C Time: Octopus

We rarely get a chance to see an octopus on our dives and I've never seen one out of its hole, but on our last day at Saipan, we were able to watch one come out of its hole and swim across the reef. Most octopuses have no internal or external skeleton, allowing them to squeeze into small holes for protection. Unlike squid, that have a vestige of an internal shell and tentacles, the arms of an octopus have suction cups on them and can be used as muscular appendages. For defense against moray eels and other predatory fish, they will typically hide, use color-changing camouflage, flee quickly, or expel ink like a smoke screen. They have a hard beak, with the mouth at the center point of the arms, and all octopuses are venomous. However, only the Blue-Ringed Octopus is deadly to humans and you would have to try hard to get an octopus to bite you. They are also highly intelligent and are considered the most intelligent invertebrate, with evidence of both short and long-term memory. An octopus' life span is relatively short with some smaller species living only 6 months and some of the larger ones living up to 5 years. Both the male and female octopus will die shortly after mating. Another unusual aspect to octopuses is that they have three hearts. Two hearts pump blood through each of the two gills and the third pumps blood through the body.

The octopus that we saw started in its hole, then gradually emerged and swam across the reef alighting on a few coral heads on the way. It went up the reef slope and then evidently encountered another octopus because we saw some sort of commotion with a lot of arms. Then another smaller octopus returned to a hole close to where we were. It was a very impressive show.

What you will normally see of an octopus if you are lucky. They blend in very well to the surrounding reef.