg (134 lb) and was estimated to have had a live mass of 75 kg (165 lb). The smallest species is Octopus wolfi, which is around 2.5 cm (1 in) and weighs less than 1 g (0.035 oz).

External characteristics

The octopus is bilaterally symmetrical along its dorso-ventral (back to belly) axis; the head and foot are at one end of an elongated body and function as the anterior (front) of the animal. The head includes the mouth and brain. The foot has evolved into a set of flexible, prehensile appendages, known as "arms", that surround the mouth and are attached to each other near their base by a webbed structure. The arms can be described based on side and sequence position (such as L1, R1, L2, R2) and divided into four pairs. The two rear appendages are generally used to walk on the sea floor, while the other six are used to forage for food. The bulbous and hollow mantle is fused to the back of the head and is known as the visceral hump; it contains most of the vital organs. The mantle cavity has muscular walls and contains the gills; it is connected to the exterior by a funnel or siphon. The mouth of an octopus, located underneath the arms, has a sharp hard beak.

Schematic of external anatomy
Diagram of octopus from side, with gills, funnel, eye, ocellus (eyespot), web, arms, suckers, hectocotylus and ligula labelled.

The skin consists of a thin outer epidermis with mucous cells and sensory cells and a connective tissue dermis consisting largely of collagen fibres and various cells allowing colour change. Most of the body is made of soft tissue allowing it to lengthen, contract, and contort itself. The octopus can squeeze through tiny gaps; even the larger species can pass through an opening close to 2.5 cm (1 in) in diameter. Lacking skeletal support, the arms work as muscular hydrostats and contain longitudinal, transverse and circular muscles around a central axial nerve. They can extend and contract, twist to left or right, bend at any place in any direction or be held rigid.

The interior surfaces of the arms are covered with circular, adhesive suckers. The suckers allow the octopus to anchor itself or to manipulate objects. Each sucker is usually circular and bowl-like and has two distinct parts: an outer shallow cavity called an infundibulum and a central hollow cavity called an acetabulum, both of which are thick muscles covered in a protective chitinous cuticle. When a sucker attaches to a surface, the orifice between the two structures is sealed. The infundibulum provides adhesion while the acetabulum remains free, and muscle contractions allow for attachment and detachment. Each of the eight arms senses and responds to light, allowing the octopus to control the limbs even if its head is obscured.

A stubby round sea-creature with short ear-like fins
A finned Grimpoteuthis species with its atypical octopus body plan

The eyes of the octopus are large and at the top of the head. They are similar in structure to those of a fish, and are enclosed in a cartilaginous capsule fused to the cranium. The cornea is formed from a translucent epidermal layer; the slit-shaped pupil forms a hole in the iris just behind the cornea. The lens is suspended behind the pupil; photoreceptive retinal cells cover the back of the eye. The pupil can be adjusted in size; a retinal pigment screens incident light in bright conditions.

Some species differ in form from the typical octopus body shape. Basal species, the Cirrina, have stout gelatinous bodies with webbing that reaches near the tip of their arms, and two large fins above the eyes, supported by an internal shell. Fleshy papillae or cirri are found along the bottom of the arms, and the eyes are more developed.

Circulatory system

Octopuses have a closed circulatory system, in which the blood remains inside blood vessels. Octopuses have three hearts; a systemic or main heart that circulates blood around the body and two branchial or gill hearts that pump it through each of the two gills. The systemic heart becomes inactive when the animal is swimming. Thus the octopus tires quickly and prefers to crawl. Octopus blood contains the copper-rich protein haemocyanin to transport oxygen. This makes the blood very viscous and it requires considerable pressure to pump it around the body; octopuses' blood pressures can exceed 75 mmHg (10 kPa). In cold conditions with low oxygen levels, haemocyanin transports oxygen more efficiently than haemoglobin. The haemocyanin is dissolved in the plasma instead of being carried within blood cells and gives the blood a bluish colour.

The systemic heart has muscular contractile walls and consists of a single ventricle and two atria, one for each side of the body. The blood vessels consist of arteries, capillaries and veins and are lined with a cellular endothelium which is quite unlike that of most other invertebrates. The blood circulates through the aorta and capillary system, to the vena cavae, after which the blood is pumped through the gills by the branchial hearts and back to the main heart. Much of the venous system is contractile, which helps circulate the blood.

Respiration

An octopus on the seabed, its siphon protruding near its eye
Octopus with open siphon. The siphon is used for respiration, waste disposal and discharging ink.

