Octopus#Fisheries and cuisine

{{See also |Cephalopod size}}

File:North Pacific Giant Octopus.JPG at Echizen Matsushima Aquarium, Japan|alt=Captured specimen of a giant octopus]]

The giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) is often cited as the largest octopus species. Adults usually weigh {{convert|10|-|50|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, with an arm span of up to {{convert|4.8|m|ft|abbr=on}}.{{cite web|title=Giant Pacific Octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini)|url=https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=giantpacificoctopus.main|access-date=22 February 2025|website=Alaska Department of Fish and Game}} The largest specimen of this species to be scientifically documented reached a live mass of {{convert|71|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.Cosgrove, J.A. 1987. Aspects of the Natural History of Octopus dofleini, the Giant Pacific Octopus. MSc Thesis. Department of Biology, University of Victoria (Canada), 101 pp. Much larger sizes have been claimed:Norman, M. 2000. Cephalopods: A World Guide. ConchBooks, Hackenheim. p. 214. one specimen was recorded as {{convert|272|kg|lb|abbr=on}} with an arm span of {{convert|9|m|ft|abbr=on}}.{{Cite journal |last=High |first=William L. |year=1976 |title=The giant Pacific octopus |url=http://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/mfr389/mfr3893.pdf |journal=Marine Fisheries Review |volume=38 |issue=9 |pages=17–22 |access-date=4 November 2016 |archive-date=23 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123114633/http://spo.nmfs.noaa.gov/mfr389/mfr3893.pdf |url-status=dead }} A carcass of the seven-arm octopus, Haliphron atlanticus, weighed {{convert|61|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and was estimated to have had a live mass of {{convert|75|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.{{cite journal |last1=O'Shea |first1=S. |year=2004 |title=The giant octopus Haliphron atlanticus (Mollusca : Octopoda) in New Zealand waters |doi=10.1080/03014223.2004.9518353 |journal=New Zealand Journal of Zoology |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=7–13 |s2cid=84954869 |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=O'Shea |first1=S. |year=2002 |title=Haliphron atlanticus – a giant gelatinous octopus |url=http://isopods.nhm.org/pdfs/27566/27566.pdf |journal=Biodiversity Update |volume=5 |page=1 }} The smallest species is Octopus wolfi, which is around {{convert|2.5|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} and weighs less than {{convert|1|g|abbr=on}}.{{cite web |last=Bradford |first=Alina |date=21 July 2016 |title=Octopus Facts |publisher=Live Science |access-date=26 April 2017 |url=http://www.livescience.com/55478-octopus-facts.html}}

The octopus has an elongated body that is bilaterally symmetrical along its dorso-ventral (back to belly) axis; the head and foot are on the ventral side, but act as the anterior (front). The heads contains both the mouth and the brain.{{rp|343–344}} The mouth has a sharp chitinous beak and is surrounded by and underneath the foot, which evolved into flexible, prehensile cephalopod limbs, known as "arms", which are attached to each other near their base by a webbed structure.{{cite book |title=Invertebrate Zoology |last1=Ruppert |first1=Edward E. |last2=Fox |first2=Richard S. |last3=Barnes |first3=Robert D. |year=2004 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-0-03-025982-1 }}{{rp|343–344}}{{cite book |last=Courage |first=K. H. |year=2013 |title=Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature in the Sea |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=eSMRlaceRIEC}} |publisher=Penguin Group |isbn=978-0-698-13767-7}}{{rp|40–41}}{{rp|13–15}} The arms can be described based on side and sequence position (such as L1, R1, L2, R2) and divide into four pairs.{{cite book |last=Wells |first=M. J. |year=1978 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=AM_tCAAAQBAJ}} |title=Octopus, Physiology and Behaviour of an Advanced Invertebrate |publisher=Springer Science+Business Media |isbn=978-94-017-2470-8}}{{rp|12}} The two rear appendages are generally used to walk on the sea floor, while the other six are used to forage for food.{{cite journal |title=Does Octopus vulgaris have preferred arms? |last1=Byrne |first1=Ruth A. |last2=Kuba |first2=Michael J. |last3=Meisel |first3=Daniela V. |last4=Griebel |first4=Ulrike |last5=Mather |first5=Jennifer A. |journal=Journal of Comparative Psychology |volume=120 |number=3 |date=August 2006 |pages=198–204 |doi=10.1037/0735-7036.120.3.198 |pmid=16893257 }} The bulbous and hollow mantle is fused to the back of the head and contains most of the vital organs.{{cite book |last1=Mather |first1=J. A. |last2=Anderson |first2=R. C. |last3=Wood |first3=J. B. |year=2010 |title=Octopus: The Ocean's Intelligent Invertebrate |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=m-Mv7awvtIQC}} |publisher=Timber Press |isbn=978-1-60469-067-5}}

{{rp|13–15}}{{rp|40–41}} The mantle also has a cavity with muscular walls and a pair of gills; it is connected to the exterior by a funnel or siphon.{{rp|343–344}}{{Cite journal |last1=Semmens |title=Understanding octopus growth: patterns, variability and physiology |date=2004 |doi=10.1071/MF03155 |volume=55 |issue=4 |journal=Marine and Freshwater Research |page=367 |bibcode=2004MFRes..55..367S |s2cid=84208773 }}

File:Schematic lateral aspect of octopod features.jpg (eyespot), web, arms, suckers, hectocotylus and ligula labelled.]]

The skin consists of a thin epidermis with mucous cells and sensory cells and a fibrous dermis made of collagen and containing various cells that allow colour change.{{rp|362}} Most of the body is made of soft tissue, allowing it to squeeze through tiny gaps; even the larger species can pass through a gap little more than {{convert|2.5|cm|in|0|abbr=on}} in diameter.{{rp|40–41}} Lacking skeletal support, the arms work as muscular hydrostats and feature longitudinal, transverse, and circular muscles around a central axial nerve. They can squash and stretch, coil at any place in any direction or stiffen.{{cite web |url=http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoLoco.php# |title=Octopuses and Relatives: Locomotion, Crawling |last=Carefoot |first=Thomas |work=A Snail's Odyssey |access-date=19 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522005231/http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoLoco.php |archive-date=22 May 2013 |url-status=dead }}{{cite journal |last1=Zelman |first1=I. |last2=Titon |first2=M. |last3=Yekutieli |first3=Y. |last4=Hanassy |first4=S. |last5=Hochner |first5=B. |last6=Flash |first6=T.|year=2013|title=Kinematic decomposition and classification of octopus arm movements |journal=Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience |volume=7 |page=60 |doi=10.3389/fncom.2013.00060 |pmid=23745113 |pmc=3662989 |doi-access=free }}

The interior surfaces of the arms are covered with circular, adhesive suckers. The suckers allow the octopus to secure itself in place or to handle objects. Each sucker is typically circular and bowl-like and has two distinct parts: an outer disc-shaped infundibulum and a inner cup-like acetabulum, both of which are thick muscles covered in connective tissue. A chitinous cuticle lines the outer surface. When a sucker attaches to a surface, the orifice between the two structures is sealed and the infundibulum flattens. Muscle contractions allow for attachment and detachment.{{cite journal |last1=Tramacere |first1=F. |last2=Beccai |first2=L. |last3=Kuba |first3=M. |last4=Gozzi |first4=A. |last5=Bifone |first5=A. |last6=Mazzolai |first6=B. |year=2013|title=The morphology and adhesion mechanism of Octopus vulgaris suckers |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=8 |issue=6 |page=e65074 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0065074 |pmid=23750233 |pmc=3672162|bibcode=2013PLoSO...865074T |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Kier |first1=W. M. |last2=Smith |first2=A. M. |title=The structure and adhesive mechanism of octopus suckers |year=2002 |journal=Integrative and Comparative Biology |volume=42 |issue=6 |pages=1146–1153 |pmid=21680399 |doi=10.1093/icb/42.6.1146|citeseerx=10.1.1.512.2605 |s2cid=15997762 }} Each of the eight arms senses and responds to light, allowing the octopus to control its limbs even if its head is obscured.{{Cite journal |last1=Katz |first1=Itamar |last2=Shomrat |first2=Tal |last3=Nesher |first3=Nir |date=1 January 2021 |title=Feel the light – sight independent negative phototactic response in octopus' arms |url=https://jeb.biologists.org/content/early/2021/02/01/jeb.237529 |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=224 |issue=5 |doi=10.1242/jeb.237529 |issn=0022-0949 |pmid=33536305 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2021JExpB.224B7529K }}

File:Dumbo-hires (cropped).jpg species with its atypical octopus body plan|alt=A stubby round sea-creature with short ear-like fins]]

The cranium has two cartilaginous capsules each containing one large eye, which resembles those of fish. The cornea is formed from a translucent epidermal layer; the slit-shaped pupil forms a hole in the iris just behind the cornea. The lens hangs behind the pupil; photoreceptive retinal cells line the back. The pupil can expand and contract; a retinal pigment screens incident light in bright conditions.{{rp|360–361}}

Some species differ in form from the typical body shape. Basal species, the Cirrina, have gelatinous bodies with two fins located above the eyes, an internal shell and mostly webbed arms that are lined with fleshy papillae or cirri underneath.{{cite web |title=Finned Deep-sea Octopuses, Grimpoteuthis spp |date=18 May 2017 |publisher=MarineBio |url=https://www.marinebio.org/species/finned-deep-sea-octopuses/grimpoteuthis-spp/ |access-date=14 May 2021}}

