| Red octopus
Octopus rubescens (eight legs, red) Classification Phylum Mollusca
Red octopus are small (arms four times the body length to a maximum total length of 20 in.), dull red or reddish brown animals. They have eight sucker-lined arms and rough skin. Like their octopus kin, red octopus can change their skin color and texture at will. They have an ink sac that contains reddish brown ink. Common from Alaska to Baja California, they live under rocks in the intertidal and in kelp beds or over rocky or sandy seafloors to 650 ft. (200 m). They require cold water with plenty of dissolved oxygen. Octopus can change color, texture and can fit into or through tiny cracks in rocks. They are carnivores and eat small crabs, hermit crabs, crustaceans, molluscs and fishes. They have a parrotlike beak which they use primarily for cracking crab shells. The octopus first kills the crab with secretions from its salivary glands and then opens it between the carapace and abdomen. Once the octopus cleans out the crab's body, it pulls off the legs and cleans them out one by one. Red octopus's three greatest predators are wolf-eels, lingcod and scuba divers. They're also eaten by seabass and rockfishes. Mating occurs in deep water in late winter and early spring. The males have a modified arm for passing sperm packets to females to fertilize eggs. After mating, male octopus, followed by the females, move inshore to spawning grounds. Females lay clusters of eggs from late spring to early winter. The females care for the eggs for six to eight weeks and die soon after the eggs hatch. As juveniles, they live and hunt in and around kelp holdfasts before migrating further offshore. Baby octopus found at the surface may be either red octopus or giant Pacific octopus. Biologists consider the octopus to be the smartest of all invertebrate animals, about the same intelligence as a house cat. Shy but curious and exploratory. Juvenile red octopus often wash ashore in kelp holdfasts. (Thanks to Guy diTorrice of the Oregon
Coast Aquarium)
OREGON COAST AQUARIUM EDUCATORS BRING WHALES TO I-5 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS NEWPORT, Ore.--Oregon Coast Aquarium educators are bringing whales to
elementary schools from Monmouth to Vancouver between February 5 and March
21. These assembly programs, entitled "Tales of Whales" (for
Using two life-sized inflatable whales, slides and aquatic objects such
as whale bone, blubber and baleen, the outreach auditorium programs help
students develop their observation and comparison skills. Students will
"Tales of Whales" and "What About Whales" are scheduled for: <> Monmouth Feb 5-7
Printed materials and supporting curriculum provided for teachers are designed to increase students' awareness of marine science. They also address the Oregon Benchmarks and National Science Standards for schools. A two-hour workshop for teachers is also available in each region.
Attending educators will learn how to saturate their classroom with marine
activities and curriculum geared for preschool through fifth grade. The
Cost is $225 for the first auditorium program and $100 for the second program if it is scheduled to begin within 40 minutes after the completion of the first assembly. Scholarships are available for the programs and workshops in every geographic area served by the Aquarium. To schedule a program and to receive a scholarship application, call the Oregon Coast Aquarium at 541-867-FISH, ext. 5301 as soon as possible. Guy DiTorrice, Public Relations Officer
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