Octopus Facts and Pictures | Types of octopus for general knowledge | Famous Octopus Species

#octopus
#typesofoctopus
#octopusfacts
#Famousoctopusspecies

Octopus, plural octopuses or octopi, in general, any eight-armed cephalopod (octopod) mollusk .
Fast octopus facts
Scientific name: Octopoda
Family name: Octopodidae
Classification: Invertebrate
IUCN status: Not evaluated
Lifespan (in wild): 1-2 years
Weight: 3-10kg
Body length: Generally 30-90cm (some species can grow to 5.4m!)
Top speed: 40km/h
Diet: Carnivore
Habitat: Ocean
Range:
Octopus facts

Octopuses are sea animals famous for their rounded bodies, bulging eyes and eight long arms. These cool critters live in all the world’s oceans, but they’re especially abundant in warm, tropical waters.

Most octopuses stay along the ocean’s floor, and some live near the water’s surface. Other octopus species live in deep, dark waters, and rise from below at dawn and dusk to search for food. They perform their famous backward swim by blasting water through a muscular tube on their body called a siphon. They also crawl along the ocean’s floor, tucking their arms into small openings to search for food.

Octopus facts

Favourites on the octopus’ menu include crabs, shrimps and lobsters, but they will sometimes eat larger prey, too, such as sharks. When going for grub, octopuses typically drop down on their prey from above, and then use the powerful suctions that line their arms to pull their victim into their mouth.

Octopuses themselves provide tasty meals for other sea creatures, such as seals, whales and large fish, who like to gobble them up. But these eight-armed animals have a few cheeky tricks to help defend themselves! If threatened, octopuses shoot an inky fluid from their body that darkens the water around them, confusing the aggressor. They can also hide and blend in with their surroundings, too, by changing colour to grey, brown, pink, blue or green. Impressive stuff! As well as for camouflage, these incredible invertebrates use colour change as a way to communicate with other octopuses.


Although octopuses are not considered endangered, they do face dangers from human activity. Such threats include habitat destruction, and a reduction in their main foods due to over fishing and marine pollution.


Common Octopus Species showcased in this video

Blue-ringed octopus
Mimic octopus
Giant Pacific octopus
Common octopus
Coconut octopus
California two-spot octopus
Blanket octopus
Caribbean reef octopus.
Day octopus
Hawaiin day octopus
Septopus
Dumbo octopus
Flapjack octopus