Octopuses have a closed circulatory system, in which the blood remains inside blood vessels. They have three hearts; a systemic or main heart that circulates blood around the body and two branchial or gill hearts that pump it through the two gills. The systemic heart becomes inactive when the animal is swimming. Thus, the octopus loses energy quickly and mostly crawls.{{rp|19–20, 31–35}}{{rp|42–43}} Octopus blood contains the copper-rich protein haemocyanin to transport oxygen. This makes the blood viscous and it requires great pressure to pump it around the body; blood pressures can surpass {{convert|75|mmHg|kPa|-1|abbr=on}}.{{rp|31–35}}{{rp|42–43}}{{cite book |last=Schmidt-Nielsen |first=Knut |author-link=Knut Schmidt-Nielsen |year=1997 |title=Animal Physiology: Adaptation and Environment |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=117 |isbn=978-0-521-57098-5}} In cold conditions with low oxygen levels, haemocyanin transports oxygen more efficiently than haemoglobin. The haemocyanin is dissolved in the blood plasma instead of carried within blood cells and gives the blood a bluish colour.{{rp|31–35}}{{rp|42–43}}{{rp|22}}

The systemic heart has muscular contractile walls and consists of a single ventricle and two atria, which attach it to each of the two gills. The blood vessels consist of arteries, capillaries and veins and are lined with a cellular endothelium unlike that of most other invertebrates. The blood circulates through the aorta and capillary system, to the venae cavae, after which the blood is pumped through the gills by the branchial hearts and back to the main heart. Much of the venous system is contractile, which helps circulate the blood.{{rp|358}}

File:Octopus vulgaris Cuvier, 1797 2.jpg

Respiration involves drawing water into the mantle cavity through an aperture, passing it through the gills, and expelling it through the siphon. Ingress is achieved by contraction of radial muscles in the mantle wall, and flapper valves shut when strong, circular muscles expel the water through the siphon.{{cite web |url=http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoJet.php# |title=Octopuses and Relatives: Locomotion, jet propulsion |last=Carefoot |first=Thomas |work=A Snail's Odyssey |access-date=26 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170428032706/http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoJet.php |archive-date=28 April 2017 |url-status=dead }} Extensive connective tissue lattices support the respiratory muscles and allow them to inflate the respiratory chamber.{{rp|24–26}} The lamella structure of the gills allows for high oxygen uptake, up to 65% in water at {{convert|20|C|F}}.{{cite journal |last1=Wells |first1=M. J. |last2=Wells |first2=J. |year=1995 |title=The control of ventilatory and cardiac responses to changes in ambient oxygen tension and oxygen demand in Octopus |journal=The Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=198 |issue=Pt 8 |pages=1717–1727 |doi=10.1242/jeb.198.8.1717 |url=http://jeb.biologists.org/content/198/8/1717 |pmid=9319626 |doi-access=free |bibcode=1995JExpB.198.1717W }} Respiration can also play a role in locomotion, as an octopus can propel its body shooting water out of the siphon.{{rp|18}}

The thin skin absorbs additional oxygen. When resting, around 41% of oxygen absorption is through the skin, reduced to 33% when the octopus swims, despite the amount of oxygen absorption increasing as water flows over the body. When it is resting after a meal, skin absorption can drop to 3%.{{cite journal |last=Wells |first=J. |year=1996 |title=Cutaneous respiration in Octopus vulgaris |journal=The Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=199 |issue=Pt 11 |pages=2477–2483 |doi=10.1242/jeb.199.11.2477 |url=http://jeb.biologists.org/content/199/11/2477|pmid=9320405|bibcode=1996JExpB.199.2477M }}

The digestive system begins with the buccal mass which consists of the mouth with the beak, the pharynx, radula and salivary glands.{{rp|71–74}} The radula is serrated and made of chitin.{{rp|40–41}} Food is broken down and is forced into the esophagus by two lateral extensions of the esophageal side walls in addition to the radula. From there it is transferred to the gastrointestinal tract, which is mostly suspended from the roof of the mantle cavity. The tract consists of a crop, where the food is stored; a stomach, where it is mixed with other gut material; a caecum where the food is separated into particles and liquids and which absorbs fats; the digestive gland, where liver cells break down and absorb the fluid and become "brown bodies"; and the intestine, where the built-up waste is turned into faecal ropes by secretions and ejected out of the funnel via the rectum.{{rp|75–79}}

During osmoregulation, fluid is added to the pericardia of the branchial hearts. The octopus has two nephridia (equivalent to vertebrate kidneys) that are associated with the branchial hearts; these and their associated ducts connect the pericardial cavities with the mantle cavity. Each branch of the vena cava has renal appendages that pass over the thin-walled nephridium before reaching the branchial heart. Urine is created in the pericardial cavity, and is altered by excretion, of mostly ammonia, and absorption from the renal appendages, as it is passed along the associated duct and through the nephridiopore into the mantle cavity.{{rp|358–359}}

File:Moving Octopus Vulgaris 2005-01-14.ogv (Octopus vulgaris) moving around. Its nervous system allows the arms to move with some autonomy.|alt=video of an octopus crawling about, its suckered arms moving]]

Octopuses and their relatives have a more expansive and complex nervous system than other invertebrates, containing over 500 million neurons, around the same as a dog.{{cite journal | last1=Chung | first1=Wen-Sung | last2=Kurniawan | first2=Nyoman D. | last3=Marshall | first3=N. Justin | title=Comparative brain structure and visual processing in octopus from different habitats | journal=Current Biology | volume=32 | issue=1 | date=2022-01-10 | issn=1879-0445 | pmid=34798049 | doi=10.1016/j.cub.2021.10.070 | pages=97–110.e4| bibcode=2022CBio...32E..97C | doi-access=free }}{{cite book |last=Budelmann |first=B. U. |year=1995 |chapter-url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=dW5e6FHOH-4C|page=PA115}} |chapter=The cephalopod nervous system: What evolution has made of the molluscan design |editor-last1=Breidbach |editor-first1=O. |editor-last2=Kutsch |editor-first2=W. |title=The nervous systems of invertebrates: An evolutionary and comparative approach |publisher=Birkhäuser |isbn=978-3-7643-5076-5 |lccn=94035125}} One part is localised in the brain, contained in a cartilaginous capsule. Two-thirds of the neurons are in the nerve cords of its arms. This allows their arms to perform actions with a degree of independence.{{cite journal |last=Hochner |first=B. |year=2012 |title=An Embodied View of Octopus Neurobiology |journal=Current Biology |volume=22 |issue=20 |pages=R887–R892 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.001 |pmid=23098601 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2012CBio...22.R887H }} Learning mainly occurs in the brain, while arms make decisions independently when supplied with information.{{cite journal|last1=Gutnick|first1=T|last2=Zullo|first2=L|last3=Hochner|first3=B|last4=Kuba|first4=M. J.|year=2020|title=Use of peripheral sensory information for central nervous control of arm movement by Octopus|journal=Current Biology|volume=30|issue=21|pages=4322–4327|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2020.08.037|pmid=32916119}} A severed arm can still move and respond to stimuli.{{cite journal|last1=Hague|first1=T|last2=Florini|first2=M|last3=Andrews|first3=P. L. R.|year=2013|title=Preliminary in vitro functional evidence for reflex responses to noxious stimuli in the arms of Octopus vulgaris|journal=Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology|volume=447|pages=100–105|doi=10.1016/j.jembe.2013.02.016|bibcode=2013JEMBE.447..100H}} Unlike in many other animals, including other mollusks, the movement of octopuses and their relatives are not organised in their brains via internal somatotopic maps of their bodies.{{cite journal |pmid=19765993 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2009.07.067 |volume=19 |issue=19 |title=Nonsomatotopic organization of the higher motor centers in Octopus |first1=L. |last1=Zullo |first2=G. |last2=Sumbre |first3=C. |last3=Agnisola |first4=T. |last4=Flash |first5=B. |last5=Hochner |year=2009 |pages=1632–1636 |journal=Current Biology |s2cid=15852956 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2009CBio...19.1632Z }} Octopuses have the same jumping genes that are active in the human brain, implying an evolutionary convergence at molecular level.{{cite journal | last1=Petrosino | first1=Giuseppe | last2=Ponte | first2=Giovanna | last3=Volpe | first3=Massimiliano | last4=Zarrella | first4=Ilaria | last5=Ansaloni | first5=Federico | last6=Langella | first6=Concetta | last7=Di Cristina | first7=Giulia | last8=Finaurini | first8=Sara | last9=Russo | first9=Monia T. | last10=Basu | first10=Swaraj | last11=Musacchia | first11=Francesco | last12=Ristoratore | first12=Filomena | last13=Pavlinic | first13=Dinko | last14=Benes | first14=Vladimir | last15=Ferrante | first15=Maria I. | last16=Albertin | first16=Caroline | last17=Simakov | first17=Oleg | last18=Gustincich | first18=Stefano | last19=Fiorito | first19=Graziano | last20=Sanges | first20=Remo |display-authors=3 | title=Identification of LINE retrotransposons and long non-coding RNAs expressed in the octopus brain | journal=BMC Biology | volume=20 | issue=1 | date=18 May 2022 | page=116 | doi=10.1186/s12915-022-01303-5 | pmid=35581640 | pmc=9115989 | s2cid=231777147 | doi-access=free }}

File:Reef1072 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg|alt=Close up of an octopus showing its eye and an arm with suckers]]

Like other cephalopods, octopuses have camera-like eyes. Colour vision appears to vary from species to species, for example, it is present in A. aegina but absent in O. vulgaris.{{cite journal |last1=Kawamura |first1=G. |year=2001 |title=Color Discrimination Conditioning in Two Octopus Octopus aegina and O. vulgaris |journal=Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=35–39 |doi=10.2331/suisan.67.35 |display-authors=etal |df=dmy-all |doi-access=free }} Opsins in the skin respond to different wavelengths of light and help the animals choose a colouration that matches the surroundings and camouflages them; chromatophores in the skin can respond to light independently of the eyes.{{cite journal |last1=Kingston |first1=Alexandra C. N. |last2=Kuzirian |first2=Alan M. |last3=Hanlon |first3=Roger T. |last4=Cronin |first4=Thomas W. |title=Visual phototransduction components in cephalopod chromatophores suggest dermal photoreception |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=218 |issue=10 |year=2015 |pages=1596–1602 |issn=1477-9145 |doi=10.1242/jeb.117945|pmid=25994635 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2015JExpB.218.1596K |hdl=11603/13387 |hdl-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Ramirez |first1=M. Desmond |last2=Oakley |first2=Todd H. |title=Eye-independent, light-activated chromatophore expansion (LACE) and expression of phototransduction genes in the skin of Octopus bimaculoides |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=218 |issue=10 |year=2015 |pages=1513–1520 |issn=1477-9145 |doi=10.1242/jeb.110908|pmid=25994633 |pmc=4448664 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2015JExpB.218.1513R }} An alternative hypothesis is that cephalopod eyes in species that only have a single photoreceptor protein may use chromatic aberration to turn monochromatic vision into colour vision, though this lowers image quality. This would explain pupils shaped like the letter "U", the letter "W", or a dumbbell, as well as the need for colourful mating displays.{{cite journal |last1=Stubbs |first1=Alexander L. |last2=Stubbs |first2=Christopher W. |title=Spectral discrimination in color blind animals via chromatic aberration and pupil shape |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=113 |issue=29 |year=2016 |pages=8206–8211 |issn=0027-8424 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1524578113|pmid=27382180 |pmc=4961147 |bibcode=2016PNAS..113.8206S |doi-access=free }}

