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