Respiration involves drawing water into the mantle cavity through an aperture, passing it through the gills, and expelling it through the siphon. The ingress of water is achieved by contraction of radial muscles in the mantle wall, and flapper valves shut when strong circular muscles force the water out through the siphon. Extensive connective tissue lattices support the respiratory muscles and allow them to expand the respiratory chamber. The lamella structure of the gills allows for a high oxygen uptake, up to 65% in water at 20 °C (68 °F). Water flow over the gills correlates with locomotion, and an octopus can propel its body when it expels water out of its siphon.

The thin skin of the octopus absorbs additional oxygen. When resting, around 41% of an octopus's oxygen absorption is through the skin. This decreases to 33% when it swims, as more water flows over the gills; skin oxygen uptake also increases. When it is resting after a meal, absorption through the skin can drop to 3% of its total oxygen uptake.

Digestion and excretion

The digestive system of the octopus begins with the buccal mass which consists of the mouth with its chitinous beak, the pharynx, radula and salivary glands. The radula is a spiked, muscular tongue-like organ with multiple rows of tiny teeth. Food is broken down and is forced into the oesophagus by two lateral extensions of the esophageal side walls in addition to the radula. From there it is transferred to the gastrointestinal tract, which is mostly suspended from the roof of the mantle cavity by numerous membranes. The tract consists of a crop, where the food is stored; a stomach, where food is ground down; a caecum where the now sludgy food is sorted into fluids and particles and which plays an important role in absorption; the digestive gland, where liver cells break down and absorb the fluid and become "brown bodies"; and the intestine, where the accumulated waste is turned into faecal ropes by secretions and blown out of the funnel via the rectum.

During osmoregulation, fluid is added to the pericardia of the branchial hearts. The octopus has two nephridia (equivalent to vertebrate kidneys) which are associated with the branchial hearts; these and their associated ducts connect the pericardial cavities with the mantle cavity. Before reaching the branchial heart, each branch of the vena cava expands to form renal appendages which are in direct contact with the thin-walled nephridium. The urine is first formed in the pericardial cavity, and is modified by excretion, chiefly of ammonia, and selective absorption from the renal appendages, as it is passed along the associated duct and through the nephridiopore into the mantle cavity.

A common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) moving around. Its nervous system allows the arms to move with some autonomy.

Nervous system and senses

Octopuses (along with cuttlefish) have the highest brain-to-body mass ratios of all invertebrates; this is greater than that of many vertebrates. Octopuses have the same jumping genes that are active in the human brain, implying an evolutionary convergence at molecular level. The nervous system is complex, only part of which is localised in its brain, which is contained in a cartilaginous capsule. Two-thirds of an octopus's neurons are in the nerve cords of its arms. This allows their arms to perform complex reflex actions without input from the brain. Unlike vertebrates, the complex motor skills of octopuses are not organised in their brains via internal somatotopic maps of their bodies. The nervous system of cephalopods is the most complex of all invertebrates. The giant nerve fibers of the cephalopod mantle have been widely used for many years as experimental material in neurophysiology; their large diameter (due to lack of myelination) makes them relatively easy to study compared with other animals.

Close up of an octopus showing its eye and an arm with suckers
Eye of common octopus

Like other cephalopods, octopuses have camera-like eyes, and can distinguish the polarisation of light. Colour vision appears to vary from species to species, for example, being present in O. aegina but absent in O. vulgaris. Opsins in the skin respond to different wavelengths of light and help the animals choose a colouration that camouflages them; the chromatophores in the skin can respond to light independently of the eyes. An alternative hypothesis is that cephalopod eyes in species that only have a single photoreceptor protein may use chromatic aberration to turn monochromatic vision into colour vision, though this sacrifices image quality. This would explain pupils shaped like the letter "U", the letter "W", or a dumbbell, as well as the need for colourful mating displays.

Attached to the brain are two organs called statocysts (sac-like structures containing a mineralised mass and sensitive hairs), that allow the octopus to sense the orientation of its body. They provide information on the position of the body relative to gravity and can detect angular acceleration. An autonomic response keeps the octopus's eyes oriented so that the pupil is always horizontal. Octopuses may also use the statocyst to hear sound. The common octopus can hear sounds between 400 Hz and 1000 Hz, and hears best at 600 Hz.

Octopuses have an excellent somatosensory system. Their suction cups are equipped with chemoreceptors so they can taste what they touch. Octopus arms move easily because the sensors recognise octopus skin and prevent self-attachment. Octopuses appear to have poor proprioceptive sense and must observe the arms visually to keep track of their position.

