The most mysterious inhabitants of the ocean: giant octopuses

Numerous legends of sea monsters exist since ancient times. But in our day there are eyewitnesses who are ready to confirm the most incredible hypotheses. Judging by the descriptions of sailors and scientists, and now there are giant octopuses. They hide in the deep waters of the oceans and coastal caves, only occasionally falling into the eyes of a man, scaring fishermen and divers.

Information that giant octopuses live in the sea, come from different parts of the world. Thus, the largest octopus, caught from the sea depths, reached 22 meters in length, and the diameter of its suckers reached 15 cm. What are these monsters and why they have not been investigated yet?

What do we know about octopuses?

This cephalopod mollusks, their limbs grow straight from the head, they can take any position, the clam seizes the victim. The mantle covers the gills and internal organs. The head is small with round expressive eyes. For movement, the octopus grasps the water with a mantle and sharply pushes through the funnel below the head. Thanks to this push, he moves backwards. Together with the water from the funnel out ink - the products of the life of the octopus. The mouth of this marine inhabitant is very interesting. It is a beak, the tongue is covered with a horny grater with many small, but very sharp teeth. One of the teeth (central) is much larger than the others, the octopus drills holes in the shells and carcasses of animals.

Giant octopus: who is he?

This is the representative of the family Octopus dofleini, which lives on the rocky shores of the Pacific Ocean. The largest specimen, which was described and recorded in the Guinness Book of Records, had a length of limbs - 3.5 m (excluding the mantle). Later certificates of seamen prove that there were also larger animals with tentacles up to 5 meters in length. These giant octopuses terrified eyewitnesses, although they did not present a certain danger to a person. The diet of these marine inhabitants does not include human meat. But they can scare a person. In an irritated state, the mollusc changes color until dark maroon, takes an awesome pose, lifting the tentacles, and throws out the dark ink.

The giant octopus, the photo of which is presented above, has already released ink from a special ink channel and is ready to rush into battle. If an octopus throws his limbs by the head and puts forward suckers, then he is preparing to repel the enemy - this is a typical pose to repel an attack.

Are giant octopuses dangerous?

Aggression of this animal can be caused if you grab it gravely or try to pull it out of the hole. Cases of an attack on a person are not rare, but from suffocation by tentacles, deaths were not recorded. Octopuses are essentially timid, so it's usually when they meet a person they try to hide. Although in the mating season some individuals are very aggressive and do not fear a person. The Octopus dofleini molluscan can hurt to bite, but this bite is not poisonous, unlike the bite of some tropical relatives. These large octopuses are found in the aquariums of major cities in the world. True, the period of their life is small: the female dies after the appearance of the offspring, and the male even earlier, immediately after mating.