Through The Eyes Of An Octopus

An octopus sees the same thing upside down as right-side up.

 Picture from Cool Facts For Kids

An octopus' eyes have horizontal pupils.  What's even more unusual is that the octopus' eyes remain at the same orientation regardless of the creature's position. So if it turns on its side or even upside down, the gaze of the eyes remain fixed in relation to the horizon.

 

The Real Octo-Mom

 The female octopus dies shortly her eggs hatch.

Picture from ACurious

Many scientists believe that the female octopus dies shortly after mating.  She will lay her eggs and live long enough to guard them until they hatch.  The female octopus will gently blow water currents over them so they growing fetuses will get enough oxygen to survive.  Once the eggs hatch, the babies will begin to rise towards the upper waters of the sea as the mother dies.

The Immortal Jellyfish

It seems like stories of people searching for the fountain of youth have been around forever, and as far as animals go there are certainly plenty with much longer life spans than humans. Koi fish have been known to live over 200 years, at least one Aldabra giant tortoise lived to be 255, and a giant barrel sponge in the Caribbean is estimated to be more than 2,300 years old. However, there may be one animal that is indeed impervious to Father Time; Turritopsis nutricula, the immortal jellyfish.

Photo: Peter Schuchert

All jellyfish go through several life cycles. There are born as larvae that settle onto the sea floor or other underwater structure and develop into polyps, which look similar to a tiny octopus with its tentacles pointed up. The jellyfish buds from this polyp and begins its adult life, feeding constantly and growing quite rapidly. After reaching adult size the jellyfish will spawn, usually dying a short time after. The largest jellyfish live 2-6 months, with smaller varieties only living a matter of weeks.

So, how does the tiny (0.18”) immortal jellyfish manage to live on? The answer is a process called transdifferentiation. After the immortal jellyfish spawns as an adult, it uses this process to transform its cells back into that of an immature polyp, dropping to the sea floor and starting its lifecycle all over again. Some animals such as salamanders can use this process to re-grow limbs, but the immortal jellyfish is the only known animal that can apply transdifferentiation to its whole body, meaning that instead of dying, it becomes a newborn again; and it can repeat this process over and over.

Because these jellyfish are immortal, their population is exploding. Once native only to Caribbean waters, they can now be found in oceans all over the world.

Octopus Constructs Shelter

Apparently, Australian scientists discovered that Indonesia's veined octopus collects shells for shelter. While octopuses do use shells for shelter, these ones actually carry two coconut halves up to 65 feet and put them together to build a shelter. It's the actual carrying and plotting that makes scientists believe this is the first sign of tool use in an invertebrate. Check out the YouTube video below to see this 8-legged squid at work.

Dumbo Octopus Continues to Lay Eggs

Because a reader recently asked for more information about the Dumbo Octopus, I decided to write more on this ever-so-interesting animal. There are 37 different species of dumbo octopus, and they can be found in every ocean. They live close to the floor of the ocean and feed on various crustaceans, worms and bivalves. They grow up to 20 cm and swallow their prey whole. They lay eggs individually, and their young sometimes hatch at different sizes. In fact, the ovaries of the female octopus contain eggs at different stages, meaning that they lay eggs continually.

Watch the video below to watch how this type of octopus swims with its large fins that look like ears:

The Indonesian Mimic Octopus, A True Impersonator

The Indonesian Mimic Octopus is naturally brown and spotted, but it has the ability to turn any color or pattern it wants. This sort of camouflage is extremely rare. While many animals can change color and skin texture, the Indonesian Mimic Octopus is the only one that can take on the same shape and features of its surrounding environment, including features of other species!

Now you see me...

Now you don't!

It can copy the physical characteristics and movement of more than 15 different species, such as sea snakes, jellyfish, stingrays and giant crabs, to name a few. In fact, this octopus can figure out which animal to impersonate, depending on how threatening it needs to be to its current predator. Watch the video below to see for yourself!

Dangerous to have babies!

Early sea-farers called the Octopus (family Octopoda) the “Devil Fish.” They are kind of strange looking, with their 8 arms. I can’t say they create “warm fuzzy feelings” in me like many other animals do, yet, they are interesting. Some people have even kept them as pets, though they don’t have a long life span.

There are over 200 different species of Octopus. My understanding is that they are broken into two groups:
• Cirrata: Finned octopi who live at depths between 1,000 and 24,000 feet
• Incirrata: non-finned shallow water dwellers

Octopi crawl or swim, walk, and use jet propulsion to get around. Though some have been seen to “fly” as they blast themselves out of the water to escape a predator.

Reproduction causes death in octopi: males can only live for a few months after mating, and females die shortly after their eggs hatch. No wonder octopi don’t live long!


JJ