Class Cephalopoda is home to species such as squid and octopi. The word Cephalopod means feet from hands. There are about 700 species of Cephalopods.
Giant Squid (Architeuthis)
Giant squids are 43 feet long and weigh nearly a ton. You’d think that such a huge animal wouldn’t be hard to miss. But because the ocean is vast and giant squid live deep underwater, they remain elusive and are rarely seen. Most of what we know about the giant squid comes from dead carcasses that floated to the surface.
Octopus (Octopoda)
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Giant Squid (Architeuthis)
Giant squids are 43 feet long and weigh nearly a ton. You’d think that such a huge animal wouldn’t be hard to miss. But because the ocean is vast and giant squid live deep underwater, they remain elusive and are rarely seen. Most of what we know about the giant squid comes from dead carcasses that floated to the surface.
Octopus (Octopoda)
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The octopus can almost instantaneously match the colors, patterns, and even textures of its surroundings. Predators such as sharks, eels, and dolphins swim by without even noticing it. When discovered, an octopus will release a cloud of black ink to obscure its attacker's view, giving it time to swim away. The ink even contains a substance that dulls a predator's sense of smell, making the fleeing octopus harder to track. Fast swimmers, they can jet forward by expelling water through their mantles. And their soft bodies can squeeze into impossibly small cracks and crevices where predators can't follow. If all else fails, an octopus can lose an arm to escape a predator's grasp and regrow it later with no permanent damage. They also have beaklike jaws that can deliver a nasty bite, and venomous saliva, used mainly for subduing prey.