Ink sac

The ink sac of an octopus is located under the digestive gland. A gland attached to the sac produces the ink, and the sac stores it. The sac is close enough to the funnel for the octopus to shoot out the ink with a water jet. Before it leaves the funnel, the ink passes through glands which mix it with mucus, creating a thick, dark blob which allows the animal to escape from a predator. The main pigment in the ink is melanin, which gives it its black colour. Cirrate octopuses usually lack the ink sac.

Life cycle

Reproduction

Drawing of a male octopus with one large arm ending in the sexual apparatus
Adult male Tremoctopus violaceus with hectocotylus

Octopuses are gonochoric and have a single, posteriorly-located gonad which is associated with the coelom. The testis in males and the ovary in females bulges into the gonocoel and the gametes are released here. The gonocoel is connected by the gonoduct to the mantle cavity, which it enters at the gonopore. An optic gland creates hormones that cause the octopus to mature and age and stimulate gamete production. The gland may be triggered by environmental conditions such as temperature, light and nutrition, which thus control the timing of reproduction and lifespan.

When octopuses reproduce, the male uses a specialised arm called a hectocotylus to transfer spermatophores (packets of sperm) from the terminal organ of the reproductive tract (the cephalopod "penis") into the female's mantle cavity. The hectocotylus in benthic octopuses is usually the third right arm, which has a spoon-shaped depression and modified suckers near the tip. In most species, fertilisation occurs in the mantle cavity.

The reproduction of octopuses has been studied in only a few species. One such species is the giant Pacific octopus, in which courtship is accompanied, especially in the male, by changes in skin texture and colour. The male may cling to the top or side of the female or position himself beside her. There is some speculation that he may first use his hectocotylus to remove any spermatophore or sperm already present in the female. He picks up a spermatophore from his spermatophoric sac with the hectocotylus, inserts it into the female's mantle cavity, and deposits it in the correct location for the species, which in the giant Pacific octopus is the opening of the oviduct. Two spermatophores are transferred in this way; these are about one metre (yard) long, and the empty ends may protrude from the female's mantle. A complex hydraulic mechanism releases the sperm from the spermatophore, and it is stored internally by the female.

A female octopus underneath hanging strings of her eggs
Female giant Pacific octopus guarding strings of eggs

About forty days after mating, the female giant Pacific octopus attaches strings of small fertilised eggs (10,000 to 70,000 in total) to rocks in a crevice or under an overhang. Here she guards and cares for them for about five months (160 days) until they hatch. In colder waters, such as those off Alaska, it may take up to ten months for the eggs to completely develop. The female aerates them and keeps them clean; if left untended, many will die. She does not feed during this time and dies soon after. Males become senescent and die a few weeks after mating.

The eggs have large yolks; cleavage (division) is superficial and a germinal disc develops at the pole. During gastrulation, the margins of this grow down and surround the yolk, forming a yolk sac, which eventually forms part of the gut. The dorsal side of the disc grows upward and forms the embryo, with a shell gland on its dorsal surface, gills, mantle and eyes. The arms and funnel develop as part of the foot on the ventral side of the disc. The arms later migrate upward, coming to form a ring around the funnel and mouth. The yolk is gradually absorbed as the embryo develops.

A microscopic view of a small round-bodied transparent animal with very short arms
Octopus paralarva, a planktonic hatchling

Most young octopuses hatch as paralarvae and are planktonic for weeks to months, depending on the species and water temperature. They feed on copepods, arthropod larvae and other zooplankton, eventually settling on the ocean floor and developing directly into adults with no distinct metamorphoses that are present in other groups of mollusc larvae. Octopus species that produce larger eggs – including the southern blue-ringed, Caribbean reef, California two-spot, Eledone moschata and deep sea octopuses – instead hatch as benthic animals similar to the adults.

In the argonaut (paper nautilus), the female secretes a fine, fluted, papery shell in which the eggs are deposited and in which she also resides while floating in mid-ocean. In this she broods the young, and it also serves as a buoyancy aid allowing her to adjust her depth. The male argonaut is minute by comparison and has no shell.

Lifespan

Octopuses have short lifespans, and some species complete their lifecycles in only six months. The Giant Pacific octopus, one of the two largest species of octopus, usually lives for three to five years. Octopus lifespan is limited by reproduction. For most octopuses, the last stage of their life is called senescence. It is the breakdown of cellular function without repair or replacement. For males, this typically begins after mating. Senescence may last from weeks to a few months, at most. For females, it begins when they lay a clutch of eggs. Females will spend all their time aerating and protecting their eggs until they are ready to hatch. During senescence, an octopus does not feed and quickly weakens. Lesions begin to form and the octopus literally degenerates. Unable to defend themselves, octopuses often fall prey to predators. This makes most octopuses effectively semelparous. The larger Pacific striped octopus (LPSO) is an exception, as it can reproduce repeatedly over a life of around two years.

