Eight arms, explained
Eight octopus facts, one per arm. Turn each card over.
Three. Two push blood through the gills, one pushes it through the body. The body heart stops while swimming, which is why octopuses prefer to crawl.
Blue. It carries oxygen with copper, not iron, which works better in cold water with little oxygen.
In the arms. About two thirds of an octopus's neurons live outside the brain, so each arm can taste, touch, and decide on its own.
Yes. The suckers carry chemical sensors. An arm knows what it is holding before the brain hears about it.
Skin cells called chromatophores hold pigment sacs that muscles stretch open or squeeze shut, in under a second.
Most species live one to two years. The giant Pacific octopus reaches three to five.
No. The only hard part is the beak. If the beak fits through a gap, the whole octopus does.
Escape. It clouds the water and dulls a predator's sense of smell. Also, it turns out, for naming mascots.