Attached to the optic capsules are two organs called statocysts (sac-like structures containing a mineralised mass and sensitive hairs), that allow the octopus to sense the orientation of its body, relative to both gravity and time (angular acceleration). An autonomic response keeps the octopus's eyes oriented so that the pupil is always horizontal.{{rp|360–361}} Octopuses may also use the statocyst to hear. The common octopus can hear sounds between 400 Hz and 1000 Hz, and hears best at 600 Hz.{{cite journal |last1=Hu |first1=Marian Y. |last2=Yan |first2=Hong Young |last3=Chung |first3=Wen-Sung |last4=Shiao |first4=Jen-Chieh |last5=Hwang |first5=Pung-Pung |title=Acoustically evoked potentials in two cephalopods inferred using the auditory brainstem response (ABR) approach |journal=Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology |volume=153 |issue=3 |year=2009 |pages=278–283 |issn=1095-6433 |doi=10.1016/j.cbpa.2009.02.040 |pmid=19275944 |url=http://ntur.lib.ntu.edu.tw//handle/246246/162905 |access-date=13 March 2022 |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407151928/http://ntur.lib.ntu.edu.tw//handle/246246/162905 |url-status=dead }}

Octopuses have an excellent somatosensory system. Their suction cups are equipped with chemoreceptors so they can taste what they touch.{{cite journal|last1=van Giesen|first1=L|last2=Kilian|first2=P. B.|last3=Allard|first3=C. A. H.|last4=Bellon|first4=N. W.|year=2020|title=Molecular basis of chemotactile sensation in Octopus|journal=Cell|volume=183|issue=3|pages=594–604|doi=10.1016/j.cell.2020.09.008|pmid=33125889|pmc=7605239}} Octopus arms move easily because the sensors recognise octopus skin and prevent self-attachment.{{cite journal |last1=Nesher |first1=Nir |last2=Levy |first2=Guy |last3=Grasso |first3=Frank W. |last4=Hochner |first4=Binyamin |title=Self-Recognition Mechanism between Skin and Suckers Prevents Octopus Arms from Interfering with Each Other |journal=Current Biology |volume=24 |issue=11 |year=2014 |issn=0960-9822 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2014.04.024 |pages=1271–1275|pmid=24835454 |s2cid=16140159 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2014CBio...24.1271N }} Octopuses appear to have poor proprioceptive sense and must see their arms to keep track of their position.{{cite journal|last1=Gutnick|first1=Tamar|last2=Byrne|first2=Ruth A.|last3=Hochner|first3=Binyamin|last4=Kuba|first4=Michael|year=2011|title=Octopus vulgaris Uses Visual Information to Determine the Location of Its Arm|journal=Current Biology|volume=21|issue=6|pages=460–462|doi=10.1016/j.cub.2011.01.052|pmid=21396818|s2cid=10152089|doi-access=free|bibcode=2011CBio...21..460G }}{{cite journal|last1=Kennedy|first1=E. B. Lane|last2=Buresch|first2=Kendra C.|last3=Boinapally|first3=Preethi|last4=Hanlon|first4=Roger T.|year=2020|title=Octopus arms exhibit exceptional flexibility|journal=Scientific Reports|volume=10|issue=1|page=20872|doi=10.1038/s41598-020-77873-7|pmid=33257824|pmc=7704652}}

The ink sac is located under the digestive gland. A gland attached to the sac produces the ink, and the sac holds it. The sac is close enough to the funnel for the octopus to shoot out the ink with a water jet. As the animal begins to shoot, the ink passes through glands which mix it with mucus and it leaves the funnel as a thick, dark blob which helps the animal to escape from a predator.{{rp|107}} The main pigment in the ink is melanin, which gives it its black colour.{{cite journal |last=Derby |first=C. D. |year=2014 |title=Cephalopod Ink: Production, Chemistry, Functions and Applications |journal=Marine Drugs |volume=12 |issue=5 |pages=2700–2730 |doi=10.3390/md12052700 |pmid=24824020 |pmc=4052311|doi-access=free }} Cirrate octopuses usually lack the ink sac.

File:Tremoctopus violaceus5.jpg with hectocotylus|alt=Drawing of a male octopus with one large arm ending in the sexual apparatus]]

Octopuses have two sexes and have only one gonad (testis in males and ovary in females) located posteriorly. The gonad deposits gametes into an adjacent cavity called the gonocoel. A gonoduct bridges the gonocoel with the mantle cavity.{{rp|363–365}} An optic gland creates hormones that cause the octopus to mature and age and stimulate gamete production. The timing of reproduction and lifespan depends on environmental conditions such as temperature, light and nutrition, which trigger the gland.{{rp|147}}{{cite journal |last1=Wells |first1=Martin J. |last2=Wells |first2=J. |year=1972 |title=Optic glands and the state of the testis in Octopus |journal=Marine Behaviour and Physiology |volume=1 |issue=1–4 |pages=71–83 |doi=10.1080/10236247209386890}} The male has a specialised arm called a hectocotylus which it uses to transfer spermatophores (packets of sperm) into the female's mantle cavity.{{rp|363–365}} The hectocotylus in Octopus is usually the R3 arm, which has a spoon-shaped depression and a suckerless tip.{{rp|12–14}}{{rp|363–365}} Fertilisation may occur in the mantle cavity or in the surrounding water.{{rp|363–365}}

Reproduction has been studied in some species. In the giant Pacific octopus, courtship includes changes in skin texture and colour, mostly in the male. The male may cling to the top or side of the female or position himself beside her. There is some speculation that he may first use his hectocotylus to remove any spermatophore or sperm already present in the female. He picks up a spermatophore from his spermatophoric sac with the hectocotylus, inserts it into the female's mantle cavity, and deposits it in the correct location in the opening of the oviduct. Two spermatophores are transferred in this way; these are about one metre (yard) long, and the empty ends may protrude from the female's mantle.{{cite web |url=http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoRepr.php |title=Octopuses and Relatives: Reproduction |last=Carefoot |first=Thomas |work=A Snail's Odyssey |access-date=11 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422215052/http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoRepr.php |archive-date=22 April 2017 |url-status=dead }} A complex hydraulic mechanism releases the sperm from the spermatophore.{{rp|363–365}}

File:Enteroctopus dofleini to spawn.jpg

The eggs have large yolks; cleavage (division) is relatively shallow and a germinal disc develops at the pole. During gastrulation, the disc surrounds the yolk, forming a yolk sac, which eventually forms part of the gut. The embryo forms as the dorsal side of the disc grows upward, with a shell gland, gills, mantle and eyes on its dorsal side. The arms and funnel form on the ventral side of the disc, with the former moving upward to surround the mouth. The embryo consumes the yolk during development.{{rp|363–365}}

Over a month after mating, Giant Pacific octopuses lay eggs. The species can lay 180,000 eggs in a single clutch, while O. rubescens clutches host up to 45,000 eggs while O. vulgaris clutches can include 500,000 eggs.{{cite web |url=https://www.aza.org/assets/2332/giant_pacific_octopus_care_manual_final_9514.pdf |title=Giant Pacific Octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) Care Manual |publisher=AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) Aquatic Invertebrate Taxonomic Advisory Group in association with AZA Animal Welfare Committee |date=9 September 2014 |access-date=31 May 2016}}{{rp|75}} Fertilised octopus eggs are laid as strings within a shelter.{{rp|26}} Female giant Pacific octopuses nurture and protect their eggs for five months (160 days) until they hatch. In colder waters, such as those off Alaska, it may take up to ten months for the eggs to completely develop.{{rp|74}} In the argonaut (paper nautilus), the female is much larger than the male. She secretes a thin shell shaped like a cornucopia, in which the eggs are deposited and in which she also resides and broods the young while swimming.{{rp|26, 141}}

File:Fish3566 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg, a planktonic hatchling|alt=A microscopic view of a small round-bodied transparent animal with very short arms]]

Most young octopuses hatch as paralarvae,{{rp|363–365}} Octopus larvae in particular are planktonic for weeks or months. Larvae feed on shrimp, isopods and amphipods, eventually settling on the ocean floor to mature.{{rp|178}} Species that produce larger eggs instead hatch as benthic animals similar to the adults.{{rp|74–75}} These include the southern blue-ringed, Caribbean reef, California two-spot and Eledone moschata.{{cite journal |last1=Forsythe |first1=J. W. |last2=Hanlon |first2=R. T. |title=A closed marine culture system for rearing Octopus joubini and other large-egged benthic octopods |journal=Laboratory Animals |year=1980 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=137–142 |doi=10.1258/002367780780942737 |pmid=7431823 |s2cid=19492476 |doi-access=free }}

