Octopus

Cosma / Communication / Knowledge / Realm / Terrestrial / Life / Animal / Invertebrate / Octopus
—————————

octopus : genus (Octopus) of cephalopod mollusks that have eight muscular arms equipped with two rows of suckers; broadly : any octopod excepting the paper nautilus — Merriam-Webster See also OneLook

Thesaurus

Roget’s II (Thesaurus.com), Merriam-Webster Thesaurus, Visuwords

Encyclopedia

Octopus is a soft-bodied, eight-armed mollusc of the order Octopoda. Around 300 species are recognized and the order is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish and nautiloids. Like other cephalopods, the octopus is bilaterally symmetric with two eyes and a beak, with its mouth at the centre point of the arms (which are sometimes mistakenly called “tentacles”). The soft body can rapidly alter its shape, enabling octopuses to squeeze through small gaps. They trail their eight arms behind them as they swim. The siphon is used both for respiration and for locomotion, by expelling a jet of water. Octopuses have a complex nervous system and excellent sight, and are among the most intelligent and behaviorally diverse of all invertebrates. — Wikipedia

Octopus (Encyclopædia Britannica)

Octopods (One Zoom)
Octopus (Catalogue of Life)
Octopus (WolframAlpha)

———————–

Adventures

Explore related posts on Cosma …

Great Eyes o’ the Sea - The news is full of stories about how a giant squid was filmed in U.S. waters for the first time. Here’s a link to an article by ABC7 that includes a great clip about it. Wondrous 10-foot Giant Squid Spotted Deep in Gulf of Mexico (Danny Clemens, ABC7 New Orleans) Here is a link to … Continue reading Great Eyes o’ the Sea
Nutty Nature News - I’ve been updating the “nature” related pages on this site, so I’ve spent an abnormal amount of time perusing nature related sites for the last few weeks. Along the way I came across more than my fair share of odd nature stories. Many of them were viral, so you may have seen some of them … Continue reading Nutty Nature News
Octopuses from Space! - Did you hear the one about the octopuses from space? It sounds like the title of a cheesy sci-fi movie, doesn’t it? But it isn’t, this time, or at least, yet. Instead, it’s actually an oddball theory that’s been put forth in a recently published “scientific” article that’s getting quite a lot of buzz in … Continue reading Octopuses from Space!

———————–

Inspiration

Deep Sea Creatures (Leo Richards, Natural World Facts, YouTube Playlist)
Deep Sea Hub (Leo Richards, Natural World Facts, Official Website)

Talks about Octopus (TED: Ideas Worth Spreading)
Articles about Octopus (Big Think)

———————-

Innovation

Science

Teuthology is the study of cephalopods such as octopus, squid, and cuttlefish. It is a branch of malacology, the study of molluscs, in marine zoology. — Wikipedia

————————–

Preservation

Library

DDC: 594.56 Octopus (Library Thing)
Subject: Octopus (Library Thing)

Subject: Octopus (Open Library)

LCC: QL 430.3 Octopus (UPenn Online Books)
Subject: Octopus (UPenn Online Books)

LCC: QL 430.3 Octopus (Library of Congress)
Subject: Octopus (Library of Congress)

Subject: Octopus (WorldCat)

—————————

Participation

Education

Octopus and Squid (Biology4Kids)

MERLOT: Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching
OER Commons: Open Educational Resources

Community

More News …

Phys.org - latest science and technology news stories Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine.

Animal genomes follow irreversible 'evolutionary...
on August 22, 2026 at 1:00 pm
A human, an octopus, and a coral could hardly look more different—yet deep inside their cells, their chromosomes still carry recognizable pieces of a genome inherited from an animal ancestor that lived more than 600 million years ago. Since then, their chromosomes have fused, split and rearranged countless times. Today, thousands of animal genomes have been sequenced.
Italian scientists bet on octopus to fight crab...
on August 19, 2026 at 8:30 am
From a fishing trawler in the Adriatic, Italian scientists gently release thousands of tiny octopuses in the hope of fighting an invasive crab species that has devastated local fisheries.
Soft-bodied sea slug reconfigures anatomy to...
on August 13, 2026 at 5:20 pm
Made entirely of muscle, with no rigid skeleton, muscular hydrostats like octopus arms, elephant trunks and human tongues can move in ways traditional mechanical systems cannot. Between crawling across the seafloor, picking up a peanut and enabling speech, scientists have long wondered how soft structures can perform so many different functions without becoming impossible to control.
Dolphins learn how to use tools to hunt for fish...
on August 11, 2026 at 3:20 pm
From spears and the invention of the wheel to smartphones and robots, human societies have been building and using tools from the beginning. Human tool use has helped conquer new environments, increase communication and ultimately alter the course of human evolution.
Australia is home to the only mass cuttlefish...
on August 10, 2026 at 3:20 pm
This year's cuttlefish season has been unlike any other. Every winter, more than 100,000 giant Australian cuttlefish can usually be found mating along the rocky coastline of Point Lowly, northeast of Whyalla, South Australia. They put on shape-shifting, colorful displays in their attempts to attract a mate.