Octopus reproductive organs mature due to the hormonal influence of the optic gland but result in the inactivation of their digestive glands. Unable to feed, the octopus typically dies of starvation. Experimental removal of both optic glands after spawning was found to result in the cessation of broodiness, the resumption of feeding, increased growth, and greatly extended lifespans. It has been proposed that the naturally short lifespan may be functional to prevent rapid overpopulation.

Distribution and habitat

An octopus nearly hidden in a crack in some coral
Octopus cyanea in Kona, Hawaii

Octopuses live in every ocean, and different species have adapted to different marine habitats. As juveniles, common octopuses inhabit shallow tide pools. The Hawaiian day octopus (Octopus cyanea) lives on coral reefs; argonauts drift in pelagic waters. Abdopus aculeatus mostly lives in near-shore seagrass beds. Some species are adapted to the cold, ocean depths. The spoon-armed octopus (Bathypolypus arcticus) is found at depths of 1,000 m (3,300 ft), and Vulcanoctopus hydrothermalis lives near hydrothermal vents at 2,000 m (6,600 ft). The cirrate species are often free-swimming and live in deep-water habitats. Although several species are known to live at bathyal and abyssal depths, there is only a single indisputable record of an octopus in the hadal zone; a species of Grimpoteuthis (dumbo octopus) photographed at 6,957 m (22,825 ft). No species are known to live in fresh water.

Behaviour and ecology

Most species are solitary when not mating, though a few are known to occur in high densities and with frequent interactions, such as signaling, mate defending and evicting individuals from dens. This is likely the result of abundant food supplies combined with limited den sites. The LPSO has been described as particularly social, living in groups of up to 40 individuals. Octopuses hide in dens, which are typically crevices in rocky outcrops or other hard structures, though some species burrow into sand or mud. Octopuses are not territorial but generally remain in a home range; they may leave in search of food. They can navigate back to a den without having to retrace their outward route. They are not migratory.

Octopuses bring captured prey to the den, where they can eat it safely. Sometimes the octopus catches more prey than it can eat, and the den is often surrounded by a midden of dead and uneaten food items. Other creatures, such as fish, crabs, molluscs and echinoderms, often share the den with the octopus, either because they have arrived as scavengers, or because they have survived capture. On rare occasions, octopuses hunt cooperatively with other species, with fish as their partners. They regulate the species composition of the hunting group — and the behavior of their partners — by punching them.

Feeding

An octopus in an open seashell on a sandy surface, surrounding a small crab with the suckers on its arms
Veined octopus eating a crab

Nearly all octopuses are predatory; bottom-dwelling octopuses eat mainly crustaceans, polychaete worms, and other molluscs such as whelks and clams; open-ocean octopuses eat mainly prawns, fish and other cephalopods. Major items in the diet of the giant Pacific octopus include bivalve molluscs such as the cockle Clinocardium nuttallii, clams and scallops and crustaceans such as crabs and spider crabs. Prey that it is likely to reject include moon snails because they are too large and limpets, rock scallops, chitons and abalone, because they are too securely fixed to the rock. Small cirrate octopuses such as those of the genera Grimpoteuthis and Opisthoteuthis typically prey on polychaetes, copepods, amphipods and isopods.

A benthic (bottom-dwelling) octopus typically moves among the rocks and feels through the crevices. The creature may make a jet-propelled pounce on prey and pull it toward the mouth with its arms, the suckers restraining it. Small prey may be completely trapped by the webbed structure. Octopuses usually inject crustaceans like crabs with a paralysing saliva then dismember them with their beaks. Octopuses feed on shelled molluscs either by forcing the valves apart, or by drilling a hole in the shell to inject a nerve toxin. It used to be thought that the hole was drilled by the radula, but it has now been shown that minute teeth at the tip of the salivary papilla are involved, and an enzyme in the toxic saliva is used to dissolve the calcium carbonate of the shell. It takes about three hours for O. vulgaris to create a 0.6 mm (0.024 in) hole. Once the shell is penetrated, the prey dies almost instantaneously, its muscles relax, and the soft tissues are easy for the octopus to remove. Crabs may also be treated in this way; tough-shelled species are more likely to be drilled, and soft-shelled crabs are torn apart.

