I find octopi quite fascinating.

Any and every octopus is special and amazing. They can squeeze themselves through any opening as long as it’s as large as its beak -- yes, they have beaks and it’s the only non-malleable part of them).

That amazing color-changing ability that’s most well-known about them? Well, it’s even more amazing because they’re colorblind!

There are around 300 species of them we’ve found so far and I’m sure that each one brings something new to the table.

There’s the Blue Ringed Octopus, tiny and lovely enough that you would love to pluck one out of the sea and stick it in an aquarium to illuminate your home, but deadly enough to ensure that that would be a very bad idea.

Source: Prezi.com

 

There’s the Dumbo Octopus that looks exactly as it sounds, and which anyone would want to squeeze and cuddle, but since it’s adapted to live in the deep sea you’d probably kill it before you could bring it anywhere near close enough to hug.

Source: EV Nautilus

 

Then there’s the Mimic Octopus, the crown jewel of octopus lovers everywhere. Not only can it change the pigments in its skin to adapt to its surroundings, but it also does what no other octopus can, or at least has no interest in doing – mimic other animals.

It’ll hunker down in the sand and stick its tentacles out in a menacing manner like a bunch of sea snakes, curl up around itself and swim like a flatfish and more! I could watch them for hours if anyone was patient enough to post it on YouTube!

 

But the one that amazes me the most is the Graneledone boreopacifica.

Before Animal Planet became a reality TV channel featuring dogs, I loved watching The Most Extreme, where they would count down ten of the best of the best species in regard to speed or strength, etc until we got to the top.

Robbed of number one best mother was the Graneledone boreopacifica. I don’t know the developmental period for each and every octopus species out there, but for this species it is 53 months -- almost 4 and a half years -- the longest of any known species.

Source: Softpedia News

 

During that entire time, the mother does not hunt and does not cease to fan her hundreds of babies to ensure that they’re oxygenated inside their eggs.

She fends off predators, she fends off hunger by cannibalizing herself and finally after all that time of waiting her eggs hatch and she allows herself to rest, either dying of starvation or being eaten by the creatures she kept at bay from her children.

There are many reasons octopi are amazing and I think everyone would enjoy learning more about them!