The Caribbean Reef Octopus Of Nevis, Saint Kitts & Nevis (Octopus Briareus)
This month's article series will discuss...
The Antillean Isle of Nevis! Nevis is an island that exists in the Caribbean. It is a part of the country known as Saint Kitts & Nevis. Nevis is the smaller of the 2 islands that are from the country of Saint Kitts & Nevis. It is a part of the lesser Antilles. It is a part of the archipelago group known as the Leeward Islands. Saint Nevis is approximately 383.31 Nautical / Marine miles from its closest point to mainland South America, specifically the country of Venezuela. It is also approximately 1128.85 Nautical / Marine Miles from the State of Florida, United States Of America. The island is well known for its beautiful beaches & high amount of exotic marine life. The island is extremely marine biodiverse due to its placement in Venezuela. You see, it is far enough away that Venezuelan vicious Creatures such as caiman cannot swim up the coast easily. This makes it a sort of haven for certain species to escape. One of these species is known as the Caribbean Reef Octopus. The Caribbean reef octopus lives in the waters of the Caribbean, primarily around Saint Nevis & Kitts, & Guadeloupe. They are incredibly It is usually found throughout the shallower oceanic areas due to there being lots of food in these areas. It can often be seen lounging about coral reefs or swimming. They often are also seen hunting in coral reefs very often. They are incredibly intelligent & beautiful creatures. They are not invasive to this area in any way. They are incredibly big contributors to the ecosystem due to them being the prey for many larger animals such as sharks. They are not poisonous in any capacity & usually will not harm humans unless extremely provoked. However, they are venomous. They are incredibly sweet & kind creatures, they can even show affection to humans. This will be discussed more thoroughly throughout the article. In this article, we will discuss the life of the Caribbean Reef Octopus, the mating procedures, tactics, practices, & cycles of the Caribbean Reef Octopus, the distribution of the Caribbean Reef Octopus, & finally the scientific detailings of the Caribbean Reef Octopus. With that being said let us delve into this tropical creature of paradise.
The Life Of The Caribbean Reef Octopus
The Caribbean Reef Octopus was first discovered by the British Mollusca researcher Guy Coburn Robson. He first described this species in 1929. It was first published in the book: A Monograph of the Recent Cephalopoda. Based on the collections in the British Museum, Natural History By Guy Coburn Robson. The mantle of the Caribbean Reef Octopus is incredibly large. It is much larger than many other species, sitting at up to 23.622 inches (60 centimeters) long. It weighs approximately 3.3 pounds (1.49685 kilograms) on average. The life span of a Caribbean Reef Octopus is approximately 1 year & 3 months. It often lands between 1 year & 1 year & a half. Cephalopods in general are incredibly smart. They are able to distinguish between emotions of themselves & other octopi. They are able to feel affection & even love for certain humans. They have been witnessed exhibiting signs of enjoying being pet. They are also able to distinguish between humans. At one point, an octopus was seen to use the past actions of multiple caretakers to make decisions of whether to attack them or not. They are also able to hold a grudge. Oftentimes, if one particular human does something bad to the octopus, the octopus will never forget this action. Octopi are very psychologically aware. They may not be very social, but they are capable of synchronizing hunting. They will make sounds to get other octopi to help them kill something, then spill the food. They also have advanced eyesight which helps them hunt. It is unknown how long this species in particular has existed for. They are relatively solitary creatures unless it comes to mating. They will often build dens & have stable housing, they are not migratory creatures. They are rather territorial with these dens going as far as committing homicide to keep their den from being invaded. Their primary diet consists of Caribbean Spiny Lobster, various crabs, various shrimp, & shellfish. They do practice cannibalism & will consume each other if given the opportunity. Their metabolism is relatively high due to their large size. They are nocturnal hunters & primarily hunt at nighttime. Their stomach capacity is unknown, the amount they eat per day is also unknown however it is most likely between 3% & 6% of their body mass. Their primary hunters are shark species & stingrays. The speed at which they may swim is unknown. They swim via jet propulsion. Octopi sleep by narrowing their eyes & then growing pale. They will then sleep for approximately 2 hours for every 12 hours they are alive. However there are 2 different types of sleep an octopus may have, these are known as quiet sleep & active sleep. During quiet sleep, the octopus is completely motionless & will not move, this is the normal sleeping practice. Active sleep is when the octopus is still somewhat awake however it is resting. This is characterized by changes in skin color & texture as well as flicker movements of the eyes, contracting suckers on the arms & finally muscle twitches on the body. The Caribbean Reef Octopus does not exhibit just one physical appearance. They can take on a multitude of different colors & skin textures. The way that they do this will be discussed later in the article. Caribbean reef octopi are typically bright green & blue, with reddish-brown speckles across their mantle & tentacles. Their skin can become smooth or bumpy depending on the environment they want to blend into. They can change color & texture at will. Oftentimes, they will be seen with smooth skin.
