4/24/2023 0 Comments Octopus god crab game![]() This copper base is more efficient at transporting oxygen than hemoglobin when water temperature is very low and not much oxygen is around. To survive in the deep ocean, octopuses evolved a copper rather than iron-based blood called hemocyanin, which turns its blood blue. The defensive concoction is so potent, in fact, that octopuses that do not escape their own ink cloud can die.ħ) Octopuses have blue blood. It also garbles creatures’ sense of smell and taste. But when sprayed in a predator’s eyes, tyrosinase causes a blinding irritation. It contains a compound called tyrosinase, which, in humans, helps to control the production of the natural pigment melanin. In one experiment, severed arms jerked away in pain when researchers pinched them.Ħ) Octopus ink doesn’t just hide the animal. The arms can even r eact after they’ve been completely severed. As a result, the arms can problem solve how to open a shellfish while their owners are busy doing something else, like checking out a cave for more edible goodies. Two-thirds of an octopus’ neurons reside in its arms, not its head. In his History of Animals, written in 350 BC, the Greek philosopher wrote that ”The octopus is a stupid creature, for it will approach a man’s hand if it be lowered in the water but it is neat and thrifty in its habits: that is, it lays up stores in its nest, and, after eating up all that is eatable, it ejects the shells and sheaths of crabs and shell-fish, and the skeletons of little fishes.” After describing a few more quirks of octopus life history–it ejects ink for self-defense, it’s slimy, it can crawl on land–he flippantly signs off, “So much for the mollusca.” However, the big-brained cephalopod can navigate through mazes, solve problems and remember solutions, and take things apart for fun–they even have distinct personalities.ĭelicious tentacles? Photo by Paul Asman and Jill Lenobleĥ) Octopus arms have a mind of their own. So no octopi, octopodes or octopussies, Harmon Courage points out.Ĥ) Aristotle thought octopuses were dumb. In this case, an -es is simply tacked on. The world “octopus” comes from the Greek, okt ópus, meaning “eight foot.” The word’s Greek roots means it’s pluralized as a Greek word, too, which depends on both a noun’s gender and the last letter it ends with. The organ heart actually stops beating when the octopus swims, explaining the species’ penchant for crawling rather than swimming, which exhausts them.ģ) The plural of octopus is octopuses. Two of the hearts work exclusively to move blood beyond the animal’s gills, while the third keeps circulation flowing for the organs. In other words, long before life on land had progressed beyond puny pre-dinosaur reptiles, octopuses had already established their shape for the millions of years to come.Ģ) Octopuses have three hearts. Researchers aren’t sure, but possibly there’s an ink sack there, too. Harmon Courage describes it as a “flattened cow patty” or a “globular splat,” but a close examination reveals the tell-tale eight arms and two eyes. That specimen belongs to a species named Pohlsepia and is on display at the Field Museum in Chicago. The oldest known octopus fossil belongs to an animal that lived some 296 million years ago, during the Carboniferous period. Here, we highlight a few of the fascinating points covered in the book.ġ) Octopuses are waaay old. Harmon Courage takes a deep dive into all things octopus, ranging from their culinary use in dishes around the world to their tragic sex lives. And don’t forget the octopus-themed horror movies!Ī new book, Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature in the Sea, by Katherine Harmon Courage, comes out today. Their otherworldly forms, heightened by unfurling arms, find their way into more modern monsters and villains too–think Disney’s sea witch Ursula or Spider-Man’s Doc Oc. Octopuses, those whip-smart but bizarre cephalopods, seem to embody everything creepy and mysterious about the sea–the thought of their soft squishy bodies lurking in the oceans’ dark reaches has inspired monsters ranging from the Kraken to the Caribbean Lusca.
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