Octopuses belong to the mollusk phylum, class Cephalopoda, and order Octopoda. In a very interesting way, these are distinguished not only from the rest of the invertebrates, the group to which they belong, but also their class has unique characteristics that it does not share with the rest of the molluscs.
These animals have drawn the attention of scientists and people in general for being able to perform actions that seem extraordinary to be performed by an invertebrate, such as manipulating certain objects, recognizing people, places, cover their burrows with rocks, in addition to camouflaging themselves in an extraordinary way within the marine ecosystem. All these aspects refer to the intelligence of the octopus, which has been associated with the idea that they have several brains. Therefore, on our site we want to clarify how many brains an octopus has
Octopus anatomy
The various species of octopus range from individuals that measure approximately 2 cm, weighing less than 1 g, to the famous giant Pacific octopus, about which there are reports of an exceptional specimen that arrived weighing 275 kg.
The octopus body is a convergence system around the head. These would be the main octopus parts:
- Eyes: which are quite developed, to the point of having a structure similar to that of mammals, but without reaching the level of these.
- Brain: which together with other structures throughout the body make up a complex nervous system.
- Three hearts: a main one called systemic, which pumps blood throughout the body, and two auxiliary or branchial ones that carry blood to the gills for oxygenation.
- Manto: they have a mantle that merges with the back of the head, it is muscular and hollow. Here are the other vital organs, such as viscera and gills, as well as the gland or ink sac that they use for defense.
- Siphon: The siphon is also connected to the mantle, through which they can expel the water that generates momentum to move.
- Appendixes or arms: on the other hand, these animals are made up of eight flexible and prehensile appendages or arms (they are not tentacles), They have sticky suckers which allow them to attach strongly to any medium and, in addition, they have chemoreceptors. These limbs perform functions for locomotion, search and capture of food, and converge in the animal's mouth, which is shaped like a beak, made of chitin, which gives it its hardness. Each of the arms is connected to a very well developed ganglion.
Their bodies lack shells and bones, they are soft but muscular, made up of different fibrous collagen tissues and specialized cells with pigments, that allow them to quickly modify the color of the skin. If you want to know exactly what an octopus has on its head, here is a diagram of the internal anatomy of the octopus.
Now that we know more about the general anatomy of octopods, let's clear up the unknown about their brain.
How many brains do octopuses have?
Octopuses have three hearts and it has been speculated that have 9 brains, however actually what they have is a central brain, what happens is that given their complex nervous system, it can be said that their brain is multipleand it is connected to a system of ganglia located in each of the eight arms, so in some cases there has been talk of the presence of several mini brains.
Scientific research continues to advance in the study of this complex nervous system, and although there are no totally absolute results, some have shown that while it is true that the arms of octopuses can act independently, it is also true that they are subject to control by the central brain.
Octopus nervous system
Among the invertebrates, the octopods have the most complex brain and nervous system, containing a total of about 550 million neurons approximatelyAlthough octopuses have a large brain in proportion to their body, an aspect that we see in some mammals such as whales, it is important to bear in mind that the complexity and particularities of these animals can only be understood from a systemic vision, for which we must consider the rest of the structures that connect to the brain:
- About 350 million neurons are distributed in the eight arms of these animals.
- 160 million are in the optic lobes and specifically.
- 42 million proper within the central brain, which is divided into several lobes.
In the ventral area are the lobes that are responsible for the control of feeding, locomotion and the characteristic change of color. The dorsal area is involved in the processing of sensory information and participates in cognitive processes. The brain receives information from the optic lobes, which are located outside the central brain capsule that is covered with a cartilaginous structure, but also chemo-sensory information that is captured by the arms. Studies suggest that the vertical lobe concentrates a good proportion of two types of neurons and is responsible for processing cognitive abilities superior in these animals.
Why are octopuses smart?
Octopuses are considered highly intelligent animals because they are capable of all of the following:
- Remember Places: Octopuses are able to remember places where they have hunted prey that they prefer.
- They know how to change paths: If they stray considerably from their shelter, they can return to it by paths even shorter than those originally used to zoom out.
- They clean and protect their cave: When they choose a cave to shelter in, they can use their siphon to clean it with the jet of water they expel. In addition, they place rocks at the entrance of it, most likely for protection purposes. The foregoing then refers to the use of tools by these molluscs.
- Play and uncover jars: they have the ability to play with objects and uncover jars that contain food for them.
- Use of their tentacles: they can use only one of their arms to execute some task.
- They collect information: the more information they receive, the more precise the actions they can perform.
- Imitate other animals: Not only can they change color to camouflage themselves, they have also been seen imitating the swimming of other species.
- Learn from their elders: Younger octopuses can learn from their elders and keep what they learn for the rest of their lives.
- They empathize with people: those who are in captivity manage to develop empathy for people, even more with some than with others.
The intelligence of octopuses is linked to their complex nervous system, which has endowed them with the possibility of executing various actions that some other animals can do it too, but the highlight in this case is that a single animal can bring together so many different skills.
For more information, don't miss this other article on 20 curiosities about octopuses based on scientific studies.