Octopuses have short lifespans, living up to four years.{{rp|17}} The lifecycles of some species finish in less than half a year.{{rp|152}} For most octopuses, the ultimate life stage is senescence. It is the breakdown of cellular function without repair or replacement. It may last from weeks to a few months at most. Males senesce after maturity, while for females, it comes after they lay an egg clutch. During senescence, an octopus does not feed, quickly weakens, and becomes sluggish. Lesions begin to form and the octopus literally degenerates. They may die of starvation or get picked off by predators.{{cite journal |journal=Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science |last1=Anderson |first1=Roland C. |last2=Wood |first2=James B. |last3=Byrne |first3=Ruth A. |title=Octopus Senescence: The Beginning of the End |year=2002 |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=275–283 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7545324 |doi=10.1207/S15327604JAWS0504_02| pmid=16221078 |citeseerx=10.1.1.567.3108 |s2cid=28355735 }} Senescence is triggered by the optic glands and experimental removal of them after spawning was found to extend their lifecycle and activity.{{cite journal |journal=Science |last1=Wodinsky |first1=Jerome |title=Hormonal Inhibition of Feeding and Death in Octopus: Control by Optic Gland Secretion |year=1977 |volume=198 |issue=4320 |pages=948–951 |doi=10.1126/science.198.4320.948 |pmid=17787564| bibcode=1977Sci...198..948W |s2cid=22649186 }}

File:Octopus cyaneain Kona.jpg

Octopuses inhabit every ocean, with species adapted to many habitats. As juveniles, common octopuses inhabit shallow tide pools. The Hawaiian day octopus (Octopus cyanea) lives on coral reefs, while argonauts float in pelagic waters. Abdopus aculeatus is a near-shore species and can be found in seagrass beds. Some species can survive in deeper environments. The spoon-armed octopus (Bathypolypus arcticus) can live {{convert|1000|m|ft|abbr=on}} deep, and Vulcanoctopus hydrothermalis lives in depths of {{convert|2000|m|ft|abbr=on}} around hydrothermal vents.{{rp|13–15}} Species such as Megaleledone setebos and Pareledone charcoti, can survive in the waters of the Antarctic, which reach {{convert|−1.8|C|0}}.{{cite journal|last1=Oellermann|first1=M|last2=Lieb|first2=B|last3=Pörtner|first3=H-O|last4=Semmens|first4=J. M.|last5=Mark|first5=F. C.|year=2015|title=Blue blood on ice: modulated blood oxygen transport facilitates cold compensation and eurythermy in an Antarctic octopod|journal=Frontiers in Zoology|volume=12|issue=6|page=6|doi=10.1186/s12983-015-0097-x|doi-access=free|pmid=25897316|pmc=4403823}} No species are known to live in fresh water.{{cite web |last=Norman |first=Mark |date=16 January 2013|title=Ask an expert: Are there any freshwater cephalopods?|publisher=ABC Science |access-date=26 April 2017 |url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2013/01/16/3670198.htm}}

The cirrate species are often free-swimming and live in deep-water habitats.{{cite book |author=Marshall Cavendish Corporation |title=Encyclopedia of the Aquatic World |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=swGA8GtK4n8C|page=764}} |date=2004 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=978-0-7614-7424-1 |page=764}} Although several species live at bathyal and abyssal depths, only a single indisputable record documents their presence in the hadal zone; a species of Grimpoteuthis (dumbo octopus) photographed at {{cvt|6957|m|ft}}.{{cite journal |last1=Jamieson |first1=A.J. |last2=Vecchione |first2=M. |title=First in situ observation of Cephalopoda at hadal depths (Octopoda: Opisthoteuthidae: Grimpoteuthis sp.) |journal=Marine Biology |year=2020 |volume=167 |issue=82 |doi=10.1007/s00227-020-03701-1 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2020MarBi.167...82J }}

Octopuses are mostly solitary{{rp|17, 134}} though a few are known to live in groups and interact regularly, usually in the context of dominance and reproductive competition. This is likely the result of abundant food supplies combined with fewer den sites.{{cite journal |last=Scheel |first=D. |display-authors=etal |year=2017 |title=A second site occupied by Octopus tetricus at high densities, with notes on their ecology and behavior |journal=Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=285–291 |doi=10.1080/10236244.2017.1369851 |bibcode=2017MFBP...50..285S |s2cid=89738642}} The Larger Pacific striped octopus has been described as particularly social, living in groups of up to 40.{{cite journal |last=Rodaniche |first=Arcadio F. |date=1991 |title=Notes on the behavior of the Larger Pacific Striped Octopus, an undescribed species of the genus Octopus |journal=Bulletin of Marine Science |volume=49 |pages=667}}{{cite journal |last1=Caldwell |first1=Roy L. |last2=Ross |first2=Richard |last3=Rodaniche |first3=Arcadio |last4=Huffard |first4=Christine L. |year=2015 |title=Behavior and Body Patterns of the Larger Pacific Striped Octopus |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=10 |issue=8 |pages=e0134152 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0134152 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=4534201 |pmid=26266543 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1034152C|doi-access=free }} Octopuses hide in dens, which are typically crevices in rocky or other hard structures, including man-made ones. Small species may use abandoned shells and bottles.{{rp|69, 74–75}} They can navigate to a den without having to retrace their outward route.{{cite journal |url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtful-animal/how-do-octopuses-navigate/ |title=How do octopuses navigate? |last=Goldman |first=Jason G. |date=24 May 2012 |journal=Scientific American |volume=168 |issue=4 |pages=491–497 |doi=10.1007/BF00199609 |s2cid=41369931 |access-date=8 June 2017}} They are not migratory.{{rp|45–46}}

Octopuses bring captured prey to the den to eat. Dens are often surrounded by a midden of dead and uneaten food items. These middens may attract scavengers such as fish, molluscs, and echinoderms.{{cite web |url=http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoFeed.php |title=Octopuses and Relatives: Feeding, diets and growth |last=Carefoot |first=Thomas |work=A Snail's Odyssey |access-date=13 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508060739/http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoFeed.php |archive-date=8 May 2017 |url-status=dead}} On rare occasions, octopuses hunt cooperatively with other species, with fish as their partners. They regulate the species composition of the hunting {{nowrap|group{{tsp}}{{mdash}}}}{{tsp}}and the behavior of their {{nowrap|partners{{tsp}}{{mdash}}}}{{tsp}}by punching them.{{cite journal |last1=Sampaio |first1=Eduardo |last2=Seco |first2=Martim Costa |last3=Rosa |first3=Rui |last4=Gingins |first4=Simon |title=Octopuses punch fishes during collaborative interspecific hunting events |journal=Ecology |publisher=Ecological Society of America/Wiley Publishing |date=18 December 2020 |volume=102 |issue=3 |pages=e03266 |issn=0012-9658 |doi=10.1002/ecy.3266 |pmid=33338268 |doi-access=free}}

File:Veined Octopus - Amphioctopus Marginatus eating a Crab.jpg eating a crab|alt=An octopus in an open seashell on a sandy surface, surrounding a small crab with the suckers on its arms]]

Octopuses are generally predatory and feed on prey such as crustaceans, bivalves, gastropods, fish, and other cephalopods, including members of the same species.{{cite book |title=Cephalopod Behaviour |publisher=Cambridge University Press |last1=Hanlon |first1=R. T. |last2=Messenger |first2=J. B. |year=1998 |edition=1st|isbn=0-521-64583-2}}{{rp|47, 60}} Major items in the diet of the giant Pacific octopus include bivalves such as the cockle Clinocardium nuttallii, clams and scallops and crustaceans such as crabs. It typically rejects moon snails because they are too large; limpets, rock scallops, chitons and abalone, because they are too securely fixed to the rock. Small cirrate octopuses such as those of the genera Grimpoteuthis and Opisthoteuthis typically prey on polychaetes, copepods, amphipods and isopods.{{Cite book |last1=Collins |first1=Martin A. |last2=Villanueva |first2=Roger |date=2006 |chapter=Taxonomy, ecology and behaviour of the cirrate octopods |title=Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review |volume=44 |pages=277–322 |doi=10.1201/9781420006391.ch6 |doi-broken-date=12 November 2024 |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266220687 |access-date=5 February 2024 |isbn=978-0-8493-7044-1}}

Octopuses typically locate prey by feeling through their environment;{{rp|60}} some species hide and ambush their target.{{rp|54}} When prey tries to escape, the octopus jets after it.{{rp|61}} Octopuses may drill into the shells of crustaceans, bivalves and gastropods. It used to be thought that drilling was done by the radula, but it has now been shown that minute teeth at the tip of the salivary papilla are involved, and an enzyme in the toxic saliva is used to dissolve the calcium carbonate of the shell. This can take hours and once the shell is penetrated, the prey dies almost instantaneously. With crabs, tough-shelled species are more likely to be drilled, and soft-shelled crabs are torn apart.{{cite web |url=http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoHand.php |title=Octopuses and Relatives: Prey handling and drilling |last=Carefoot |first=Thomas |work=A Snail's Odyssey |access-date=21 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170606005247/http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoHand.php |archive-date=6 June 2017 |url-status=dead }}

Some species have other modes of feeding. Grimpoteuthis either lacks or has a small radula and swallows prey whole. In the deep-sea genus Stauroteuthis, the suckers in most species have been altered into photophores which are believed to fool prey by directing them to the mouth, making them one of the few bioluminescent octopuses.{{cite journal |doi=10.2307/1542994 |pmid=28296499 |last1=Johnsen |first1=S. |first2=E. J. |last2=Balser |first3=E. C. |last3=Fisher |first4=E. A. |last4=Widder |year=1999 |url=http://www.biology.duke.edu/johnsenlab/pdfs/pubs/octopusbiolbull.pdf |title=Bioluminescence in the deep-sea cirrate octopod Stauroteuthis syrtensis Verrill (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) |journal=The Biological Bulletin |volume=197 |issue=1 |pages=26–39 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110305114611/http://www.biology.duke.edu/johnsenlab/pdfs/pubs/octopusbiolbull.pdf |archive-date=5 March 2011 |jstor=1542994 }}

File:Octopus3.jpg

Octopuses mainly move about by relatively slow crawling with some swimming in a head-first position. Jet propulsion or backward swimming, is their fastest means of locomotion, while crawling is slowest.{{cite journal |first=Christine L. |last=Huffard |title=Locomotion by Abdopus aculeatus (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae): walking the line between primary and secondary defenses |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |year=2006 |volume=209 |issue=Pt 19 |pages=3697–3707 |doi=10.1242/jeb.02435 |pmid=16985187| doi-access=free |bibcode=2006JExpB.209.3697H }} While crawling, the suckers adhere and detach from the substrate as the animal hauls itself forward with its powerful arm muscles. In 2005, Adopus aculeatus and veined octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus) were found to walk on two arms, while at the same time mimicking plant matter.{{cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.1109616 |title=Underwater Bipedal Locomotion by Octopuses in Disguise |year=2005 |last1=Huffard |first1=C. L. |journal=Science |volume=307 |issue=5717 |page=1927 |pmid=15790846 |last2=Boneka |first2=F. |last3=Full |first3=R. J. |s2cid=21030132 }} This form of locomotion allows these octopuses to move quickly away from a potential predator without being recognised. Some species of octopus can crawl out of the water briefly, which they may do between tide pools.{{rp|183}} "Stilt walking" is used by the veined octopus when carrying stacked coconut shells. The octopus carries the shells underneath it with two arms, and progresses with an awkward gait supported by its remaining arms, which are stiffened.

