Concept in Definition ABC

This animal, whose scientific name is octopus vulgaris, belongs to the kingdom of the cephalopods. It can measure more than a meter in length, weigh 15 kg and have a wingspan of more than one and a half meters. Normally lives a maximum of two years and as for its reproductionIt is sexual and the female dies after the expulsion of the eggs.

It is one of the animals that best adapts to its environment and this uniqueness is achieved by changing the color of its body or by modifying the texture and the shape of your skin in a few seconds. This capacity for transformation is possible due to its chromatophore organs.

The octopus moves slowly along the seabed using its characteristic tentacles, with which it can catch small crustaceans for its feeding. In its mouth it has a strong chitin beak, with which it can break the shell of a crustacean.

Its powerful senses They allow you to hunt in complete darkness or to detect the movements of other predators from a distance. These invertebrate animals have relatively large brains, similar to that of birds or reptiles. Your ability to

learning is remarkable and in this sense it is one of the few animals that can learn new guidelines conduct.

Data that attracts attention

The octopus is an animal that attracts attention for several reasons:

1) has three hearts, in such a way that one pumps the blood with oxygen and the other two transport the blood to its respiratory organs, the gills,

2) their blood is blue, because they use the molecule of hemocyanin and not hemoglobin to transport oxygen,

3) as a defense weapon they use a powerful toxin, cephalotoxin (this substance causes paralysis in their prey),

4) in each of its suction cups there are about 10,000 sensory cells,

5) has a vision perfectly adapted to its environment due to the quadrangular structure of its pupil,

6) females have longer tentacles than males and

7) If it lacks food for a long period of time, it can eat its own tentacles.

Non-cephalopod octopuses

If a man is in the habit of groping women as a form of sexual conquest, he is most likely called an octopus. In this way, the tentacles of the cephalopod serve as a metaphor to indicate human behavior. This language game is very common, because we must not forget that we popularly say that someone has the sight of a lynx, leads a dog's life, talks like a parrot, memory elephant or is a weirdo.

The animal world is a constant inspiration to describe the qualities or defects of people.

Photos: Fotolia - JorgeAlejandro / Sebastian

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