The octopus may conceal itself by discharging a cloud of inky fluid. In some cases, the shape of the ink cloud resembles the octopus and thus acts as a decoy. An octopus also can escape danger by rapidly changing colors. Its skin contains cells called chromatophores, each of which contains a single-colored pigment. When the octopus is excited, these cells contract or expand, producing a color change that can startle a predator or enable the octopus to blend with the surroundings.
Octopuses reproduce sexually.
The female octopus can lay more than 100,000 eggs. She cares for the eggs until they hatch into tiny, immature octopuses. Many of the young are eaten by fish and other marine animals. The remaining young drop to the ocean bottom and develop into adult octopuses. Some species lay relatively large eggs.