The octopus is an interesting inhabitant of the underwater world, which is known primarily for the presence of a large number of tentacles. According to experts in the field of the study of marine animals, this was the reason for its unusual name.
origin of name
The name "octopus", used in Russian, is associated with the presence of eight limbs in this mollusk: thus, this term was used to designate a certain animal with eight legs. At the same time, the specific pronunciation was associated with the fact that in ancient times in the Slavic language the number "eight" was pronounced as "osm", on the basis of which this name was formed.
It is noteworthy that an absolutely identical etymology is characteristic of the name of this mollusk in other languages, in which word formation followed its own path. So, the common name among specialists studying these animals is octopoda: a Latin word formed on the basis of two roots. The first one also means the word "eight", and the second one means "leg".
Octopus
At the same time, octopuses belong to the octopus family, so it would also be quite fair to call such a mollusk an octopus. Each such octopus has a soft bag-like body, equipped with eight "legs" - tentacles. These tentacles, in turn, have special suction cups that help them grab prey or perform other actions, such as moving along the bottom.
Moreover, each octopus, in addition to suckers, has another interesting device - an ink sac, which is a special gland that produces a black liquid. If the mollusk senses danger, it throws it out of the bag and, taking advantage of the fact that the surrounding water has become opaque for some time, quickly swims away from the dangerous place.
The variety of species of these mollusks living in the seas and oceans is very large, so they can differ significantly among themselves in mass and size. So, the smallest octopuses living near the island of Sri Lanka are about 3 centimeters long and weigh only a few tens of grams. The largest octopuses live in the Pacific Ocean: their weight can reach 9 meters, and their weight can be 250 kilograms or more.
At the same time, scientists have proved that not all eight "legs" in the octopus are actually legs: after long-term observations, during which the vital activity of more than 2 thousand of these mollusks was analyzed, the researchers were able to establish that only the function of the legs, that is, the limbs used for movement, only two tentacles perform. The rest of the tentacles are more focused on various grasping movements, that is, in fact, in terms of their functions, they are closer to the hands, although they can also be used to move along the surface.
