Remarkable Video Shows Octopus Escape Artists In Action

Overview

Octopuses are exotic and fascinating creatures. They are found in every ocean of the world and come in many sizes and colors. Their camouflage abilities make them escape artists since, in most cases, octopuses choose to go unnoticed and flee from danger. Their mechanisms are as diverse as they are impressive.

The science and other stuff to know

Among more than 300 different species, octopuses display a wide variety of abilities. Some of them—the smaller ones, usually—are poisonous. They can squish, distort, and wriggle like sponges because their bodies are made of incredibly stretchy, lightweight tissue.

Some species can adapt to the textures, colors, and appearance of their surroundings to hide from predators. This chameleon-like ability even allows some of them—the mimic octopuses—to take on the appearance of other marine animals, such as the cichlid, which has a lethal poison. By looking like a dangerous cichlid, the octopus manages to ward off its predators.

Octopuses avoid conflict situations at all costs, but when attacked, they still have an ace up their sleeve: their ink. This opaque liquid, which they forcefully expel to confuse their enemy, contains an amino acid called taurine, which is attractive to predators—and energy drink lovers. The ink stops the hunter and provides the octopus with a significant edge in fleeing.

In captivity, octopuses have demonstrated amazing intellectual feats in order to escape from their tanks, despite having three hearts and eight tentacles but only a small, fluffy brain.

The following could well be assigned to luck, but on the topic of octopuses, we cannot fail to mention Paul, the specimen of Octopus vulgaris that was able to correctly predict the results of all the matches of Germany in the 2008 World Cup in South Africa. It died in 2010 after becoming an emblem of its species.