Octopus

The octopus is one of a number of kinds of predatory marine cephalopod molluscs, found in the warmer seas of the world.

Generally less actively swimming than fellow cephalopods squid and cuttlefish, an octopus has eight suckered tentacles used for attachment to rocks and to prey. To move, it may pull itself over the sea bed with its tentacles, but when in a hurry, it shoots a jet of water out of its body, thrusting it through the water.

Octopuses use chromatophores to perfectly camouflage themselves against their background. When threatened, they can eject a cloud of ink to mask their escape.

Octopuses are highly intelligent, and are capable of opening jars—up to four at once—and solving simple jigsaw puzzles. They can compress their bodies to fit through minute apertures.

Octopuses, having engulfed their prey in their arms, inject it with venom, and some, such as the blue-ringed octopus of Australia, are highly poisonous and are capable of killing a man with their bite.

Octopus is a popular seafood, especially in Mediterranean cuisine, though it must be cooked carefully to avoid the flesh becoming rubbery.