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Common octopus

Octopus vulgaris

Photo by The MnMs
Published on Project Noah
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12.0717, -68.2807

Field Notes

Description:

The common octopus hunts at dusk. Crabs, crayfish, and bivalve mollusks are preferred, although the octopus will eat almost anything it can catch. It is able to change colour to blend in with its surroundings, and is able to jump upon any unwary prey that strays across its path. The prey is paralyzed by a nerve poison, which the octopus secretes in its saliva, and the octopus is able to grasp its prey using its powerful arms with their two rows of suckers. If the victim is a shelled mollusc, the octopus uses its beak to punch a hole in the shell before sucking out the fleshy contents.

Habitat:

Dive site Alice in Wonderland, Bonaire.

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