Octopuses Have 9 Brains! Here’s What Each One Does

The octopus is an amazing creature. They have three hearts, a doughnut-shaped brain. It also has blue blood. They are famous for their appearance, like aliens, and intelligent like them. They are very clever and fascinating creatures.

All body and arms, with its head sort of sitting on top. It is the reason that they are put into a group called Cephalopods. When you look at its parts, they look like head-foot. Another amazing thing is squids; cuttlefish are also in this family.

Because of a special protein, packed with copper. They do the job of carrying oxygen around their system. They have blue blood because they have copper in their blood.

Octopus: Three Hearts and Blue Blood

Humans have red blood cells due to the protein with iron called hemoglobin. But the octopus family is different. Their blood has protein made from copper. It is named hemocyanin, and it rotates in their blood freely. Hemocyanin does not carry oxygen, but hemoglobin.

To compensate for this slight disadvantage, octopuses come equipped with a trio of hearts:

One “systemic” heart: This one’s the powerhouse. It takes oxygen-rich blood, gives it a good pressure boost, and then circulates it throughout the entire body.

Two “branchial” hearts: These two act like smaller pumps. They gather all the deoxygenated blood from around the body and push it specifically through the gills to pick up more oxygen.

we’re going to pull back the curtain on some essential facts and the truly astonishing nature of octopuses.

More Than One Brain (Octopus Brains)

You might think one brain is enough, but octopuses take it up a notch. They have a total of nine brains! There’s one main, central brain that manages the nervous system and overall body coordination.

The other 8 brains are in the arms. They can do difficult tasks without the need on any direct commands of the central brain. This incredible system of distributed intelligence makes octopuses not only remarkably intelligent but also lightning-fast in their movements.

How Smart Are Octopuses?

Researchers see the brain size of animal as compared to body. This assists them to know how smart the animal is. This assists them in seeing the usage of animal brains. Now, this measurement isn’t flawless; the way a brain is folded also matters a lot.

But generally, the smarter animals have more brain mass relative to their body. Their brain is big from body. Also have a big brain compared to all animals in the family that do not backbone. The family of animals which has not backbone is named invertebrates.

An octopus has about to 500 million neurons. They are the same number you’d find in a dog. Most of these neurons are nestled within their characteristic doughnut-shaped main brain. It wraps around their esophagus in the head region.

Octopus Circulation and Nerve System (How Their Body Works)

Since octopuses are much more active than many other sea creatures. Like their three hearts are a real help. As an example, a cephalopod doesn’t move around much. They use very little energy, but it does not need all those hearts.

They also need a good flow of oxygen-rich blood.To keep their huge nervous system working. They have nine brains one is in head that control over all. One right at the tip of each arm and all this brain tissue consumes a lot of their energy.

The octopuses require oxygen to make their muscles work. They usually move by just crawling over the seabed. Some kinds can also zoom through the water by pushing powerful squirts out of a tube called a siphon.

But here’s a small catch: when they’re swimming fast, their main heart doesn’t pump blood as well. This means they can get tired surprisingly quickly.

Octopuses Recognize People! (Can They Tell Us Apart?)

Octopuses have optic lobes. These are the parts of their brain that handle seeing. Eyesight is essential for this animal.

Octopuses can tell the difference between other octopuses. They believe it or not, they even recognize human faces.” While parrots can do this trick too, it still makes scientists scratch their heads in amazement.

In one specific test, a scientist would always give the octopuses food. Another person would gently poke them with a bristly stick. By the end of the test, the octopuses stayed away from the “mean” person and went towards the “nice” one.

This proved, without a doubt, that they could tell the two humans apart, even though both people looked similar.

Master of Disguise & Escape

Octopuses are experts at changing their look. They can totally change their body color and make it smooth. This assists to look like a rock and save from the hunters. This trick also assists them hunt food for themselves.

Another amazing fact is that they are good at escaping. They have no bones in their body. They can easily go into the small holes. This assists them in avoiding danger and in any harmful situation. They think quickly and escape or hide themselves.

Octopus Ink: Their Smoky Gataway

When they are in danger or feel scared, they have a special trick to save them. It fired a cloud of dark ink. It is a dark and big, smoky screen in the water. It confuses any hunter trying to harm them. Octopus uses it as a weapon.

This ink blocks the vision of the predator. It also disturbs the sense of smell and taste of hunters for a moment. It is a defensive trick that assist them to hide in tiny holes.

Quick Facts about Octopus

Conclusion

Octopuses have nine brains in total. There is one main brain, located in their head, that handles overall control. Others are in each eight arms works without need any instruction. This unusual way their brains are spread out helps make octopuses incredibly smart. It also lets them control their arms in surprisingly clever ways.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do you know about Octopus brain?

The octopus brain is very special. It looks like a doughnut and goes around their food pipe. This is essential part of brain.

How many hearts does an octopus have?

They have three hearts. One supplies blood in the body and the other supplies blood through the gills

Why does an octopus have 9 brains?

One central brain that manages the nervous system and overall body coordination. The other 8 brains are can do difficult tasks without giving direct commands of the central brain.

How many eyes does an octopus have?

They have two eyes. These eyes assist them to see, hunt, and stay safe underwater.

Why does an octopus have 3 hearts?

They needs three hearts because their blood can’t carry oxygen. Multiple hearts moves enough oxygen all through its body.