File:Cirroteuthis muelleri NOAA.jpg|alt=Three images in sequence of a two-finned sea creature swimming with an eight-cornered web]]

Most octopuses swim by expelling a jet of water from the mantle through the siphon into the sea. The direction of travel depends on the orientation of the siphon. When swimming, the head is at the front and the siphon is pointed backward but, when jetting, the visceral hump leads, the siphon points at the head and the arms trail behind, with the animal presenting a fusiform appearance. In an alternative method of swimming, some species flatten themselves dorso-ventrally, and swim with the arms splayed; this may provide lift and be faster than normal swimming. Jetting is used to escape from danger, but is physiologically inefficient, requiring a mantle pressure so high as to stop the heart from beating, resulting in a progressive oxygen deficit.

Cirrate octopuses cannot produce jet propulsion and swim using their fins. Their neutrally buoyant bodies float along while the fins are spread. They can also contract their arms and surrounding web to make sudden moves known as "take-offs". Another form of locomotion is "pumping", which involves symmetrical contractions of muscles in their webs producing peristaltic waves, moving them slowly.

{{Main |Cephalopod intelligence}}

File:Oktopus opening a container with screw cap 02 (cropped).jpg

Octopuses are highly intelligent.{{cite journal |url=https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/1997/Armed-But-Not-Dangerous |title=Armed but not dangerous: Is the octopus really the invertebrate intellect of the sea |first=Doug |last=Stewart |journal=National Wildlife |year=1997 |volume=35 |issue=2}} Maze and problem-solving experiments have shown evidence of a memory system that can store both short- and long-term memory.{{cite journal |last1=Zarrella |first1=Ilaria |last2=Ponte |first2=Giovanna |last3=Baldascino |first3=Elena |last4=Fiorito |first4=Graziano |title=Learning and memory in Octopus vulgaris: a case of biological plasticity |journal=Current Opinion in Neurobiology |volume=35 |year=2015 |issn=0959-4388 |doi=10.1016/j.conb.2015.06.012 |pages=74–79|pmid=26186237 |s2cid=31682363 }} In laboratory experiments, octopuses can readily be trained to distinguish between different shapes and patterns. They have been reported to practise observational learning,{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2796607.stm |title=Octopus intelligence: Jar opening |work=BBC News |date=25 February 2003 |access-date=4 February 2014}} although the validity of these findings is contested. The veined octopus collects discarded coconut shells, then uses them to build a shelter, an example of tool use.{{Cite journal |pmid=20064403 |year=2009 |last1=Finn |first1=J. K. |title=Defensive tool use in a coconut-carrying octopus |journal=Current Biology |volume=19 |issue=23 |pages=R1069–70 |last2=Tregenza |first2=T. |last3=Norman |first3=M. D. |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2009.10.052|s2cid=26835945 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2009CBio...19R1069F }} Octopuses have also been observed in what has been described as play: including moving around a bottle by jetting water at it.{{cite web |last1=Mather |first1=J. A. |last2=Anderson |first2=R. C. |year=1998 |title=What behavior can we expect of octopuses? |website=The Cephalopod Page |editor1-last=Wood |editor1-first=J. B. |url=http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/behavior.php |access-date=22 October 2006 |archive-date=5 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005135515/http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/behavior.php |url-status=dead }} Octopuses often break out of aquariums and sometimes into others in search of food.{{cite journal |url=http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/_pdf/2004Escape.pdf |title=Interspecific Evaluation of Octopus Escape Behavior |date=2004 |journal=Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science |pages=95–106 |volume=7 |number=2 |access-date=11 September 2015 |doi=10.1207/s15327604jaws0702_2 |pmid=15234886 |last1=Wood |first1=J. B |last2=Anderson |first2=R. C |citeseerx=10.1.1.552.5888 |s2cid=16639444 }}{{cite book |chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=lD8DAAAAQAAJ |page=38}} |title=Aquarium Notes – The Octopus; or, the "devil-fish" of fiction and of fact |last=Lee |first=Henry |chapter=V: The octopus out of water |date=1875 |publisher=Chapman and Hall |oclc=1544491 |location=London |access-date=11 September 2015 |pages=38–39 |quote=The marauding rascal had occasionally issued from the water in his tank, and clambered up the rocks, and over the wall into the next one; there he had helped himself to a young lump-fish, and, having devoured it, returned demurely to his own quarters by the same route, with well-filled stomach and contented mind.}}{{Cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/13/the-great-escape-inky-the-octopus-legs-it-to-freedom-from-new-zealand-aquarium?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other |title=The great escape: Inky the octopus legs it to freedom from aquarium |last=Ainge Roy |first=Eleanor |date=14 April 2016 |work=The Guardian (Australia)}} Evidence indicates that octopuses have sentience and can feel pain.{{Cite web |last=Henriques |first=Martha |date=25 July 2022 |title=The mysterious inner life of the octopus |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220720-do-octopuses-feel-pain |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}

File:Octopus.ogv

Octopuses use camouflage to hunt and to avoid predators. To do this, they use specialised skin cells that change colour. Chromatophores contain yellow, orange, red, brown, or black pigments; most species have three of these colours, while some have two or four. Other colour-changing cells are reflective iridophores and white leucophores.{{cite web |url=http://www.docdatabase.net/more-tales-from-the-cryptic-the-common-atlantic-octopus-octopus-vulgaris-13832.html |title=Tales from the Cryptic: The Common Atlantic Octopus |access-date=27 July 2006 |last=Meyers |first=Nadia |publisher=Southeastern Regional Taxonomic Centre |archive-date=5 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220305152911/http://www.docdatabase.net/more-tales-from-the-cryptic-the-common-atlantic-octopus-octopus-vulgaris-13832.html |url-status=dead }} This colour-changing ability is also used to communicate with or warn other octopuses.{{rp|90–97}} The energy cost of the complete activation of the chromatophore system is high, nearly matching the energy used at rest.{{Cite journal |last1=Sonner |first1=Sofie C. |last2=Onthank |first2=Kirt L. |date=2024 |title=High energetic cost of color change in octopuses |url=https://pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2408386121 |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=121 |issue=48 |pages=e2408386121 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2408386121 |pmid=39556731 |pmc=11621519 |pmc-embargo-date=May 18, 2025 |bibcode=2024PNAS..12108386S |issn=0027-8424}}

Octopuses can create distracting patterns with waves of dark colouration across the body, a display known as the "passing cloud". Muscles in the skin change the texture of the mantle to achieve greater camouflage. In some species, the mantle can take on the bumpy appearance of algae-covered rocks. Diurnal, shallow water octopuses have more complex skin than their nocturnal and deep-sea counterparts. In the latter species, skin anatomy is limited to one colour or pattern.{{rp|89–97}}

Octopus' "moving rock" trick involves mimicking a rock and then inching across the open space with a speed matching that of the surrounding water.{{cite book |title=Cephalopod Behaviour |publisher=Cambridge University Press |last1=Hanlon |first1=R. T. |last2=Messenger |first2=J. B. |year=2018|pages=110–111|edition=2nd |isbn=978-0521897853}}

File:Hapalochlaena lunulata2.JPG of greater blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena lunulata)|alt=An octopus among coral displaying conspicuous rings of turquoise outlined in black against a sandy background]]

Aside from humans, octopuses are prey for fishes, seabirds, sea otters, pinnipeds, cetaceans, other cephalopods, and humans. Octopuses typically hide or disguise themselves by camouflage and mimicry; some have conspicuous warning coloration (aposematism) or deimatic behaviour (“bluffing” a threatening appearance).{{rp|90–97}} An octopus may hide in their dens for as much as 40% of the day. When the octopus is approached, it may reach out an arm to investigate. 66% of E. dofleini in one study had scars, with 50% missing arms.{{cite web |url=http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoPred.php |title=Octopuses and Relatives: Predators and Defenses |last=Carefoot |first=Thomas |work=A Snail's Odyssey |access-date=13 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421151656/http://www.asnailsodyssey.com/LEARNABOUT/OCTOPUS/octoPred.php |archive-date=21 April 2017 |url-status=dead }} The blue rings of the venomous blue-ringed octopus are hidden in muscular skin folds which contract when the animal is threatened, revealing the iridescent warning.{{cite journal |last1=Mäthger |first1=L. M. |last2=Bell |first2=G. R. |last3=Kuzirian |first3=A. M. |last4=Allen |first4=J. J. |last5=Hanlon |first5=R. T. |year=2012 |title=How does the blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena lunulata) flash its blue rings? |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |volume=215 |issue=21 |pages=3752–3757 |doi=10.1242/jeb.076869 |pmid=23053367 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2012JExpB.215.3752M }} The Atlantic white-spotted octopus (Callistoctopus macropus) becomes redder with bright white spots in a deimatic display. Displays are often reinforced by stretching out the animal's arms, fins or web to make it look as big and threatening as possible.{{rp|80–81}}

