page_title: Octopus
section_title: Relationship to humans
hierarchical_section_title: Octopus / Relationship to humans
caption_attribution_description: English: Archaeological Museum in Herakleion. Minoan clay bottle showing an Octopus ( 1500 B.C. ) Deutsch: Archäologisches Museum in Herakleion. Minoische Tonflasche mit Darstellung eines Oktopus ( 1500 v.Chr. ) Español: Museo Arqueológico en Herakleion. Vasija cerámica minoa con motivo de pulpo. ( 1500 A.C. )
context_page_description: The octopus is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda. Around 300 species are recognised, and the order is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like other cephalopods, the octopus is bilaterally symmetric with two eyes and a beak, with its mouth at the center point of the eight limbs. The soft body can rapidly alter its shape, enabling octopuses to squeeze through small gaps. They trail their eight appendages behind them as they swim. The siphon is used both for respiration and for locomotion, by expelling a jet of water. Octopuses have a complex nervous system and excellent sight, and are among the most intelligent and behaviourally diverse of all invertebrates.
  Octopuses inhabit various regions of the ocean, including coral reefs, pelagic waters, and the seabed; some live in the intertidal zone and others at abyssal depths. Most species grow quickly, mature early, and are short-lived.
caption: Minoan clay vase with octopus decoration, c. 1500 BC
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