Octopus are quite incredible and when you see them up close and in hand you will likely have a different opinion. There are about 300 species and most are entirely soft-bodied and can squeeze itself through small holes, a little larger than its eye.

The male octopus has one special arm (shorter) which is slightly modified for mating. Along its side runs a shallow groove through which its spermatophores can travel towards its tip. The females have a special receptor inside the bag, for the male’s sperm which can lay dormant for weeks inside the body of the female.

Their parrot beak has a soft ‘tongue’ when out ans through this tongue an octopus can excrete acids or poisons. The sand octopus drills holes in shells with its stomach acids that dissolve the them. By practice, it learns precisely to drill the hole where the shell’s abductor muscles are.

The idea of the suction cups is a tool that is unique to this breed and their suckers are extraordinary. They can move and grasp objects independently and “taste” the water around them. They can even form a seal on rough surfaces underwater.

Researchers discovered that the sides and edges of the suckers were rimmed with tiny, concentric groves, key for forming a seal on uneven surfaces underwater.