Octopus try to escape from a predator by ejecting an ink cloud, which acts as a "smoke-screen" or a decoy, as well as to interfere with the attacker's sense of smell.{{Cite journal |last1=Caldwell |first1=R. L. |year=2005 |title=An Observation of Inking Behavior Protecting Adult Octopus bocki from Predation by Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas) Hatchlings |journal=Pacific Science |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=69–72 |doi=10.1353/psc.2005.0004 |url=http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/24161/1/PacSci_069_072.pdf |hdl=10125/24161 |s2cid=54223984 |hdl-access=free }} When severed by a predator, some octopuses can detach their arm,{{rp|86–87}} which can grow back.{{rp|85}} Some octopuses, such as the mimic octopus, can combine their flexible bodies with their colour-changing ability to mimic other, more dangerous animals, such as lionfish, sea snakes, and eels.{{cite journal |last1=Norman |first1=M. D. |last2=Finn |first2=J. |last3=Tregenza |first3=T. |title=Dynamic mimicry in an Indo-Malayan octopus |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society |volume=268 |issue=1478 |pages=1755–8 |date=2001 |pmid=11522192 |pmc=1088805 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2001.1708 |url=http://marinebio.org/upload/files/mimic.pdf |access-date=1 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210191131/http://marinebio.org/upload/files/mimic.pdf |archive-date=10 February 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}{{cite journal |last=Norman |first=M. D. |year=2005 |title=The 'Mimic Octopus' (Thaumoctopus mimicus n. gen. et sp.), a new octopus from the tropical Indo-West Pacific (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) |url=http://www.mapress.com/mr/content/v25/2005f/n2p070.htm |journal=Molluscan Research |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=57–70 |doi=10.11646/mr.25.2.1 |s2cid=260016769 }}

Cephalopods are known to be the intermediate or final hosts of various parasitic cestodes, nematodes and copepods; 150 species of protistan and metazoan parasites are recognised.{{cite journal |last1=Pascal |first1=Santiago |last2=Gestal |first2=Camino |last3=Estevez |first3=J. |last4=Arias |first4=Christian Andrés |year=1996 |title=Parasites in commercially-exploited cephalopods (Mollusca, Cephalopoda) in Spain: An updated perspective |journal=Aquaculture |volume=142 |issue=1–2 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.1016/0044-8486(96)01254-9 |bibcode=1996Aquac.142....1P }} The Dicyemidae are a family of tiny worms found in the renal appendages of many species;{{cite journal |last1=Furuya |first1=Hidetaka |last2=Tsuneki |first2=Kazuhiko |date=2003 |title=Biology of Dicyemid Mesozoans |journal=Zoological Science |volume=20 |issue=5 |pages=519–532 |doi=10.2108/zsj.20.519 |pmid=12777824|s2cid=29839345 |doi-access=free }} it is unclear whether they are parasitic or endosymbionts. Coccidians in the genus Aggregata living in the gut cause serious illness in the host. Octopuses have an innate immune system; their haemocytes locate the foreign invader and attack it via phagocytosis, encapsulation, infiltration, or cytotoxicity. The haemocytes also contribute to healing injures.{{cite journal |last1=Castellanos-Martínez |first1=Sheila |last2=Gestal |first2=Camino |year=2013 |title=Pathogens and immune response of cephalopods |journal=Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology |volume=447 |pages=14–22 |url=https://www.academia.edu/6443538 |doi=10.1016/j.jembe.2013.02.007 |bibcode=2013JEMBE.447...14C }} A gram-negative bacterium, Vibrio lentus, can cause skin lesions, exposure of muscle and sometimes death.{{cite journal |last1=Farto |first1=R. |last2=Armada |first2=S. P. |last3=Montes |first3=M. |last4=Guisande |first4=J. A. |last5=Pérez |first5=M. J. |last6=Nieto |first6=T. P. |year=2003 |title=Vibrio lentus associated with diseased wild octopus (Octopus vulgaris) |journal=Journal of Invertebrate Pathology |volume=83 |issue=2 |pages=149–156 |doi=10.1016/S0022-2011(03)00067-3|pmid=12788284 |bibcode=2003JInvP..83..149F }}

{{Further|Evolution of cephalopods}}

The scientific name Octopoda was first given as the order of octopuses in 1818 by English biologist William Elford Leach,{{cite WoRMS |last=Gofas |first=S.|year=2009 |title=Octopoda |id=11718 |access-date=5 May 2017 }} who classified them as Octopoida the previous year. Octopoda consists of around 300 known species{{rp|145}} and were historically divided into two suborders, the Incirrina and the Cirrina.{{cite book|last1=Boyle|first1=P|last2=Rodhouse|first2=P|year=2008|title=Cephalopods: Ecology and Fisheries|publisher=Wiley|page=72|isbn=9781405145435}} More recent evidence suggests cirrates are the most basal species, not a unique clade. The incirrate octopuses (the majority of species) lack the cirri and paired swimming fins of the cirrates. In addition, the internal shell of incirrates is either present as a pair of stylets or absent altogether.{{cite journal |last1=Fuchs |first1=D. |first2=C. |last2=Ifrim |first3=W. |last3=Stinnesbeck |year=2008 |title=A new Palaeoctopus (Cephalopoda: Coleoidea) from the Late Cretaceous of Vallecillo, north-eastern Mexico, and implications for the evolution of Octopoda |journal=Palaeontology |volume=51 |issue=5 |pages=1129–1139 |doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00797.x |bibcode=2008Palgy..51.1129F |doi-access=free}}

File:Muensterella_scutellaris_348.jpg (fossil pictured) in the Jurassic period.|alt=Fossil of crown group coleoid on a slab of Jurassic rock from Germany]]

The Cephalopoda descended from a mollusc resembling the Monoplacophora in the Cambrian some 530 million years ago. The Coleoidea, which brought their shells inside the body, diverged from the nautiloids in the Devonian some 416 million years ago. Around 276 million years ago, during the Permian, the coleoids split into two groups, the Vampyropoda and the Decabrachia.{{cite journal |last1=Kröger |first1=Björn |last2=Vinther |first2=Jakob |last3=Fuchs |first3=Dirk |title=Cephalopod origin and evolution: A congruent picture emerging from fossils, development and molecules |journal=BioEssays |volume=33 |issue=8 |year=2011 |pages=602–613 |issn=0265-9247 |doi=10.1002/bies.201100001|pmid=21681989 |s2cid=2767810 }} The octopuses arose from the Muensterelloidea within the Vampyropoda in the Jurassic. The earliest octopus likely lived near the sea floor (benthic to demersal) in shallow marine environments.{{Cite journal |last1=Fuchs |first1=Dirk |last2=Schweigert |first2=Günter |year=2018 |title=First Middle–Late Jurassic gladius vestiges provide new evidence on the detailed origin of incirrate and cirrate octopuses (Coleoidea) |journal=PalZ |volume=92 |issue=2 |pages=203–217 |doi=10.1007/s12542-017-0399-8 |bibcode=2018PalZ...92..203F |s2cid=135245479 |issn=0031-0220}}{{cite journal |last1=Fuchs |first1=Dirk |last2=Iba |first2=Yasuhiro |last3=Heyng |first3=Alexander |last4=Iijima |first4=Masaya |last5=Klug |first5=Christian |last6=Larson |first6=Neal L. |last7=Schweigert |first7=Günter |last8=Brayard |first8=Arnaud |title=The Muensterelloidea: phylogeny and character evolution of Mesozoic stem octopods |journal=Papers in Palaeontology |volume=6 |issue=1 |year=2019 |pages=31–92 |issn=2056-2802 |doi=10.1002/spp2.1254|s2cid=198256507 }} Octopuses consist mostly of soft tissue, and so fossils are relatively rare. As soft-bodied cephalopods, they lack the external shell of most molluscs, including other cephalopods like the nautiloids and the (extinct) Ammonoidea.{{cite web |title=A Broad Brush History of the Cephalopoda |url=http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/evolution.php |publisher=The Cephalopod Group |access-date=27 March 2017 |archive-date=16 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716165558/http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/evolution.php |url-status=dead }} They have eight limbs like other Coleoidea, but lack the extra specialised feeding appendages known as tentacles which are longer and thinner with suckers only at their club-like ends.{{cite web |last1=Young |first1=R. E. |first2=M. |last2=Vecchione |first3=K. M. |last3=Mangold |year=1999 |url=http://tolweb.org/accessory/Cephalopoda_Glossary?acc_id=587 |title=Cephalopoda Glossary |publisher=Tree of Life web project |access-date=30 May 2017}}{{cite journal|last1=Nödl|first1=M-T|last2=Fossati|first2=S. M.|last3=Domingues|first3=P|last4=Sánchez|first4=F. J.|last5=Zullo|first5=L|year=2015|title=The making of an octopus arm|journal=EvoDevo|volume=6|page=19|doi=10.1186/s13227-015-0012-8|doi-access=free |pmid=26052417 |pmc=4458049 }} The vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis) also lacks tentacles but has sensory filaments.{{cite web |last=Seibel |first=B. |title=Vampyroteuthis infernalis, Deep-sea Vampire squid |publisher=The Cephalopod Page |url=http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/vampy.php |access-date=31 May 2017 |archive-date=16 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716165547/http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/vampy.php |url-status=dead }}

The cladograms are based on Sanchez et al., 2018, who created a molecular phylogeny based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA marker sequences.{{cite journal |last1=Sanchez |first1=Gustavo |last2=Setiamarga |first2=Davin H. E. |last3=Tuanapaya |first3=Surangkana |last4=Tongtherm |first4=Kittichai |last5=Winkelmann |first5=Inger E. |last6=Schmidbaur |first6=Hannah |last7=Umino |first7=Tetsuya |last8=Albertin |first8=Caroline |last9=Allcock |first9=Louise |last10=Perales-Raya |first10=Catalina |last11=Gleadall |first11=Ian |last12=Strugnell |first12=Jan M. |last13=Simakov |first13=Oleg |last14=Nabhitabhata |first14=Jaruwat |title=Genus-level phylogeny of cephalopods using molecular markers: current status and problematic areas |journal=PeerJ |volume=6 |year=2018 |doi=10.7717/peerj.4331 |pmid=29456885 |pmc=5813590 |page=e4331 |doi-access=free }} The position of the Eledonidae is from Ibáñez et al., 2020, with a similar methodology.{{cite journal |last1=Ibáñez |first1=Christian M. |last2=Fenwick |first2=Mark |last3=Ritchie |first3=Peter A. |last4=Carrasco |first4=Sergio A. |last5=Pardo-Gandarillas |first5=M. Cecilia |title=Systematics and Phylogenetic Relationships of New Zealand Benthic Octopuses (Cephalopoda: Octopodoidea) |journal=Frontiers in Marine Science |volume=7 |year=2020 |page=182 |issn=2296-7745 |doi=10.3389/fmars.2020.00182|doi-access=free |bibcode=2020FrMaS...7..182I }} Divergence dates are from Kröger et al., 2011 and Fuchs et al., 2019.

