Octopus and Giant squid plush toy stuffed animals.
The red octopus above is Wiggly, a Ty Beanie Baby. Other octopuses made by Ty Inc. are Inky the pink octopus. The little blue octopus is a glass figurine. Also shown are a large purple Octopus, a blue octopus keychain, a blue octopus pen and a plush blue Octopus with blue eyes.The blue-grey octopus at right is Winky from Douglas. And the large octopus in back is from Ganz. Check our sponsor's online Gift Shop to see if we have any in stock.
There are several kinds of octopuses in North America. The largest octopus is the North Pacific Octopus (Octopus dofleini) that can reach a length of 30 feet. The smallest is in California and is only about 1 inch long. Squids have a wide distribution. Both octopuses and squids belong to the group of mollusks called cephalopods. They are predators that lack an outer shell. (Cuttlefish and nautiluses are also cephalopods.) Their long arms, an octopus has 8 and a squid 10, including 2 longer tentacles, are equipped with suction disks. The arms hold fish and other prey. Both octopuses and squids can swim. The octopus actually crawls more, using its suckers to hold on to rocks.
All members of this group except the Nautilus secrete an inky fluid which they
store in an ink sac, and which they can shoot into the water to escape an enemy. This same ink can be toxic to the octopus if it is in a confined space and can't escape, such as an aquarium.
Octopuses also change color depending on their mood. If frightened they turn white, angry and they turn red. Normally they are a brown color. They also have problem-solving intelligence and an acute sense of touch. It would seem that Wiggly, Inky and Oppy are all in a bad mood. Maybe they didn't like having their picture taken.
The female octopus, after laying her eggs, watches over them with care, keeping algae and bacteria from growing on them and gently squirting them with streams from her syphon. Most females do not eat after laying their eggs and die soon after the eggs have hatched.
Phylum: Mollusca | Class: Cephalopoda | Genus/Species: Octopus dofleini
Other Oceanarium tanks include:
Crabs | Dolphin | Eel | Fish | Harp Seal | Jellyfish | Manatee | Manta Ray | Octopus | Oceanarium | Orca | Otter | Seahorse | Sea Lion | Sea Star | Sea Turtle | Seal | Shark | Snail | Walrus | Whale | Whale Shark