The Mating Tactics, Procedures, Cycles, & Practices Of The Caribbean Reef Octopus
Caribbean reef octopi mate via sexual reproduction. They are monogamous creatures meaning they only have 1 mate. They are not hermaphroditic & cannot change genders at will. However, this is due to them having a short life span They have no known mating ritual & will simply just mate instead of doing something elaborate. The male will mount the female & reach its hectocotylus, which is the sperm-containing tentacle, into her oviduct, releasing its sperm to cover the eggs. Alternatively, it will take off its hectocotylus entirely & give it to the female so that she can store his arm in her mantle & use it when the eggs are ready to be internally fertilized. The males die several months after fertilizing the eggs, while the females die shortly after laying the eggs. It is unknown how they call for these mates. They do appear to have specific breeding months, with those being February & March. However, mating is a year-round activity. Females can lay up to 200,000 eggs. It is unclear as to how many of these survive. The Gestation period lasts approximately 65 days. The approximate age of sexual maturity for females is 5 months to 7 months. The age of sexual maturity for males is unknown. Caribbean reef octopuses hatch roughly 65 to 80 days before hatching, they are 15 millimeters at birth with arms of 7-9 millimeters & a mantle averaging 5.5 millimeters. They exit the egg about 15 seconds after they first crack it. These octopuses emerge with the appearance of small adults. Caribbean reef octopuses grow at a rapid rate, increasing their weight by approximately 5% a day. Once octopuses have sexually matured at five months, they will continue to grow and exhibit indeterminate growth. By the time they die they will weigh one-third of the amount of food they have eaten throughout their life. 2 weeks after laying eggs, the female will reduce her diet by 50%.
The Distribution Of The Caribbean Reef Octopus
The Caribbean Reef Octopus is primarily found in the Caribbean. It is found as far south as northern South America & on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal. It is found as north as southern Florida. They are not found on the Pacific-facing side of The Panama Canal. They are often found in shallow coral reefs. This is 1 meter to 20 meters deep. The reason they live in that specific area is due to there being a large quantity of food there. They also need to build dens, which is substantially easier in coral reefs than in sandy barren areas. These areas overall provide a variety of appealing conditions which make the perfect environment for this organism.
The Scientific Detailings Of The Caribbean Reef Octopus
Octopi are incredibly unique for many reasons, however the main reason is their uncharacteristically high intelligence. This is not a trait seen very often in marine or land species. They have an incredibly complex neurological structure. They do not have a central brain as we think of it. They have individual systems for each tentacle. This is why if you chop off an octopus tentacle it will still move afterwards. They can also feel extreme amounts of pain. They can also feel emotions towards octopi & other humans. If they are wronged they may hold a grudge against people or other octopi until they die. However, they may also become emotionally attached to humans. They may feel differently about certain humans. They can recognize human faces to a certain extent. Octopi in general have been seen solving mazes, & when presented with these mazes later they will remember the route out. This means they are able to reconstruct the situation in their mind in a way that pictures the layout of the maze & the way out. They do have individual personalities & unique traits as well. This is a sign to not doubt octopi intelligence at all. A contributing factor as to why this is is that they share a similar genetic sequence with humans, this genetic sequence regulates learning. The image above illustrates their anatomy & the placement of their organs. They have a total of 3 hearts much like squid or cuttlefish. They have 2 branchial hearts which pump blood to their gills. At this point, the blood will take in oxygen & be sent off to the systemic heart. After this, the systemic heart will pump the blood all over the body. Their blood is also blue instead of red. The reason for this is due to a copper-rich protein known as Hemocyanin existing in their blood. The existence of this protein in their blood causes their blood to be blue. This is very similar to the iron in Hemoglobin in human blood. This blue blood exists in all cephalopods. This blue blood can be used as a pigment if used properly. They do not have bones or any hard tissue besides their beaks. These beaks are located in the center base of all of the tentacles. They are able to fit through almost any hole that their beaks will fit through due to their purely soft tissue. The exact chemicals that their venom contains are unknown. They do use venom occasionally to force their prey to pass out, however they will not use this on humans. This species of octopus has 7 rows of teeth, however this is not as commonly found in other species. Their phylum is known as Mollusca. Mollusca is the 2nd largest phylum, just behind Arthopoda. Mollusca is however the largest marine phylum as it comprises approximately 23% of all documented marine species. The three most commonly found features defining modern species categorized under mollusks are the following: a mantle with a significant cavity used for breathing & excretion, the presence of a radula, and the structure of the nervous system. Their class is Cephalopoda. This class includes almost all species of cuttlefish, octopi, squid, & nautilus. Their order is Octopoda. This order contains the same types of species as Cephalopoda. A universal characteristic of this order is that all species classified under this are invertebrates. Their family is Octopodidae. This family contains the majority of all documented octopus species. Their current genus is known as Octopus. Octopus is the largest known genus of octopi holding over 100 species of octopus. This genus contains nothing but Octopi. This creature's binomial name is Octopus Briareus.
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