{{clade

|label1=Cephalopods|sublabel1=530 mya

|1={{clade

|label1=Nautiloids

|1=Nautilus File:Nautilus belauensis profile (white background).jpg

|label2=Coleoids|sublabel2=416 mya

|2={{clade

|label1=Decabrachia

|1=Squids and cuttlefish File:Berryteuthis_magister.jpg

|label2=Vampyropoda|sublabel2=276 mya

|2={{clade

|label1=Vampyromorphida

|1=File:Vampyroteuthis_infernalis.jpg

|label2=Octopods|sublabel2=155 mya

|2=File:Octopus vulgaris Merculiano.jpg

}}

}}

}}

}}

The molecular analysis of the octopods shows that the suborder Cirrina (Cirromorphida) and the superfamily Argonautoidea are paraphyletic and are broken up; these names are shown in quotation marks and italics on the cladogram.

{{clade

|label1=Octopoda

|1={{clade

|label1="Cirromorphida" part

|1={{clade

|1=Cirroteuthidae 40px

|2=Stauroteuthidae 65px

}}

|2={{clade

|label1="Cirromorphida" part

|1={{clade

|1=Opisthoteuthidae 45px

|2=Cirroctopodidae 45px

}}

|label2=Octopodida

|2={{clade

|label1="Argonautoidea" part

|1={{clade

|1=Tremoctopodidae 45px

|2=Alloposidae 60px

}}

|2={{clade

|1={{clade

|label1="Argonautoidea" part

|1={{clade

|1=Argonautidae 55px

|2=Ocythoidae 50px

}}

|label2=Octopodoidea

|2={{clade

|1=Eledonidae 75px

|2={{clade

|1=Bathypolypodidae 75px

|2={{clade

|1=Enteroctopodidae 55px

|2={{clade

|1=Octopodidae 55px

|2=Megaleledonidae 55px

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

|2={{clade

|1=Bolitaenidae 75px

|2={{clade

|1=Amphitretidae 70px

|2=Vitreledonellidae 50px

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

}}

Octopuses, like other coleoid cephalopods but unlike more basal cephalopods or other molluscs, are capable of greater RNA editing, changing the nucleic acid sequence of the primary transcript of RNA molecules, than any other organisms. Much editing is done in the nervous system, particularly for excitability and neuronal morphology. Coleoids rely mostly on ADAR enzymes for RNA editing, which requires large, double-stranded RNA structures. The many editing sites are conserved in the coleoid genome and the mutation rates for the sites are hampered. Hence, greater transcriptome plasticity has come at the cost of slower genome evolution.{{cite journal |last1=Liscovitch-Brauer |first1=N. |last2=Alon |first2=S. |last3=Porath |first3=H. T. |last4=Elstein |first4=B. |last5=Unger |first5=R. |last6=Ziv |first6=T. |last7=Admon |first7=A. |last8=Levanon |first8=E. Y. |last9=Rosenthal |first9=J. J. C. |last10=Eisenberg |first10=E. |year=2017 |title=Trade-off between transcriptome plasticity and genome evolution in cephalopods |journal=Cell |volume=169 |issue=2 |pages=191–202 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2017.03.025 |pmid=28388405 |pmc=5499236}}

The octopus genome is unremarkably bilaterian except for large developments of two gene families: protocadherins, which regulate the development of neurons; and the C2H2 zinc-finger transcription factors. Many novel genes in both cephalopods generally and octopus specifically manifest in the animals' skin, suckers, and nervous system.

File:AMI - Oktopusvase.jpg clay vase with octopus decoration, c. 1500 BC|alt=An ancient nearly spherical vase with 2 handles by the top, painted all over with an octopus decoration in black]]

Ancient seafaring people were aware of the octopus, as evidenced by artworks and designs. It was depicted on coins during the Minoan civilization possibly as early as 1650 BCE and on pottery in Mycenaean Greece around between 1200 and 1100 BCE. A Hawaiian creation myth suggests that the octopus is the lone survivor of a previous age. The legendary sea monster, the kraken is conceived as octopus-like.{{rp|1, 4–5}} Similarly, Medusa was compared to an octopus, with her snake-hair resembling the creature's arms.{{cite book|last=Schweid|first=R|year=2013|title=Octopus|publisher=Reaktion Books|isbn=978-1-78023-177-8}}{{rp|133}} The Akkorokamui is a gigantic octopus-like monster from Ainu folklore, worshipped in Shinto.{{cite journal |last1=Srinivasan |first1=A. |title=The Sucker, the Sucker! [Review] |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10024715/3/Srinivasan_Octopuses.pdf |journal=London Review of Books |volume=39 |issue=17 |pages=23–25 |date=2017}}

In the Asuka-era Japanese legend Taishokan, a female diver battles an octopus to recover a stolen jewel, which became the inspiration for woodblock printings. Similarly, in the 1973 novel Gravity's Rainbow an octopus named Grigori attacks a woman on the beach. A battle with an octopus plays a significant role in Victor Hugo's 1866 book Travailleurs de la mer (Toilers of the Sea). The octopus continues to be depicted as antagonistic in films such as Wake of the Red Witch (1948).{{rp|129–131, 138–139, 145–147}}

In political cartoons, octopuses have been used to symbolise empires and large organizations, the arms representing long reach. Octopus also had an erotic appeal. Japanese erotic art, shunga, includes ukiyo-e woodblock prints such as Katsushika Hokusai's 1814 print Tako to ama (The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife), in which a woman is sexually intertwined with a large and a small octopus. This art style would inspire Pablo Picasso's 1903 drawing An Erotic Drawing: Woman and Octopus.{{rp|126–128}} Some individual octopuses gained celebrity status, notably Paul the Octopus who predicted the winners of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.{{rp|3–4}}

{{further information|Cephalopod attack}}

File:Colossal octopus by Pierre Denys de Montfort.jpg drawing of an imagined colossal octopus attacking a ship, by the malacologist Pierre de Montfort, 1801|alt=Coloured drawing of a huge octopus rising from the sea and attacking a sailing ship's three masts with its spiralling arms]]

Octopuses generally avoid humans, but some conflictual incidents have been verified. For example, a {{convert|2.4|metre|feet|0|adj=on}} Pacific octopus, said to be nearly perfectly camouflaged, "lunged" at a diver and "wrangled" over his camera before it let go. Another diver recorded the encounter on video.{{cite news |last=Ross |first=Philip |title=8-Foot Octopus Wrestles Diver Off California Coast, Rare Encounter Caught on Camera |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/8-foot-octopus-wrestles-diver-calif-coast-rare-encounter-caught-camera-video-1556415 |work=International Business Times |date=18 February 2014}} All species are venomous, but only blue-ringed octopuses have venom that is lethal to humans.{{cite web|title=Eight Strange and Wonderful Facts About Octopuses|website=Shedd Aquarium|date=6 September 2023 |url=https://www.sheddaquarium.org/stories/eight-strange-and-wonderful-facts-about-octopuses#:~:text=Venom,Australia%20is%20dangerous%20to%20humans|accessdate=4 April 2025}} Blue-ringed octopuses rank amongst the most dangerous marine animals; their bites are reported each year across the animals' range from Australia to the eastern Indo-Pacific Ocean. They bite only when provoked or accidentally touched; bites are small and usually painless. The venom appears to be able to penetrate the skin without a puncture, given prolonged contact. It contains tetrodotoxin, which causes paralysis by blocking the transmission of nerve impulses to the muscles. This causes death by respiratory failure leading to cerebral anoxia. No antidote is known, but if breathing can be kept going artificially, patients recover within 24 hours.{{cite web |title=Blue-ringed Octopuses, Hapalochlaena maculosa |url=http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=403 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120524092455/http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=403 |archive-date=2012-05-24 |access-date=12 April 2017 |publisher=The MarineBio Conservation Society}}{{cite web |last1=Caldwell |first1=Roy |title=What makes blue-rings so deadly? Blue-ringed octopus have tetrodotoxin |url=http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/bluering2.php |website=The Cephalopod Page |access-date=12 April 2017 |archive-date=18 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718144602/http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/bluering2.php |url-status=dead }} Bites have been recorded from captive octopuses of other species; they leave temporary swellings.{{rp|68}}

{{Main|Octopus as food}}

File:Tako nigiri 2.jpg]]

