You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

Octopuses have three hearts: one arterial (or systemic) heart linked to two peripheral hearts that pump blood oxygenated by the gills. They also have nine brains, one main and eight secondary. In fact, each arm has its own nervous system. What’s more, two-thirds of an octopus’s neurons are found in its arms.

[Lee Stewart]

With some 500 million neurons, octopuses are as intelligent as dogs.

[Lee Stewart]

While human blood is red because it contains iron-rich hemoglobin, octopus blood owes its blue tint to copper-containing hemocyanin, a protein that helps oxygen circulate better at low temperatures.

[Lee Stewart]

A fossil of the oldest octopus ancestor (a 10-armed vampyropod) was found to be more than 330 million years old. This discovery means that these cephalopods first appeared during the Carboniferous era, some 80 million years before the Mesozoic era in which reptiles and dinosaurs first arrived.

[Lee Stewart]

The larger an octopus is, the longer it’s likely to live...up to a maximum of about five years. In fact, a single act of reproduction will sound the death knell for its brief existence. Common octopuses (Octopus vulgaris) live only about one year. Orphaned at birth, newborns suffer a high mortality rate.

[Lee Stewart]

There are approximately 300 species of octopus in the world. The largest is the northern giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini). It normally grows to about 5 m (16 ft) long and weighs between 20 kg and 50 kg (45 lbs and 110 lbs). The largest individual ever observed was 9.1 m (30 ft) long and weighed 272 kg (600 lbs). The smallest octopod is the pygmy octopus (Octopus wolfi). Measuring less than 2.5 cm (1 in) long, it weighs less than 1 g (0.04 oz).

[Lee Stewart]