How long do octopuses live? You'll understand after reading this article
The octopus belongs to the phylum Mollusca, class Cephalopoda, order Octopoda, and is the collective name for animals of the family Octopodidae, genus Octopus. Because it has eight arms on its head, with membranes connecting the arms, varying in length, and each arm bearing 2 rows of sessile suckers, it is called the "eight-armed" type. There are about 650 species of octopus worldwide, varying greatly in size. Let's take a look below at how long octopuses live!
How long do octopuses live?
The average lifespan of an octopus is only about 3 years. If living conditions are ideal and it is not caught, it can live to about 4 years at most. The lifespan of deep-sea giant octopuses is different. Some scientists say that deep-sea giant octopuses can live up to a hundred years, with a hatching time of as long as 4 and a half years. The largest octopus found so far has tentacles about 10 m long, and biology experts say that octopuses with tentacles more than 15 m long may exist in the deep sea.
What do octopuses eat?
The octopus is a carnivorous marine mollusk, feeding on lamellibranchs and crustaceans (shrimp, crabs, etc.), and some species eat plankton. This is not a matter of whether it likes it or not, because the stable structure of myoglobin is a necessary condition for octopuses to survive in the deep sea. Giant octopuses will fight sperm whales to the death just to compete for astaxanthin resources. Astaxanthin is the strongest antioxidant and is a necessary condition for ensuring the stable structure of myoglobin so that it is not oxidized.
Are octopuses highly intelligent?
Octopuses have the ability of "conceptual thinking" and can solve complex problems on their own. It is precisely this ability that gives them the skill of walking on two legs. After further research, scientists also found that octopuses live alone from the moment they are born. A small octopus needs only a very short time to learn the skills it should have, and unlike most animals, learning is not based on teaching by elders. Although their parents pass on some abilities to them through inheritance, small octopuses develop their own ability to solve new problems by learning alone to hunt, camouflage, and find better dwellings. At the same time, this eight-legged species can move coconut shells and use them as its own armor, which is the first case of tool use by an invertebrate.
Octopus self-protection abilities
The octopus draws water into its mantle, and after breathing, expels the water from its body through a short funnel-shaped siphon. Most octopuses crawl along the seabed using their suckers, but when startled they eject a stream of water from the siphon. The jet of water is powerful, allowing them to move rapidly in the opposite direction. When in danger, they eject an ink-like substance as a smoke screen. Some species produce substances that can paralyze the sensory organs of attackers. In order to avoid being killed by "predators", in addition to using the well-known mimetic camouflage technique and the tactic of sacrificing an "arm" to save themselves, American scientists also discovered "highly intelligent" octopuses in the Indian Ocean that can "walk" on two legs to escape.