Some species have other modes of feeding. Grimpoteuthis has a reduced or non-existent radula and swallows prey whole. In the deep-sea genus Stauroteuthis, some of the muscle cells that control the suckers in most species have been replaced with photophores which are believed to fool prey by directing them to the mouth, making them one of the few bioluminescent octopuses.

Locomotion

An octopus swimming with its round body to the front, its arms forming a streamlined tube behind
Octopuses swim with their arms trailing behind.

Octopuses mainly move about by relatively slow crawling with some swimming in a head-first position. Jet propulsion or backward swimming, is their fastest means of locomotion, followed by swimming and crawling. When in no hurry, they usually crawl on either solid or soft surfaces. Several arms are extended forward, some of the suckers adhere to the substrate and the animal hauls itself forward with its powerful arm muscles, while other arms may push rather than pull. As progress is made, other arms move ahead to repeat these actions and the original suckers detach. During crawling, the heart rate nearly doubles, and the animal requires ten or fifteen minutes to recover from relatively minor exercise.

Most octopuses swim by expelling a jet of water from the mantle through the siphon into the sea. The physical principle behind this is that the force required to accelerate the water through the orifice produces a reaction that propels the octopus in the opposite direction. The direction of travel depends on the orientation of the siphon. When swimming, the head is at the front and the siphon is pointed backward but, when jetting, the visceral hump leads, the siphon points at the head and the arms trail behind, with the animal presenting a fusiform appearance. In an alternative method of swimming, some species flatten themselves dorso-ventrally, and swim with the arms held out sideways; this may provide lift and be faster than normal swimming. Jetting is used to escape from danger, but is physiologically inefficient, requiring a mantle pressure so high as to stop the heart from beating, resulting in a progressive oxygen deficit.

Three images in sequence of a two-finned sea creature swimming with an 8-cornered web
Movements of the finned species Cirroteuthis muelleri

Cirrate octopuses cannot produce jet propulsion and rely on their fins for swimming. They have neutral buoyancy and drift through the water with the fins extended. They can also contract their arms and surrounding web to make sudden moves known as "take-offs". Another form of locomotion is "pumping", which involves symmetrical contractions of muscles in their webs producing peristaltic waves. This moves the body slowly.

In 2005, Adopus aculeatus and veined octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus) were found to walk on two arms, while at the same time mimicking plant matter. This form of locomotion allows these octopuses to move quickly away from a potential predator without being recognised. Some species of octopus can crawl out of the water briefly, which they may do between tide pools. "Stilt walking" is used by the veined octopus when carrying stacked coconut shells. The octopus carries the shells underneath it with two arms, and progresses with an ungainly gait supported by its remaining arms held rigid.

Intelligence

Main article: Cephalopod intelligence
A captive octopus with two arms wrapped around the cap of a plastic container
Octopus opening a container by unscrewing its cap

Octopuses are highly intelligent. Maze and problem-solving experiments have shown evidence of a memory system that can store both short- and long-term memory. Young octopuses learn nothing from their parents, as adults provide no parental care beyond tending to their eggs until the young octopuses hatch.

In laboratory experiments, octopuses can readily be trained to distinguish between different shapes and patterns. They have been reported to practise observational learning, although the validity of these findings is contested. Octopuses have also been observed in what has been described as play: repeatedly releasing bottles or toys into a circular current in their aquariums and then catching them. Octopuses often break out of their aquariums and sometimes into others in search of food. Growing evidence suggests that octopuses are sentient and capable of experiencing pain. The veined octopus collects discarded coconut shells, then uses them to build a shelter, an example of tool use.

Camouflage and colour change

Video of Octopus cyanea moving and changing its colour, shape, and texture

Octopuses use camouflage when hunting and to avoid predators. To do this, they use specialised skin cells that change the appearance of the skin by adjusting its colour, opacity, or reflectivity. Chromatophores contain yellow, orange, red, brown, or black pigments; most species have three of these colours, while some have two or four. Other colour-changing cells are reflective iridophores and white leucophores. This colour-changing ability is also used to communicate with or warn other octopuses. The energy cost of the complete activation of the chromatophore system is very high equally being nearly as much as all the energy used by an octopus at rest.

Octopuses can create distracting patterns with waves of dark colouration across the body, a display known as the "passing cloud". Muscles in the skin change the texture of the mantle to achieve greater camouflage. In some species, the mantle can take on the spiky appearance of algae; in others, skin anatomy is limited to relatively uniform shades of one colour with limited skin texture. Octopuses that are diurnal and live in shallow water have evolved more complex skin than their nocturnal and deep-sea counterparts.

