An Octopus is a mollusc with eight limbs that lives in the ocean. They are related to squid and cuttlefish, as they are all cephalopods.
Octopuses can change color and texture to blend into their surroundings, a skill essential for evading predators and hunting.
Octopuses are found in every ocean of the world. Octopuses live in coastal marine waters and spend much of their time in dens—small holes and crevices in rocks and coral.
They can be found across New Zealand in rocky reefs and coastal waters.
Octopuses are semelparous animals, which means they reproduce once and then they die. After a female octopus lays a clutch of eggs, she quits eating and wastes away; by the time the eggs hatch, she has died.
An octopus has not one, but three hearts. Two of them — the branchial hearts — pump blood to the gills where it picks up oxygen. The third, or systemic heart, pumps the oxygenated blood around the body, fueling up the eight tentacles for whatever they and their suckers plan to do.