Bananas for Scale
Common Octopus

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Common Octopus

Eight arms, three hearts, and a talent for escape/Marine Life

The common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) has three hearts, blue blood, nine brains (one central and one in each arm), and can change color and texture in milliseconds. It can squeeze through any opening larger than its beak, which is the only hard part of its body. They are remarkably intelligent, capable of unscrewing jars, solving mazes, and recognizing individual humans.

Measurements

Arm span1 m
806 billionthsCalifornia lengths
1.09Door widths
22.7Wine cork lengths
Mantle length2.5 tenths m
1.1 billionSilicon atoms
37.6 billionthsNile Rivers
Weight5 kg
500 quadrillionMimivirus particles
1.9 thousandthsBlue whale tongues

Up to 10 kg

Jet propulsion speed11 m/s
1.1 hundredthsSR-71 Blackbirds
22Escalators
1.4 thousandthsSpace Station orbits

About 40 km/h burst

Lifespan47.3 million s
13,139Lunch breaks
94.6 millionSneeze durations

About 1-2 years

Brain mass500 millionths kg
111 millionthsAdult house cats
18.5 billionRed blood cell weights
16.7 millionthsLabrador retrievers

Central brain; total neural tissue much more

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