A "moving rock" trick involves the octopus mimicking a rock and then inching across the open space with a speed matching that of the surrounding water.

Defence

An octopus among coral displaying conspicuous rings of turquoise outlined in black against a sandy background
Warning display of greater blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena lunulata)

Aside from humans, octopuses may be preyed on by fishes, seabirds, sea otters, pinnipeds, cetaceans, and other cephalopods. Octopuses typically hide or disguise themselves by camouflage and mimicry; some have conspicuous warning coloration (aposematism) or deimatic behaviour (“bluffing” a seemingly threatening appearance). An octopus may spend 40% of its time hidden away in its den. When the octopus is approached, it may extend an arm to investigate. 66% of Enteroctopus dofleini in one study had scars, with 50% having amputated arms. The blue rings of the highly venomous blue-ringed octopus are hidden in muscular skin folds which contract when the animal is threatened, exposing the iridescent warning. The Atlantic white-spotted octopus (Callistoctopus macropus) turns bright brownish red with oval white spots all over in a high contrast display. Displays are often reinforced by stretching out the animal's arms, fins or web to make it look as big and threatening as possible.

Once they have been seen by a predator, they commonly try to escape but can also create a distraction by ejecting an ink cloud from their ink sac. The ink is thought to reduce the efficiency of olfactory organs, which would aid evasion from predators that employ smell for hunting, such as sharks. Ink clouds of some species might act as pseudomorphs, or decoys that the predator attacks instead.

When under attack, some octopuses can perform arm autotomy, in a manner similar to the way skinks and other lizards detach their tails. The crawling arm may distract would-be predators. Such severed arms remain sensitive to stimuli and move away from unpleasant sensations. Octopuses can replace lost limbs.

Some octopuses, such as the mimic octopus, can combine their highly flexible bodies with their colour-changing ability to mimic other, more dangerous animals, such as lionfish, sea snakes, and eels.

Pathogens and parasites

The diseases and parasites that affect octopuses have been little studied, but cephalopods are known to be the intermediate or final hosts of various parasitic cestodes, nematodes and copepods; 150 species of protistan and metazoan parasites have been recognised. The Dicyemidae are a family of tiny worms that are found in the renal appendages of many species; it is unclear whether they are parasitic or endosymbionts. Coccidians in the genus Aggregata living in the gut cause severe disease to the host. Octopuses have an innate immune system; their haemocytes respond to infection by phagocytosis, encapsulation, infiltration, or cytotoxic activities to destroy or isolate the pathogens. The haemocytes play an important role in the recognition and elimination of foreign bodies and wound repair. Captive animals are more susceptible to pathogens than wild ones. A gram-negative bacterium, Vibrio lentus, can cause skin lesions, exposure of muscle and sometimes death.

Evolution

Further information: Evolution of cephalopods

The scientific name Octopoda was first coined and given as the order of octopuses in 1818 by English biologist William Elford Leach, who classified them as Octopoida the previous year. The Octopoda consists of around 300 known species and were historically divided into two suborders, the Incirrina and the Cirrina. More recent evidence suggests Cirrina is merely the most basal species, not a unique clade. The incirrate octopuses (the majority of species) lack the cirri and paired swimming fins of the cirrates. In addition, the internal shell of incirrates is either present as a pair of stylets or absent altogether.

Fossil history and phylogeny

Fossil of crown group coleoid on a slab of Jurassic rock from Germany
The octopuses evolved from the Muensterelloidea (fossil pictured) in the Jurassic period.

The Cephalopoda evolved from a mollusc resembling the Monoplacophora in the Cambrian some 530 million years ago. The Coleoidea diverged from the nautiloids in the Devonian some 416 million years ago. In turn, the coleoids (including the squids and octopods) brought their shells inside the body and some 276 million years ago, during the Permian, split into the Vampyropoda and the Decabrachia. The octopuses arose from the Muensterelloidea within the Vampyropoda in the Jurassic. The earliest octopus likely lived near the sea floor (benthic to demersal) in shallow marine environments. Octopuses consist mostly of soft tissue, and so fossils are relatively rare. As soft-bodied cephalopods, they lack the external shell of most molluscs, including other cephalopods like the nautiloids and the extinct Ammonoidea. They have eight limbs like other Coleoidea, but lack the extra specialised feeding appendages known as tentacles which are longer and thinner with suckers only at their club-like ends. The vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis) also lacks tentacles but has sensory filaments.

The cladograms are based on Sanchez et al., 2018, who created a molecular phylogeny based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA marker sequences. The position of the Eledonidae is from Ibáñez et al., 2020, with a similar methodology. Dates of divergence are from Kröger et al., 2011 and Fuchs et al., 2019.