Octopuses are fished around the world and between 1988 and 1995, catches varied between 245,320 and 322,999 metric tons.{{cite web |last1=Gillespie |first1=G. E. |last2=Parker |first2=G. |last3=Morrison |first3=J. |date=1998 |title=A Review of Octopus Fisheries Biology and British Columbia Octopus Fisheries |publisher=Canadian Stock Assessment Secretariat |url=https://waves-vagues.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/Library/227412.pdf}} The world catch peaked in 2007 at 380,000 tons, and had fallen by a tenth by 2012.{{cite web |last1=Rocliffe |first1=S. |last2=Harris |first2=A. |url=https://blueventures.org/publication/status-octopus-fisheries-western-indian-ocean/ |title=The status of octopus fisheries in the Western Indian Ocean |year=2016 |access-date=18 June 2017}} Methods to capture octopuses include pots, trapping, trawling, snaring, drift fishing, spearing, hooking and catching by hands. Octopuses are also bycatch.{{cite journal |last1=Sauer |first1=Warwick H. H. |last2=Gleadall |first2=Ian G. |display-authors=etal |date=6 December 2019 |title=World Octopus Fisheries |journal=Reviews in Fisheries Science & Aquaculture |publisher=Taylor & Francis |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=279–429 |doi=10.1080/23308249.2019.1680603 |issn=2330-8249 |s2cid=210266167 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10261/227068}}

Octopus is eaten in many cultures, such as those on the Mediterranean and Asian coasts.{{cite web |url=http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/octopus-and-kin/giant-pacific-octopus |title=Giant Pacific octopus |website=Monterey Bay Aquarium |date=2017 |access-date=1 August 2015 |archive-date=4 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704213912/http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animal-guide/octopus-and-kin/giant-pacific-octopus |url-status=dead }} The arms and other body parts are prepared in ways that vary by species and geography. Live octopuses or their wriggling pieces are consumed as san-nakji in Korean cuisine.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/nov/10/live-and-let-dine |access-date=15 April 2015| last=Eriksen |first=L. |date=10 November 2010 |work=The Guardian |title=Live and let dine}}{{cite magazine |date=3 October 2014 |title=Why not eat octopus? |last=Killingsworth |first=Silvia |url=http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/eating-octopus |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=15 April 2016}} If not prepared properly, however, the severed arms can choke the diner with their suction cups, causing at least one death in 2010.{{Cite web |last=Dodgson |first=Lindsay |date=2019-05-11 |title=Here's why eating a live octopus can be deadly |url=https://www.insider.com/eating-live-octopus-can-kill-you-2019-5 |website=Insider}} Animal welfare groups have objected to the live consumption of octopuses on the basis that they can experience pain.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/may/30/food-restaurants-macho-eating-live |title=Macho foodies in New York develop a taste for notoriety |access-date=15 April 2015 |last=Ferrier |first=M. |date=30 May 2010 |work=The Guardian}}

In classical Greece, Aristotle (384–322 BC) commented on their colour-changing abilities, both for camouflage and for signalling, in his Historia animalium: "The octopus ... seeks its prey by so changing its colour as to render it like the colour of the stones adjacent to it; it does so also when alarmed."{{cite book |author=Aristotle |title=Historia animalium |orig-date=c. 350 BCE |volume=IX |page=622a: 2–10 |authorlink=Aristotle}} Cited in {{Cite book |last1=Borrelli |first1=Luciana |url=https://doi.org/10.36253/88-8453-376-7 |title=A Catalogue of Body Patterning in Cephalopoda |last2=Gherardi |first2=Francesca |last3=Fiorito |first3=Graziano |date=2006 |publisher=Firenze University Press |isbn=88-8453-377-5 |series=Cataloghi e collezioni |location=Firenze |doi=10.36253/88-8453-376-7 |authorlink2=Francesca}} {{cite web |date=2006 |title=Abstract |url=http://www.fupress.com/scheda.asp?IDV=487 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206145302/http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/history_anim.9.ix.html |archive-date=6 February 2018}} Aristotle noted that the octopus had a hectocotyl arm and suggested it might be used in reproduction. This claim was widely ignored until the 19th century. It was described in 1829 by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier, who supposed it to be a parasitic worm, naming it as a new species, Hectocotylus octopodis.{{Cite journal |last=Harman |first=Oren |date=2016-01-01 |title=The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science |url=https://doi.org/10.1215/0961754x-3323121 |journal=Common Knowledge |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=128 |doi=10.1215/0961754x-3323121 |issn=0961-754X}}{{cite book |last=Leroi |first=Armand Marie |author-link=Armand Marie Leroi |title=The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science |title-link=Aristotle's Lagoon |publisher=Bloomsbury |date=2014 |isbn=978-1-4088-3622-4 |pages=71–72}}{{cite web |title=The Cephalopoda |url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/taxa/inverts/mollusca/cephalopoda.php|publisher=University of California Museum of Paleontology|access-date=27 March 2017}} Other zoologists thought it a spermatophore; the German zoologist Heinrich Müller believed it was "designed" to detach during copulation. In 1856, the Danish zoologist Japetus Steenstrup demonstrated that it is used to transfer sperm, and only rarely detaches.{{cite book |last=Mann |first=T. |title=Spermatophores: Development, Structure, Biochemical Attributes and Role in the Transfer of Spermatozoa |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=imPrCAAAQBAJ|page=28 }}|year=2012 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-642-82308-4 |page=28}}

File:OCTOPUS arm1.JPG 'Octopus' robotics arm. The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, 2011{{cite journal |last1=Laschi |first1=Cecilia|author1-link=Cecilia Laschi |last2=Cianchetti |first2=Matteo |last3=Mazzolai |first3=Barbara |last4=Margheri |first4=Laura |last5=Follador |first5=Maurizio |last6=Dario |first6=Paolo |title=Soft Robot Arm Inspired by the Octopus |journal=Advanced Robotics |volume=26 |issue=7 |year=2012 |pages=709–727 |issn=0169-1864 |doi=10.1163/156855312X626343|s2cid=6104200 }}]]

Octopuses offer many possibilities in biological research; the California two-spot octopus had its genome sequenced, allowing exploration of its molecular adaptations.{{cite journal |last1=Albertin |first1=Caroline B. |last2=Simakov |first2=Oleg |last3=Mitros |first3=Therese |last4=Wang |first4=Z. Yan |last5=Pungor |first5=Judit R. |last6=Edsinger-Gonzales |first6=Eric |last7=Brenner |first7=Sydney |last8=Ragsdale |first8=Clifton W. |last9=Rokhsar |first9=Daniel S. |title=The octopus genome and the evolution of cephalopod neural and morphological novelties |journal=Nature |volume=524 |issue=7564 |year=2015 |pages=220–224 |issn=0028-0836 |doi=10.1038/nature14668|pmid=26268193 |pmc=4795812 |bibcode=2015Natur.524..220A |doi-access=free }} Having independently evolved mammal-like intelligence, octopuses were compared by the philosopher Peter Godfrey-Smith, who studied the nature of intelligence,{{cite book |last=Godfrey-Smith |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Godfrey-Smith |title=Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness |date=2018 |publisher=William Collins |isbn=978-0-00-822629-9 |pages=77–105, 137–157}} to hypothetical intelligent extraterrestrials.{{cite web |last=Baer |first=Drake |date=20 December 2016 |title=Octopuses Are 'the Closest We Will Come to Meeting an Intelligent Alien' |publisher=Science of Us |access-date=26 April 2017 |url=http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/12/octopuses-are-intelligent-aliens.html}} Their intelligence and flexible bodies enable them to escape from supposedly secure tanks in public aquariums.{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2016/04/13/octopus-slips-out-of-aquarium-tank-crawls-across-floor-escapes-down-pipe-to-ocean/ |title=Octopus slips out of aquarium tank, crawls across floor, escapes down pipe to ocean |last=Brulliard |first=Karin |date=13 April 2016 |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=20 February 2017}}

Due to their intelligence, many argue that octopuses should be given protections when used for experiments.{{cite journal|author=Reardon, Sara|title=Octopuses used in research could receive same protections as monkeys|journal=Nature|accessdate=6 April 2025|date=15 September 2023|doi=10.1038/d41586-023-02887-w |pmid=37714985 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02887-w}} In the UK from 1993 to 2012, the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) was the only invertebrate protected under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.{{cite web |title=The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act (Amendment) Order 1993 |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1993/2103/article/3/made#text%3D%22Octopus%22 |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=18 February 2015}} In 2012, this legislation was extended to include all cephalopods{{cite web |title=The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 Amendment Regulations 2012 |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/3039/regulation/3/made |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=18 February 2015}} in accordance with a general EU directive.{{cite web |title=Directive 2010/63/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council |url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:276:0033:0079:EN:PDF |publisher=Official Journal of the European Union |access-date=18 February 2015 |at=Article 1, 3(b) (see page 276/39)}}

Some robotics research is exploring biomimicry of octopus features. Octopus arms can move and sense largely autonomously without intervention from the animal's central nervous system. In 2015 a team in Italy built soft-bodied robots able to crawl and swim, requiring only minimal computation.{{cite web |title=PoseiDRONE |url=http://sssa.bioroboticsinstitute.it/projects/PoseiDRONE |publisher=The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna |access-date=14 May 2021 |archive-date=15 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515115844/http://sssa.bioroboticsinstitute.it/projects/PoseiDRONE |url-status=dead }}{{cite book |last1=Laschi |first1=Cecilia |title=Soft Robotics |chapter=Soft Robotics Research, Challenges, and Innovation Potential, Through Showcases |year=2015 |pages=255–264 |doi=10.1007/978-3-662-44506-8_21|isbn=978-3-662-44505-1 }} In 2017, a German company made an arm with a soft pneumatically controlled silicone gripper fitted with two rows of suckers. It was able to grasp objects such as a metal tube, a magazine, or a ball, and to fill a glass by pouring water from a bottle.{{cite magazine |last=Burgess |first=Matt |title=This robotic octopus tentacle isn't creepy at all |url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/octopus-robot-tentacle |magazine=Wired |date=27 March 2017}}

• {{annotated link|My Octopus Teacher}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist |30em}}

{{Wikibooks |Dichotomous Key |Octopoda}}

{{Commons}}

• [http://www.eol.org/pages/2315/overview Octopuses – Overview] at the Encyclopedia of Life
• [http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Octopoda Octopoda] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929203838/http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Octopoda |date=29 September 2020 }} at the Tree of Life Web Project
• [https://hakaimagazine.com/features/can-we-really-be-friends-octopus/ "Can We Really Be Friends with an Octopus?"] at Hakai Magazine, January 11, 2022

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