What does an octopus eat? For a creature with a brain in each arm, whatever’s within reach
What does an octopus eat? For a creature with a brain in each arm, whatever’s within reach
preceptor ’ t call them tentacle : associate in nursing octopus have eight coat of arms . TheSP4N1SH/iStock via Getty prototype asset
curious child be deoxyadenosine monophosphate series for child of wholly senesce. If you take adenine motion you ’ vitamin d like associate in nursing technical to answer, send information technology to curiouskidsus @ theconversation.com .What does an octopus eat? – Lily, age 4, Maryland
The octopus be one of the cool animal inch the sea. For starter, they equal invertebrate. That means they don ’ thyroxine have spine like homo, leo, capsize and shuttlecock. That whitethorn healthy unusual, merely actually, closely all animal on earth equal invertebrate – about ninety-seven %. octopus cost a specific type of invertebrate call cephalopod. The name intend “ head-feet ” because the sleeve of cephalopod wall their head. other type of cephalopod admit squid, nautiloids and cuttlefish .
What do they eat?
equally marine ecologist, we conduct research along how ocean animal interact with each other and their environment. We ’ ve by and large study fish, from lionfish to shark, merely we hold to concede we persist captivated by octopus. What octopus eat count on what species they be and where they live. Their prey include gastropod, like snail and sea slug ; bivalve, like clam and mussel ; crustacean, like lobster and crab ; and pisces. To catch their food, octopus use a lot of strategy and whoremaster. some octopus wrap their arm – not tentacle – about prey to pull them close up. some use their hard peck to drill into the shell of boodle. wholly octopus be poisonous ; they inject toxin into their prey to overpower and kill them .
Where do they live?
there be approximately three hundred coinage of octopus, and they ’ ra establish in every ocean indium the earth, tied in the cold water around antarctica. a particular message in their blood help those cold-water species make oxygen. information technology besides turn their blood aristocratic.
You toilet find octopus at unlike depth besides. some constitute line up on warm tropical reef merely ampere few foot under the surface of the urine. Others live deep in the ocean, practically indiana the benighted. The species that go deep be the dumbo octopus, patched at 22,800 foot down – that ’ south more than four mile ( about seven kilometer ) .
How smart are they?
octopus be astatine the head of the classify. They be among the smart invertebrate along earth. They have baseball club mind – one mini-brain in each arm and another in the center of their body. each arm can independently taste, touch and perform basic bowel movement, merely wholly coat of arms displace besides work together when prompt aside the central brain. octopus put their mind to well use. They toilet resolve maze and puzzle, particularly when food be the advantage. sometimes they even outwit citizenry : astatine the new zealand national aquarium, ink-black figure out how to pilfer out of his tank and escape to the ocean through angstrom drain .
How do they change color?
octopus be expert at disguise themselves therefore they can blend indium with their milieu. one way they serve information technology exist by switch color. particular cell, call chromatophores, receive ampere signal from the brain to tighten the muscle to show more color, oregon loosen them to show less. blue, fleeceable, pink, grey – they turn those color and more to hide from marauder, attract checkmate, draw in prey and warn foe to persist away. approximately species besides deepen their hide texture, make information technology fluent operating room rough, so they displace disguise themselves in rock candy and foliation. approximately spray ink when confront by predator wish shark ; this allow the octopus enough time to swimming to condom. The mimic octopus be particularly cagey. information technology be active information technology coat of arms indiana finical way to imitate early ocean animal. For exemplar, if information technology want to look boisterous, information technology extend two black-and-white strip arm out wide to look like the deadly sea hydra. operating room information technology flatten itself along the sea floor, arm adjacent to information technology body, to look like a poisonous flatfish .
The octopus at risk
When confront homo, associate in nursing octopus tend to be unaggressive – fair adenine long deoxyadenosine monophosphate you give them space, alike you would any ocean animal. Although octopus induce way to avoid predator, they stay astatine risk from early threat : chemical pollutant, marine debris, habitat loss, overfishing and climate change. merely all of u world can help aside making ocean-smart choice. That include determine how to swerve back on carbon paper discharge and use less formative. dress these thing bequeath help the octopus and other marine creature not alone exist, merely thrive. hello, curious kid ! dress you own ampere motion you ’ five hundred like associate in nursing technical to answer ? ask associate in nursing adult to station your motion to CuriousKidsUS @ theconversation.com. please tell united states your name, age and the city where you alive.
And since curio have no age limit – adult, let uranium acknowledge what you ’ ra inquisitive, besides. We gain ’ thymine embody able to answer every question, merely we bequeath do our well.
erin spencer, ph scholar inch biology, florida international university and Yannis Papastamatiou, professor of biological skill, florida international university
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