10 Cool Facts About Octopuses

An Octopus has 3 Hearts, 9 Brains & Blue Blood

This is 10 really cool facts about Octopuses.

1. A 50-pound octopus can squeeze through a hole only 2 inches in diameter. If their beak fits, they can get through.
2. They are about 90 percent muscle.
3. You can tell a male octopus from a female by looking at the tip of its third arm on the right (starting between the eyes and going clockwise). Males have a special tip on this arm that has no suckers on the last few inches. This specialized tip is visible even in immature octopus. To mate, the male inserts this special arm into the female’s body cavity. A captured male will try to protect this arm.
4. Female octopus can wait until months after mating to fertilize the eggs.
5. An average female Giant Pacific Octopus in Alaska can lay 90,000 eggs.
6. Fishermen like to cut off the tip of an octopus’ arm and use it for halibut bait because it continues to wiggle even after being cut off.
7. Octopus frequently lose an arm to predators, but they grow back.
8. Giant Pacific Octopus are cannibals. They will happily kill and eat smaller octopus.
9. All species of octopus have venom. The venom of the Giant Pacific Octopus is not dangerous to humans, but Australia’s blue-ringed octopus is known as one of the most poisonous marine animals—its venom is deadly to humans.
10. Octopus actually have shells similar to clams and snails. There is a pair of small, spike-shaped structures called stylets inside the octopus’ body that are a vestigial shell—meaning it really has no function.