🐙 Octopus

Facts About Octopuses: The Alien Intelligence in Your Ocean

Three hearts, blue blood, distributed brains, and the ability to taste with their skin — octopuses are arguably the closest thing to alien life we'll ever meet.

30 FactsVerifiedA FactFacts Post

Octopuses split from the human lineage roughly 600 million years ago, which makes them about as evolutionarily distant from us as it's possible to be while still being an animal. Their neural architecture is profoundly different — two-thirds of their neurons live in their arms, each acting semi-autonomously.

They solve puzzles, use tools, escape sealed containers, and have been observed to recognize individual humans and treat them differently. They taste with their suckers and can change skin color and texture in milliseconds — despite being colorblind.

These verified facts cover what we know about their biology, intelligence, and the strange behaviors that have made them favorite subjects of marine biologists everywhere.

Below: every fact from our verified archive that touches this topic. Each is independently sourced; click through to its dedicated page.

01
Animals

Octopuses have three hearts and blue blood.

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02
Animals

Octopuses can solve simple puzzles and open jars.

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03
Animals

Some species of octopus can change both color and texture.

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04
Nature

A single coral colony can consist of thousands of tiny animals.

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05
Animals

Certain species of octopus are known to use coconut shells as shelter.

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06
Animals

Some species of octopus can escape through very small openings.

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07
Animals

Certain octopus species are known for their intelligence.

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08
Animals

Octopuses can squeeze through tight spaces due to their soft bodies.

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09
Animals

Octopuses can open jars to access food inside.

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10
Animals

Octopuses have demonstrated short-term and long-term memory.

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11
Animals

Octopuses explore new environments with curiosity.

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12
Ocean

Some deep-sea octopuses brood their eggs for years.

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13
Animals

Octopuses have three hearts and blue blood.

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14
Animals

Octopuses have been observed using tools and solving puzzles.

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15
Animals

Octopuses have been observed escaping aquariums, navigating floors, and entering other tanks to hunt for food.

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16
Animals

Octopuses can escape sealed containers and solve puzzles.

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17
Animals

Octopuses solve mazes.

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18
Animals

The mimic octopus can impersonate over 15 different marine species.

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19
Animals

Octopuses have three hearts, nine brains (one central and one in each arm), and blue blood.

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20
Animals

Octopuses have rectangular pupils that give them nearly 360-degree vision.

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21
Animals

Octopus arms have a mind of their own — each arm has its own neural cluster and can act independently.

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22
Nature

Cephalopods like squid and octopus have camera-like eyes that evolved completely independently from vertebrate eyes.

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23
Animals

Octopus skin contains photoreceptors — they may be able to 'see' color through their skin despite being colorblind.

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24
Animals

Pacific giant octopuses can open jars, navigate mazes, and recognize individual human caretakers.

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25
Animals

Some octopuses are so flexible they can fit through any opening larger than their beak.

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26
Animals

Some octopuses are so flexible they can fit through any opening larger than their beak.

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27
Animals

Octopuses have three hearts — two pump blood to the gills, one to the rest of the body.

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28
Animals

Octopuses have three hearts — two pump blood to the gills, and one pumps it to the rest of the body.

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29
Animals

An octopus has three hearts — two pump blood to the gills and stop beating when the octopus swims.

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30
Animals

Cephalopods — octopus, squid, cuttlefish — have the most complex nervous system of any invertebrate.

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