octopus

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References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

blue-ringed octopus

blue-ringed octopus

Swimming with a giant Pacific octopus

How do octopuses and other cephalopods know what colours to display so as to hide from predators or to attract mates?

Read Next

Praying mantis (sphodromantis gastrica)

Why Do Some Animals Eat Their Mates After Sex?

White goat with blue sky. Farm animal

Which Animal Is the Smartest?

Close up of praying mantis walking on stone ground against a blurred background in Japan

6 Animals That Eat Their Mates

coconut octopus underwater, amphioctopus, cephalopod, indonesia

6 Reasons to Love Cephalopods

Discover

Young boys working in a thread spinning mill in Macon, Georgia, 1909. Boys are so small they have to climb onto the spinning frame to reach and fix broken threads and put back empty bobbins. Child labor. Industrial revolution

The Rise of the Machines: Pros and Cons of the Industrial Revolution

January 21, 2019: Superbowl LIII will be played at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday, February 3, 2019 against the New England Patriots and the Los Angeles Rams.

What Was the Super Bowl’s First Blockbuster Commercial?

Attack on Pearl Harbor. December 7, 1941. Pearl Harbor infographic. World War II. Hawaii. United States. Japan. SPOTLIGHT VERSION

Attack on Pearl Harbor Timeline

Horses. Equus caballus. Horse stable. A brown horse looks out from his stall through the window.

Horsing Around: 7 of the Weirdest Racehorse Names in History

Ice Sledge Hockey, Hockey Canada Cup, USA (left) vs Canada, 2009. UBC Thunderbird Arena, Vancouver, BC, competition site for Olympic ice hockey and Paralympic ice sledge hockey. Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, Vancouver Olympics

10 Best Hockey Players of All Time

African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.

Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement

King Cobra snake in Malaysia. (reptile)

9 of the World’s Deadliest Snakes

octopus: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	Octopoda • octopuses • octopi

Photos and Videos

blue-ringed octopus

blue-ringed octopus

blue-ringed octopus

Swimming with a giant Pacific octopus

How do octopuses and other cephalopods know what colours to display so as to hide from predators or to attract mates?

Crazy in love: Why some animals eat their mates

Take a spectacular view of an octopus on a lava pillar in the northeastern Pacific Ocean

Watch the larger Pacific striped octopus unique shrimp-catching strategy

See All Videos and Images →

Topics

Incirrata finned octopod Cirrata blanket octopus Octopus paper nautilus giant Pacific octopus veined octopus Octopus bimaculatus Argonauta argos squid belemnoid

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

cephalopod: Introduction

Quiz

Sea otter (Enhydra lutris), also called great sea otter, rare, completely marine otter of the northern Pacific, usually found in kelp beds. Floats on back. Looks like sea otter laughing. saltwater otters

Animal Group Names

Lion (panthera leo)

Deadliest Animals Quiz

Lion (panthera leo)

Deadliest Animals Quiz

vulture. An adult bearded vulture at a raptor recovery center. The Gypaetus barbatus also known as the Lammergeier or Lammergeyer, is a bird of prey and considered an Old World vulture.

Animal Factoids

Mute swan with cygnet. (birds)

Match the Baby Animal to Its Mama Quiz

List

Close up of praying mantis walking on stone ground against a blurred background in Japan

6 Animals That Eat Their Mates

coconut octopus underwater, amphioctopus, cephalopod, indonesia

6 Reasons to Love Cephalopods

Demystified

Praying mantis (sphodromantis gastrica)

Why Do Some Animals Eat Their Mates After Sex?