Imagine an alien landing on earth tomorrow. What would it look like? Most people would probably imagine something strange, intelligent maybe something with abilities we have never seen before. But the funny thing is, we already have something like that living in our oceans. I’m going to explain why the octopus seems so much like an alien from their unusual bodies to their incredible minds.
If an alien landed on earth with 3 hearts, blue blood, shape shifting skin and 9 brains, we would all be terrified but because it’s called an octopus, we all think it’s normal.
Unlike humans and most animals, they don’t have a skeleton. About 90% of their body is soft tissue which allows them to squeeze through tiny gaps barely larger than themselves.
They have 3 hearts and believe it or not, blue blood, and 8 arms covered in suckers. Their blue blood comes from a copper-based molecule, and it differs from humans as our blood is iron based. The last ancestor we shared with the octopus died over 500 million years ago.
They also have 9 brains; one main brain and 8 little sub brains in the base of their arms. They call these smaller brains minnie brains. If an alien scientist was studying the creatures of earth, they would probably think that these strange creatures come from another planet.
The octopus is incredibly intelligent. They can solve puzzles, open jars and even escape their own tanks they can also recognize people like their owners and handlers. Many aquariums have stories of these cunning creatures escaping their enclosures. Imagine arriving to work and discovering your octopus has escaped just like a prisoner in an action movie! Imagine if your arms could think for themselves how cool would that be!
What’s even stranger is that their nervous system is spread throughout their body. Around 2 thirds of their neurons are located in their arms which means each individual limb can perform complex tasks and movements independently.
The octopus is a master of disguises special cells in their skin allow them to change colour in a fraction of a second. They can also change the texture of their skin, making them blend in smoothly to be like a fish or turn their skin bumpy to be like a stunning piece of coral. It’s almost like they have a built-in invisibility cloak which is another reason they are considered the aliens of earth. Did you know that if an octopus loses an arm, it can grow a new one?
Some species of octopus can even use tools such as using coconut shells for protection, sometimes it can even look like they are wearing a hat. Scientists have said that the octopus is so strange there is no other thing to compare them too other than an alien.
All these strange abilities seem so unreal you could almost say they are out of this world. When we think of aliens we think of life from another planet but perhaps the strangest lifeform is already here living under our waters.
So, is the octopus really an alien? Well no, at least not as far as we know but they do have blue blood 3 hearts, 9 brains, a body with no bones, arms that can act completely independently, amazing camouflaging abilities and remarkable intelligence.
The next time someone asks you what an alien might look like you can tell them that they don’t need to look towards the stars they might just need to look down into the sea.
Written by Freiya.