Cephalopods
Nautiloids

Nautilus A spiral nautilus in a blue sea

Coleoids
Decabrachia

Squids and cuttlefish A squid

Vampyropoda
Vampyromorphida

A strange blood-red octopus, its arms joined by a web

Octopods

A brown octopus with wriggly arms

155 mya
276 mya
416 mya
530 mya

The molecular analysis of the octopods shows that the suborder Cirrina (Cirromorphida) and the superfamily Argonautoidea are paraphyletic and are broken up; these names are shown in quotation marks and italics on the cladogram.

Octopoda
"Cirromorphida" part

Cirroteuthidae

Stauroteuthidae

"Cirromorphida" part

Opisthoteuthidae

Cirroctopodidae

Octopodida
"Argonautoidea" part

Tremoctopodidae

Alloposidae

"Argonautoidea" part

Argonautidae

Ocythoidae

Octopodoidea

Eledonidae

Bathypolypodidae

Enteroctopodidae

Octopodidae

Megaleledonidae

Bolitaenidae

Amphitretidae

Vitreledonellidae

RNA editing and the genome

Octopuses, like other coleoid cephalopods but unlike more basal cephalopods or other molluscs, are capable of greater RNA editing, changing the nucleic acid sequence of the primary transcript of RNA molecules, than any other organisms. Editing is concentrated in the nervous system, and affects proteins involved in neural excitability and neuronal morphology. More than 60% of RNA transcripts for coleoid brains are recoded by editing, compared to less than 1% for a human or fruit fly. Coleoids rely mostly on ADAR enzymes for RNA editing, which requires large double-stranded RNA structures to flank the editing sites. Both the structures and editing sites are conserved in the coleoid genome and the mutation rates for the sites are severely hampered. Hence, greater transcriptome plasticity has come at the cost of slower genome evolution.

The octopus genome is unremarkably bilaterian except for large developments of two gene families: protocadherins, which regulate the development of neurons; and the C2H2 zinc-finger transcription factors. Many genes specific to cephalopods are expressed in the animals' skin, suckers, and nervous system.

Relationship to humans

In art, literature, and mythology

An ancient nearly spherical vase with 2 handles by the top, painted all over with an octopus decoration in black
Minoan clay vase with octopus decoration, c. 1500 BC

Ancient seafaring people were aware of the octopus, as evidenced by artworks and designs. For example, a stone carving found in the archaeological recovery from Bronze Age Minoan Crete at Knossos (1900–1100 BC) depicts a fisherman carrying an octopus. The terrifyingly powerful Gorgon of Greek mythology may have been inspired by the octopus or squid, the octopus itself representing the severed head of Medusa, the beak as the protruding tongue and fangs, and its tentacles as the snakes. The Kraken are legendary sea monsters of giant proportions said to dwell off the coasts of Norway and Greenland, usually portrayed in art as giant octopuses attacking ships. Linnaeus included it in the first edition of his 1735 Systema Naturae. One translation of the Hawaiian creation myth the Kumulipo suggests that the octopus is the lone survivor of a previous age. The Akkorokamui is a gigantic octopus-like monster from Ainu folklore, worshipped in Shinto.

A battle with an octopus plays a significant role in Victor Hugo's 1866 book Travailleurs de la mer (Toilers of the Sea). Ian Fleming's 1966 short story collection Octopussy and The Living Daylights, and the 1983 James Bond film were partly inspired by Hugo's book. Japanese erotic art, shunga, includes ukiyo-e woodblock prints such as Katsushika Hokusai's 1814 print Tako to ama (The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife), in which an ama diver is sexually intertwined with a large and a small octopus. The print is a forerunner of tentacle erotica. The biologist P. Z. Myers noted in his science blog, Pharyngula, that octopuses appear in "extraordinary" graphic illustrations involving women, tentacles, and bare breasts.

Since it has numerous arms emanating from a common centre, the octopus is often used as a symbol for a powerful and manipulative organisation, company, or country.

The Beatles song "Octopus's Garden", on the band's 1969 album Abbey Road, was written by Ringo Starr after he was told about how octopuses travel along the sea bed picking up stones and shiny objects with which to build gardens.

