Octopus

First, what do you think “Octopus” means? It actually comes from an Ancient Greek compound of two words—“octo” meaning “eight” and “plus” meaning “foot”--and is an eight-legged (for lack of a better word) creature. You can see “octo” in another word you’re very familiar with—“October” which used to be the 8th month (now, it is the 10th month on the Gregorian calendar—weird, right?) and an “octagon” which is an 8-sided object like a “stop” sign.

It is classified as an “Invertebrate” which means it does not have a backbone or a spinal column. If you have ever been fishing, you know of another “invertebrate” which are “nightcrawlers” or worms, which are commonly used as bait to fish with. There are well over 250 different types of octopuses, ranging in size from teeny-tiny to over 25-30 feet long! Isn’t that a huge range of size?

Some think that octopuses are strange looking creatures, with eight long arms and round bodies with big, bulging eyes! They live all over the earth but they especially like the warm waters and tend to lurk around in the deep seas—like a “monster of the deep”! There are some species of octopuses that can be found in the more shallow waters or even that live near the water’s surface. Here's a picture you can print and color:

Just like deep sea divers need special equipment to dive into the deep waters, octopuses have to have built-in systems to handle the change in water pressure and oxygen levels. Their built-in systems includes three hearts—one pumps blood to its internal organs and the other two pump blood to the gills helping it to breathe no mater what the pressure or oxygen level is where they are at the time.

Another cool fact is if they lose an arm—like getting it caught or having a predator rip it off before they got away—they will grow another one! Not only will it grow back, but it will grow with all the suction cups and everything intact! It may not be overnight, but when it is fully grown back, they will be able to use it just like their old one.

Another fact about octopuses is they have powerful suction-cup-like things on their arms which they use to pull their “food” into their mouth. Do you think octopuses are clean to eat? They are a sea creature and what do we know about things that live in the sea so far as food goes? Look up Leviticus 11:9-10 and Deuteronomy 14:9-10. What do they say? It seems only proper that their favorite foods include crabs, shrimps and lobsters! We know they are all unclean and not considered food for humans according to what YAHWEH tells us. Most octopuses will stroll along the ocean’s floor, which is a good place to find their favorite foods!

If humans should not be eating octopuses, do you think other animals do? Other sea creatures such as whales and seals find octopuses to be a tasty meal and gobble them up when they can. To protect themselves, they shoot an inky fluid from their body that darkens the water around them, which makes the sea creature confused and helps the octopus to escape! Another defense mechanism they have is they can change colors to blend in with their surroundings like a chameleon. Also, just like the chameleon, changing color is not just for defending themselves, but also to communicate with other octopuses.

Since they don’t have fins like fish and such, you may wonder how they swim or get around in the water. They use their “siphon” (an actual body part) to swim and steer through he waters—they pull water in and very forcefully expel it out through what is called a “siphon” which propels it forward and helps them to swim rather quickly. It seems the force of the water going one direction, forces them to go in the other direction! They can change the shape and position of the siphon to control direction and speed. Here's the anatomy of an octopus...look for the "siphon."

They like to live by themselves in dens made from rocks, can you imagine that! They have found some even fashioned rock “doors” that close after the octopus is safely inside the den! And we thought we were smart!

Think about all this the next time you happen to come across a creature with eight legs swimming around!

HalleluYAH!

*A “special thanks” to National Geographic for some of the information contained here.