Giant Pacific Octopus
| Giant Pacific Octopus | ||||||||||||
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Giant Pacific Octopus ( Enteroctopus dofleini ) |
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| Enteroctopus dofleini | ||||||||||||
| ( Wülker , 1910) |
The giant Pacific octopus ( Enteroctopus dofleini ) is a large cephalopod belonging to the giant octopus genus . It lives near the coasts of the northwestern Pacific mostly on non-rocky ground and is considered the largest octopus .
Size and appearance
The giant Pacific octopus differs from other species by its size alone. Adult octopuses often reach a weight of 23 to 40 kg. The largest specimens weigh up to 270 kg and can scan a circular area of 9.50 m in diameter with outstretched arms. The mantle or "head" of the octopus is cone-shaped and contains the most important organs of the invertebrate animal. The octopus skin is rather smooth when relaxed. By controlling small pigment cells in its skin and using muscle contractions , each species of octopus is able to change the color , pattern and structure of the skin's surface, which helps the animals to blend in with their surroundings.
nutrition
This octopus commonly eats shrimp, crabs, clams, and fish. He holds the prey with his suction cups and opens the shells of relatively weak mussels (such as the Pacific mussel or Venerupis philippinarum ) with his arm strength; He gnaws or bites a hole with his chitin beak in hard-shelled or more muscled ones like Protothaca staminea and presumably injects a toxin .
intelligence
The giant Pacific octopus is considered to be very intelligent. In aquariums, they solved difficult tasks such as opening a glass lid to get food as a reward. It can also recognize individual people and mimic the behavior of other octopuses.
meaning
The Pacific giant octopus is a source of food for marine mammals such as the seal , the sea otter or the sperm whale . The octopus is also fished commercially in the United States .
Lifespan / reproduction
With an average lifespan of three to five years in nature, the Pacific giant octopus is considered short-lived for an animal of its size. To compensate for its relatively short lifespan, the octopus reproduces extremely. The females lay up to 100,000 eggs, which they take care of intensively. Newly hatched octopuses are about the size of a grain of rice, and only a handful of them survive into adulthood.
protection
Little is known about these solitary animals. The giant Pacific octopus is currently neither on the Red List of Endangered Species nor among the species in need of protection of the Washington Convention on Endangered Species . However, it is very sensitive to water pollution and may need protection in the future to ensure its survival.
swell
- ↑ David Scheel: Characteristics of Habitats Used by Enteroctopus dofleini in Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet, Alaska . In: Marine Ecology , Vol. 23, No. 3, September 24, 2008, doi : 10.1046 / j.1439-0485.2002.02776.x .
- ↑ Tardent, Pierre (1993). Marine Biology: An Introduction. Stuttgart & New York: Verlag Georg Thieme, p. 120.
- ↑ Roland C. Anderson, Jennifer A. Mather: The packaging problem: Bivalve prey selection and prey entry techniques of the octopus Enteroctopus dofleini . In: Journal of Comparative Psychology , Vol. 121, No. 3, 2007, pp. 300-305.
- ^ Roland C. Anderson, Jennifer A. Mather, Mathieu Q. Monette, Stephanie RM Zimsen: Octopuses (Enteroctopus dofleini) recognize individual humans . In: Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science , Vol. 13, No. 3, 2010, pp. 261-272, doi : 10.1080 / 10888705.2010.483892 .