Danger to humans

Coloured drawing of a huge octopus rising from the sea and attacking a sailing ship's three masts with its spiralling arms
Pen and wash drawing of an imagined colossal octopus attacking a ship, by the malacologist Pierre de Montfort, 1801

Octopuses generally avoid humans, but incidents have been verified. For example, a 2.4-metre (8 ft) Pacific octopus, said to be nearly perfectly camouflaged, "lunged" at a diver and "wrangled" over his camera before it let go. Another diver recorded the encounter on video. All species are venomous, but only blue-ringed octopuses have venom that is lethal to humans. Blue-ringed octopuses are among the deadliest animals in the sea; their bites are reported each year across the animals' range from Australia to the eastern Indo-Pacific Ocean. They bite only when provoked or accidentally stepped upon; bites are small and usually painless. The venom appears to be able to penetrate the skin without a puncture, given prolonged contact. It contains tetrodotoxin, which causes paralysis by blocking the transmission of nerve impulses to the muscles. This causes death by respiratory failure leading to cerebral anoxia. No antidote is known, but if breathing can be kept going artificially, patients recover within 24 hours. Bites have been recorded from captive octopuses of other species; they leave swellings which disappear in a day or two.

As a food source

Main article: Octopus as food
Octopus sushi

Octopus fisheries exist around the world with total catches varying between 245,320 and 322,999 metric tons from 1986 to 1995. The world catch peaked in 2007 at 380,000 tons, and had fallen by a tenth by 2012. Methods to capture octopuses include pots, traps, trawls, snares, drift fishing, spearing, hooking and hand collection. Octopuses have a food conversion efficiency greater than that of chickens, making octopus aquaculture a possibility. Octopuses compete with human fisheries targeting other species, and even rob traps and nets for their catch; they may, themselves, be caught as bycatch if they cannot get away.

Octopus is eaten in many cultures, such as those on the Mediterranean and Asian coasts. The arms and other body parts are prepared in ways that vary by species and geography. Live octopuses or their wriggling pieces are consumed as ikizukuri in Japanese cuisine and san-nakji in Korean cuisine. If not prepared properly, however, the severed arms can still choke the diner with their suction cups, causing at least one death in 2010. Animal welfare groups have objected to the live consumption of octopuses on the basis that they can experience pain.

In science and technology

In classical Greece, Aristotle (384–322 BC) commented on the colour-changing abilities of the octopus, both for camouflage and for signalling, in his Historia animalium: "The octopus ... seeks its prey by so changing its colour as to render it like the colour of the stones adjacent to it; it does so also when alarmed." Aristotle noted that the octopus had a hectocotyl arm and suggested it might be used in sexual reproduction. This claim was widely disbelieved until the 19th century. It was described in 1829 by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier, who supposed it to be a parasitic worm, naming it as a new species, Hectocotylus octopodis. Other zoologists thought it a spermatophore; the German zoologist Heinrich Müller believed it was "designed" to detach during copulation. In 1856 the Danish zoologist Japetus Steenstrup demonstrated that it is used to transfer sperm, and only rarely detaches.

Flexible biomimetic 'Octopus' robotics arm. The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, 2011

Octopuses offer many possibilities in biological research, including their ability to regenerate limbs, change the colour of their skin, behave intelligently with a distributed nervous system, and make use of 168 kinds of protocadherins (humans have 58), the proteins that guide the connections neurons make with each other. The California two-spot octopus has had its genome sequenced, allowing exploration of its molecular adaptations. Having independently evolved mammal-like intelligence, octopuses have been compared by the philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith, who has studied the nature of intelligence, to hypothetical intelligent extraterrestrials. Their problem-solving skills, along with their mobility and lack of rigid structure enable them to escape from supposedly secure tanks in laboratories and public aquariums.

Due to their intelligence, octopuses are listed in some countries as experimental animals on which surgery may not be performed without anesthesia, a protection usually extended only to vertebrates. In the UK from 1993 to 2012, the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) was the only invertebrate protected under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. In 2012, this legislation was extended to include all cephalopods in accordance with a general EU directive.

Some robotics research is exploring biomimicry of octopus features. Octopus arms can move and sense largely autonomously without intervention from the animal's central nervous system. In 2015 a team in Italy built soft-bodied robots able to crawl and swim, requiring only minimal computation. In 2017 a German company made an arm with a soft pneumatically controlled silicone gripper fitted with two rows of suckers. It is able to grasp objects such as a metal tube, a magazine, or a ball, and to fill a glass by pouring water from a bottle.

See also

Notes

  1. See § Etymology and pluralisation for variants.
  2. "Tentacle" is a common umbrella term for cephalopod limbs. In teuthological context, octopuses have "arms" with suckers along their entire length while "tentacle" is reserved for appendages with suckers only near the end of the limb, which octopuses lack.

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