Credit: Smithsonian Zoo

The octopus is probably smarter than you:

Intelligence is everything. Octopuses are the smartest invertebrate out there (which really means nothing when compared to a brainless anemone, but just wait): Not only do they learn from experience, but also from each other: Newly caught octopuses have been documented to open jars and get to the treats inside by watching another more educated octopus doing the same.

These curious animals have also been known to break out of their tanks and crawl into their neighbors’ in search of uneaten food, while wild animals are known to board ships-sucking their way up the sides to get to the crab holds full of the (which they have to open themselves too, I might add). Come to think of it, a pet octopus would probably provide the owner with hours of entertainment…

The octopus is a lover not a fighter:

Like most animals, an octopus would rather hide from danger than face it. This isn’t to say they can’t handle almost anything, but what’s the point? They are just too smart for that kind of thing and like many intelligent things their hobby is to sit in the dark and ponder.

Credit: Smithsonian Zoo

They don’t have a single bone in their body so they can squeeze themselves down to nothing and fit through crevices no bigger than a nickel. This also means that an octopus looks like a slimy shapeless blob when out of the water.

A major advantage to being an octopus is that you are pretty much hidden even when you’re in plain sight. They mimic everything from rocks, algae and sand to other animals like poisonous fish and snakes.  (Click HERE for a video on underwater camouflage)

Ink is their famous defense system, but there are other options: During the worse case scenario (besides getting eaten) an octopus can donate one of it’s many arms and escape while the clueless predator goes after the seizing tentacle.

Credit: Wikipedia Commons

Smaller octopuses will hide in shells that they drag around with them like a sort of shield. Another tactic is that a little octopus like this,  squished into a shell,  is almost too damn cute to eat.

The octopus is a force to be reckoned with:

I forgot where this happened, but sharks kept disappearing at one unlucky aquarium. These wern’t small sharks either. Plus, sharks are armed with their own slew of defenses like sharp teeth and sandpaper skin which made the situation even more shocking.

It was eventually found out that the resident octopus in the shark tank took on the large, toothy fish and won every time. The reward was a shark dinner, which he apparently acquired a taste for. Pretty impressive.

The octopus probably resents being fried:

 Stick with calamari

The octopus is more popular than you’ll ever be:

It was my love of the cephalopod that spurred me to type up this article. I’m not the only one enamored with these guys. Books, stickers, shirts, websites and magazines are often covered with drawings of octopuses. But I was really delighted to come across the short film ‘OKTAPODI’ created by animation students over the past few years.  Below are some sketches of the characters in the short. It’s no wonder they’ve won over a dozen awards for the cartoon already…but no Oscar *sniff*

(Note: For the grammar officianados out there, octopuses, octopi and octopodes are OK for use as plural…I dont have an excuse for any other errors)