It belongs to the mollusk family.
It belongs to the order of octopuses, which has one genus and four species.
Let’s learn more about it from teketrek.
Facts about The Blanket Octopus
The Blanket Octopus is distinguished from other octopuses by its defense mechanism, where it has other means such as releasing ink into the water for camouflage.
The Blanket Octopus is most famous for having eight arms with bulbous-shaped heads and three hearts.
Its blood is blue due to containing copper-based protein called hemocyanin.
The Blanket Octopus is an invertebrate creature with the ability to compress itself to enter and exit narrow spaces.
Two-thirds of the nerve cells in the Blanket Octopus are concentrated in its arms rather than its head, helping it explore caves for food with a single arm.
One of the distinctive features of the Blanket Octopus is that it has a swollen sac resembling a blanket, with the head at the top.
The only hard part of its body is sharp and beak-like.
It is located on the underside where its arms meet.
When the Blanket Octopus swims, the organ that carries blood to other organs stops pulsating, which exhausts the octopus and may be why it prefers crawling over swimming.
The Blanket Octopus hunts at night, with some also hunting at dusk or dawn.
When feeling threatened, the Blanket Octopus releases ink to obscure visibility from predators.
The Blanket Octopus can camouflage and blend with the ocean by changing its color and contorting its body to resemble sea snakes.
If a Blanket Octopus loses one of its arms or it gets caught, it has the ability to rapidly regrow it.
The Blanket Octopus swims very quickly, but prefers to swim slowly to absorb a large amount of water and then expel it rapidly from its body to escape predators.
The Blanket Octopus Specification
The length: The length of the Blanket Octopus ranges from 30.5 cm to 91.5 cm.
Weight: It weighs between 3 to 10 kg.
The Arms:The Blanket Octopus has eight arms, each with suckers at the end.
These arms appear to have their own consciousness.
Suckers:The Blanket Octopus has an excellent sense of touch due to possessing suckers with receptors that allow it to taste what it touches.
Jaws: It also has very strong jaws, and its saliva is venomous.
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Where do blanket octopus live?
The Blanket Octopus lives in oceans around the world.
It resides near the water surface in structures, reefs, and crevices.
The octopus lives at the bottom of the oceans and makes caves its residence.
What is the diet of the Blanket Octopus
The Blanket Octopus is a carnivorous animal. It feeds on clams, shrimp, crabs, as well as fish and sharks.
The octopus can also prey on birds, grabbing them with its large, long arms and quickly pulling them into its mouth.
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Reproductive stages of the Blanket Octopus
The Blanket Octopus has a short lifespan, living for about six months, while some species live for up to 5 years.
After mating, most female Blanket Octopuses die shortly.
During mating, the male releases sperm and transfers it using its special arms, often using the third right arm in the female’s mantle cavity.
The female lays around 20,000 to 40,000 eggs, which she guards anxiously until they hatch.
She even stops eating during this time.
Females use their claws for self-defense against any attacks, as well as to defend their mate if attacked.
After hatching, the bodies of the young octopuses open up and go through a stage of cellular suicide.
Tissues and organs tear apart until they die. Meanwhile, males swim off and die shortly after mating.
The young Blanket Octopuses are called larvae and drift with marine plankton.
They feed on other animal larvae until they mature and grow but are vulnerable to predation by many animals and plankton eaters.
FAQs about blanket octopu
Why is it called a blanket octopus?
The blanket octopus is named for the expansive sheets of webbing that extend between certain arms. When faced with danger, it spreads these arms wide, forming a blanket-like shape designed to intimidate potential predators.
How deep are blanket octopus?
The Common Blanket Octopus has been observed at the surface at night and undergoes diel vertical migration.Young blanket octopuses have been found at depths ranging from 0 to 250 meters (820 feet).
How rare is blanket octopus?
They note that the blanket octopus is very rarely seen because it normally spends its time out in the open ocean.
Do blanket octopuses change color?
This species is believed to be the most intelligent among all invertebrates. *O. vulgaris* possesses highly advanced pigment-bearing cells, enabling it to change its skin color remarkably quickly and with impressive precision.
How many hearts does a blanket octopus have?
three hearts
Octopuses possess blue blood, three hearts, and a brain shaped like a doughnut.
?Why are male blanket octopuses so small
It comes down to their purpose in life.Males can remain small, as their primary role is to produce and deliver sperm, which is also minuscule, to a female blanket octopus. In contrast, females need to be larger because producing and carrying eggs until they hatch requires significantly more energy.
In conclusion, it is important to highlight the significance of this animal in maintaining ecological balance.
It feeds on algae, plankton, and insects.
It is one of the animals that make us contemplate the greatness of God in the existence of these mysteries and wonders in the seas and oceans.
We hope that in this article we have provided you with useful information, valuable facts, and amazing insights about the unique Blanket Octopus.
References:
Wikipedia
