Three hearts…Eight arms…Bulging eyes…Hidden beak…Blue blood…Knack to change the way they look anytime promptly, anywhere….

What is it? Monster or an Alien?

It’s an OCTOPUS!!

Octopus is one of the most outrageous creatures of the sea. Don’t judge it just by its looks because it is also a highly intelligent invertebrate. Experiments prove that they have a good memory. So next time you pester an octopus, Beware! Remember that it will remember.

Octopuses are the masters of disguise. When they sense predators around, their special color giving (pigment) cells in their skin can make them immediately change to the colors. Special muscles twitch differently to form patterns or even textures of the surroundings.

Octopuses have unique defense system. In case they are noticed by a predator, they release a cloud of black ink that makes everything go hazy in front of the predator and also lessens its sense of smell. And then the octopus swims away. They are quite smart. If even after all that it gets grabbed by the predator, an octopus loses its arm to escape the grip and regrows that arm later. How cool is that!!

Octopuses have suction pumps all over their body that help them pull their favorite food like crabs, shrimps, and lobsters into their mouth.

Did you know?

The largest octopus is the North Pacific giant octopus that weighs up to 150 pounds (68 kilograms) and measures some 20 feet across from the tip of one arm to the tip of an opposite arm. That is about four times size of you!!

The most bizarre octopus would be the blanket octopus. The female is 40 times heavier than the male! The male is only 2.4 cms long while the female over 2 meters long. When it feels threatened, the female opens up a spectacular cape-like membrane between its arms to look scary.

Paul the octopus also known as ‘Psychic Paul’ lived in London and all his predictions for 2010 Football World cup matches about the winning teams turned out to be true!