Donna Richardson, age 14, of Akron, Ohio, for her question:
HOW DOES THE OCTOPUS SWIM?
The octopus is a sea creature that has eight long arms called tentacles that grow out of a soft, rounded body dad head. In the back part of the bogy is a funnel siphon with which the octopus can shoot a stream of water with such force that it propels itself backward very quickly.
An octopus can get away from an enemy by using this method.
If an enemy approaches, the octopus, instead of swimming away, may decide to reach out and grab the int:uder. The octopus is a goon fights:. But if the match gets too serious, the octopus can emit a smoke screen and escape.
From a sac in the lower back part of its body, the octopus cad throw out a black inky fluid that clouds the water all around him. In some species, the fluid can actually paralyze the sEnse organs of the attacking sea creature
There are lots of different kinds of octopus living in both the shallow and deep parts of the ocean. Because it looks so frightening, the octopus is sometimes called the devilfish.
The octopus belongs to a group of animals called mollusks, although it certainly doesn't look anything like the oysters, clams anti other members of the family.
The octopus doesn't have a shell to help protect its soft bogy. The tentacles are long and flexible, with rows of suckers on the underside that let the octopus grab and hold very tightly to anything it catches.
A female octopus will lay her eggs in the water. Each egg is in a capsule that attaches itself to some object in the water. 1he mother watches the eggs faithfully.
The mother changes the water around the eggs often by shooting a stream of water with her funnel siphon.
Since the ancient Greeks, the flesh of the octopus has been savored as a delicacy.
Both the adult and the baby octopus can change color from dull red to gray, yellow, brown or blue green. This can be done because of the pigment in the skin. The octopus is thus able to change its color to match its surroundings. This is a protective device.
The octopus eats mostly crabs and shellfish. The long arms can whip out at the prey very easily dad bring it back to the beaklike mouth.
The common octopus is about six feet long with its arms extended. The larger kinds can measure up to 32 feet across.
Octopus fishermen in Japan lower large earthen jars into the ocean and wait until several of the creatures have hidden in the jars. The jars axe then pulled up and taken to shore.
Filipinos fish at night with large torches. They blind the octopuses with the bright light and then spear them as they leave the rocks for the open water.