In general, the octopus is one of the smartest animals in existence and it is believed to be the smartest of all invertebrates

If you are a fan of the FIFA World Cup, you should have at least been updated about the recent “oracle” octopus named “Paul”, who predicts the winners of the soccer matches in his aquarium. But given the intelligence of an octopus, you may not be surprised why Paul the Octopus has taken the world by storm with his abilities.

A lot has been taken for granted regarding octopus intelligence. This may be due to the fact that they have an extremely short life expectancy in general and they usually live for only around half a year, though some species are known to live up to 5 or so years. Octopuses are proven to have both long and short term memory, though as previously stated due to the low life span, the length of their long term memory for example does not give a clear cut answer on their intelligence. Octopuses have been proven to be able to learn to perform tasks and recognize shapes, some of them are even seen using objects in aquariums as toys for entertainment. Another display of their intelligence is their ability to use tools; octopuses have been witnessed and even filmed using coconut shells and other objects as protection, making the octopus the only invertebrate to use tools. If that isn’t just enough, they are also known to be able to remove the tops from screw-cap jars. And at one point, some countries even banned octopus surgery without using anesthetics.

Octopuses are also very defensive creatures. They usually spend most of their time in their lairs avoiding other predators. They also have some a lot of very unique defense mechanisms. Their primary form of defense is to hide in small, tight places, this is possible due to the lack of skeleton or outer shell. They also have the ability to escape using their speed, their ink, amazing camouflage or even autonomy. The octopus is the largest marine creature to practice autonomy, and only tend to use it in dire situations. The ink in an octopus’ defense technique is said to be exceptionally effective against other marine predators which use sense of smell due to effect on olfactory organs.

You may want to spend a little more time acknowledging an octopus’ presence in your next dive. It is a wonderful creature that has a lot to contribute to nature’s beauty and its science.

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