their siphon by contracting their mantel to provide quick, explosive thrust. They have the intelligence and ability to get into and out of fishermen's crab and fish traps and to get under an undergravel filter plate in an aquarium. They can adapt to new situations and appear to be curious about their surroundings. Octopi can use their bodies as a nets to trap fish. Having very little hard material in their bodies, usually only a beak and a radula, they can squeeze into amazingly small spaces. You would think that the lack of a hard defensive shell would make the octopus an easy meal. However, the above adaptations that I’ve mentioned are often used together to effectively evade their predators. An octopus could darken in color, expel a cloud of dark ink, immediately jet away while turning white, and then disappear under a rock, leaving the predator confused and somewhat perturbed at the situation. Although octopi possess beaks and cephalotoxins, and, if they wanted to or felt the need to, could easily hurt or kill any human who dared to enter their territory, they generally do not affect man... but the exception is a beautiful blue-ringed octopus from Australia. Though it is shy and definitely won't viciously "attack”, it can, if it feels threatened, defend itself by delivering a venom that can kill in minutes... so if you ever happen to find yourself splashing and swimming around the Great Barrier Reef, just make sure to stay on your toes. The life span of octopi is short, varying from six months in the small species to three years in the larger ones. It is believed that the hormone that regulates sexual maturation is also associated with natural death. Another interesting aspect of octopi is their reproduction. It is generally thought that cephalopods are fast growing animals that reproduce once and then die. In Octopus briareus, an impregnated female can store viable spermatophore for as long as one hundred days after f...
