Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea — Eight Arms, Eight Interesting Facts: World Octopus Day (2024)

Eight Arms, Eight Interesting Facts: World Octopus Day!

Celebrating the Giant Pacific Octopus

By Aby Elwood, Educator

This month, on October 8, we will be celebrating World Octopus Day in honour of our octopus ambassadors, past and present! There is no hiding that the giant Pacific octopus is a fan-favourite, so we thought what better way to celebrate these sensational cephalopods than by sharing some of our favourite facts! Here are eight things to know about these intelligent creatures living in the Salish Sea.

Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea — Eight Arms, Eight Interesting Facts: World Octopus Day (1)

The GIANT Pacific Octopus

During the octopus ambassador's time in our Centre, they are usually quite small. But don’t be fooled; this species isn’t called giant for no reason! These animals can reach an enormous size of roughly 9 meters from the end of one arm to the tip of the opposite one, and can weigh up to 20 kilograms!

Blue Blood & Three Hearts

Did you know that all of an octopus's organs are located in their “head”? The mantle is the bulbous, head-like part of the octopus found above their eyes! Within this area are an octopus's three hearts!! Two of these hearts are used for pumping blood to the gills to be oxygenated, and the third is used to pump the oxygenated blood to the rest of the body. We also can’t forget that they have blue blood! This is because the protein in their blood, which carries the oxygen, contains copper instead of iron, giving it a blue colour instead of red like our blood.

Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea — Eight Arms, Eight Interesting Facts: World Octopus Day (2)

Brains, Brains, and More Brains!
If three hearts didn’t impress you, how about nine brains? The giant Pacific octopus has one larger brain in its mantle, used for overall control of the organism. The remaining eight brains are small bundles of nerve cells found at the base of each arm and they are used for control of individual arms. This allows each arm to work independently from one another. This could explain why octopuses are extremely intelligent. Did you know that they are capable of opening jars and are known to be excellent escape artists?

Dedicated Mother

The life span of the giant Pacific octopus is surprisingly short, only living for 3-5 years. However, the end of a female octopus's life is completely dedicated to creating new life. A female octopus can lay roughly 78,000 eggs. The eggs are laid in a rocky den, and during the incubation period (roughly 6-9 months) the mother rarely leaves the den, making sure her eggs are clean and aerated till they hatch. During the incubation period, the mother does not forage for food and slowly starts to deteriorate, this results in the mother dying shortly after her eggs hatch. The giant Pacific octopus makes one great sacrifice to create the next generation of octopuses.

Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea — Eight Arms, Eight Interesting Facts: World Octopus Day (3)

Shell-less Mollusc

The giant Pacific octopus is categorized in Phylum Mollusca; it is related to other animals such as snails and clams. They have calcareous shell but, the octopus does not have a hard outer shell or any shell at all. The only hard part found within the octopus is a chitinous beak, which is used to eat their prey! Their small beak and soft body allows them to fit in the tiniest of spaces. As long as it is bigger than their beak, they can fit!

Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea — Eight Arms, Eight Interesting Facts: World Octopus Day (4)

Venom!

Octopuses use their eight arms and strong suckers to capture their prey and guide it to their mouth. An octopus’s mouth contains a very sharp beak that is used to puncture and tear at their prey. The beak is the dark spot found on the underside of the octopus in the photo on the right. Not only is the beak extremely sharp, it also contains venom. This venom can be very useful when hunting for a meal, as their beak injects the venom into the prey, limiting its movement. This special adaptation allows the octopus to feed on species like crabs without the risk of getting pinched! (Not to worry, this venom has very little effect on humans.)

Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea — Eight Arms, Eight Interesting Facts: World Octopus Day (5)

Messy Eaters!

This carnivorous species enjoys a diet consisting of clams, shrimp, fish and crabs. Here in the aquarium, our octopus's favourite food is red rock crabs. After a yummy meal, the giant Pacific octopus will have a long nap, lasting from 1-2 days. They do not clean up after themselves, instead they leave the shells or exoskeletons of their prey in a heap outside their den. This pile of prey leftovers is called an Octopus's Garden. Keep your eyes out — our octopus ambassador leaves food scraps for you to find!

Did you know that the giant Pacific octopus can change their texture and their colour? They have special cells in their skin called chromatophores. These are specialized pigment cells that allow them to alter their colour and blend in with the surrounding environment. Instead of using a hard shell to protect themselves, they have this stunning ability to camouflage their bodies to hide from hungry predators.

There you have it. Beaks, brains, blue blood, and more! You have learned so much about what makes the giant Pacific octopuses so spectacular. Now you can share all your new knowledge with your friends and family. If you haven’t already, stop by the aquarium to meet our current octopus ambassador, Nanami. Her name means ‘seven seas’ in Japanese, and she has 7.25 arms instead of 8!

Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea — Eight Arms, Eight Interesting Facts: World Octopus Day (2024)

FAQs

What are the interesting facts about day octopus? ›

This octopus is typically brown to reddish brown in color with dark blue circles. Chromatophores in their skin allow it to change both color and skin texture. It has eight arms lined with suckers on one side. These suckers are rimmed with millions of texture receptors and thousands of chemical receptors.

What are the interesting facts about octopus arms? ›

The curling and unfurling arms, dotted with more than 2,000 individually moving suction cups, contain two-thirds of the animal's neurons. The suckers are equipped with chemical sensors that not only feel, but taste and smell as well.

Why do we celebrate World Octopus Day? ›

Moreover, their ecological importance extends to being prey themselves, serving as a food source for various marine predators. World Octopus Day is a moment to celebrate the incredible diversity, intelligence, and adaptability of these enigmatic cephalopods.

What does an octopus have 8 of? ›

More than one brain

It's a well-known fact that octopuses have eight arms. But did you know that each arm contains its own 'mini brain'?

What is the rarest octopus ever? ›

Dumbo octopuses are naturally rare, and the deep sea is enormous, so these species have specialized behaviors to increase the likelihood that they can successfully reproduce anytime that they find a mate.

Can octopus have 12 arms? ›

An octopus does have eight limbs. But technically, they're known as arms, not tentacles. An octopus is a cephalopod—a group that includes squid, cuttlefish, and nautilus. Each of them has a whole bunch of limbs—from eight for the octopus, to more than 90 for the nautilus.

What octopus has 6 arms? ›

Henry the Hexapus was a six-limbed lesser octopus found by British marine scientists in 2008. The name alludes to King Henry VIII, who had six wives. While the name Hexapus is descriptive, Henry the Hexapus should not be confused with Hexapus, a recognized genus of crabs.

Can octopus lose an arm? ›

Once it sheds an arm, the octopus's body gets to work building a new one. Cells called hemocytes flood the place where the arm was lost, and then regenerating fibers start growing into what will become a brand-new, fully functioning arm!

Why is octopus called octopus? ›

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.

How do you celebrate octopus Day? ›

You can celebrate World Octopus Day at home with your child with our fabulous octopus facts and fun activities in our blog. The world's oceans are full of different kinds of octopuses - in fact, there are over 300 in total!

Is today octopus Day? ›

World Octopus Day (October 8th) | Days Of The Year.

What are octopus fun facts for kids? ›

Octopuses swim backwards by blasting water through a muscular tube on their body called a “siphon” and can reach speeds of up to 40 km/h for short bursts. They can also crawl along the ocean floor, poking their arms into small openings in search of food. Imagine how many sweets you could carry if you had eight arms?

Why is octopus blood blue? ›

Octopuses and horseshoe crabs have blue blood because the protein transporting oxygen in their blood, hemocyanin, contains copper, instead of iron, making their blood appear blue rather than red. Hemocyanin is much bigger than hemoglobin and can bind 96 oxygen atoms.

How fast can an octopus swim? ›

Common octopus

Unlike the other streamlined ocean animals on this list, octopuses don't scream “speedy” at first glance. But these intelligent invertebrates can scoot along at speeds up to 25 miles per hour. They use a method called jet propulsion, which is also seen in other cephalopods like squid.

Why is it called a day octopus? ›

Day octopuses are usually most active during the early morning and late afternoon. Since they are active during the day, the octopus must use their incredible camouflage abilities to hunt unnoticed.

How many eyes does a day octopus have? ›

Like other cephalopods, an octopus is bilaterally symmetric with two eyes and a beaked mouth at the centre point of the eight limbs.

How long do day octopuses live? ›

The day octopus roams the reefs in tropical waters from Hawaii to East Africa. The large, almost three-foot-long predator is short-lived, surviving just one year and breeding only once. While most octopuses hunt at night, this species spends its days stalking crabs, clams and fishes.

How many eggs do day octopus lay? ›

The total number of eggs laid by a female varies from 100,000 to 500,000. During egg laying and subsequent brooding, the female rarely leaves the egg mass. She usually does not feed during the entire period of spawning and brooding, which can be as long as 4-5 months at low temperatures.

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Jerrold Considine

Last Updated:

Views: 5598

Rating: 4.8 / 5 (58 voted)

Reviews: 81% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Jerrold Considine

Birthday: 1993-11-03

Address: Suite 447 3463 Marybelle Circles, New Marlin, AL 20765

Phone: +5816749283868

Job: Sales Executive

Hobby: Air sports, Sand art, Electronics, LARPing, Baseball, Book restoration, Puzzles

Introduction: My name is Jerrold Considine, I am a combative, cheerful, encouraging, happy, enthusiastic, funny, kind person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.