Octopus-Creature Of The Deep

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Creature of the Deep Prior to photography, humans tried to draw the image of an octopus. Yet no sketch could portray the actual features justifiably. “The most common octopus, octopus vulgaris, is widely distributed, being found in tropical and temperate seas throughout the world. In the west Atlantic it can be found along the coast from Connecticut in the United States south to Brazil. It is found around the south and southwest coast of England and southward as far as Africa. The common octopus is fished in the Mediterranean, where it was observed and recorded by Aristotle in the 4th century B.C.” (Ed. Burton 263). The most common of the octopi group have been spotted all around the globe, let alone the other types that are included in the category of mollusks. The octopus also belongs to a sub-species of mollusks called the cephalopods. “Cephalopod means “head-foot,” in reference to the circle of arms or tentacles surrounding the head, which is well defined and bears the two prominent eyes. The head is hidden behind the bases of the arms. A mantle of thick skin and muscle surrounds a squat, dome-shaped or sometimes roughly egg-shaped body.” (Idyll 143) The body of an octopus is very complex and somewhat similar to the squid. “When all the modern cephalopods except the nautilus discarded their external shells, they lost something in protection. But in exchange the octopuses and the squids-the latter especially- gained freedom of movement. Survival demanded that they achieve quickness and other weapons to compensate for the loss of their armor. And the consequence has been that the cephalopods have become the fastest and most intelligent of invertebrates, and among the most successful.” (Idyll 146) Although the squid and octopus evolved together, they still differ in many ways. “The squids are called decapods (“ten feet’), since in addition to the eight arms of

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