What considerations are there in keeping an octopus as a pet?
I can't tell you how to keep an octopus, but what I do know is that I looked into it, because I had the same thought years ago, and it is extremely difficult, time consuming, and expensive.They are not fish, they are much more intelligent and complicated to keep. They require a lot of interaction and challenges to keep them occupied. They are excellent escape artists. They eat live fish and other sea life, which they require daily. They require a very large enclosure, with a very delicately balanced chemistry, with other kinds of life in it. In addition to health issues that can come up with other animals, they can also have psychological issues if they aren't kept properly. In short, an octopus is not like a fish you can drop in an aquarium and ignore most of the time and they'll happily swim in circles all day not knowing they're captive.I've looked into both octopus and sea horses, and they're both very difficult to keep. I say this as someone who has kept many not-for-amateurs animals in my life, from rare, delicate geckos from Madagascar to threatened species of snakes from around the world. Those took time and effort to keep properly, but an octopus is a whole other level. You basically can't have a day job if you keep an octopus, or you will have serious problems keeping them alive and healthy. I never attempted to keep either animal because I recognized that I couldn't keep them in a way that would be healthy for them.
Is it illegal to keep a Octopus OR Squid as a pet?
Take it from a person that has had one. OK first off just to let you know octopus are in in the family cheplaopod there is no breed of octopus called a cephalopod. Don't get a squid, as they are extremely easily frightened and are not suited for captivity, even in the largest public aquariums its rare to see a true squid. Octopus are good escape artist, but with proper precautions they can easily be maintained. The main problem with octopus or any ceph is that they require very expensive food (normally live) feeding an octopus on a monthly basis will cost you around $20-$40. Another thing is that cephs only live for a year or two max and sense the octopus is caught in the wild there is a good chance the octopus you get is already half way done with its life.The blue ring octopus is not the most poisonous animal in the world. There is a difference between organisms that are venomous and those that are poisonous, two commonly confused terms applied to plant and animal life. * Venomous, as stated above, refers to animals that deliver (often, inject) venom into their prey when hunting or as a defense mechanism. *Poisonous, on the other hand, describes plants or animals that are harmful when consumed or touched. A poison tends to be distributed over a large part of the body of the organism producing it, while venom is typically produced in organs specialized for the purpose. One species of bird, the hooded pitohui, although not venomous, is poisonous, secreting a neurotoxin onto its skin and feathers.The slow loris, a primate, blurs the boundary between poisonous and venomous. From patches on the inside of its elbows it secretes a toxin, which it is believed to smear on its young to prevent them from being eaten; however, it will also lick these patches, giving it a venomous bite. And the blue ring octopus are deadly if you are bitten by one, but they are not the most venomous or poisonous animal in the world, so please if you are to post information please make sure its correct. I recommend you try and find some good books on the care of octopus and also reed the article on the care of cephs in this years Fish and Reef Magazine. Cheers Max Edit: Not all octopus are venomous, so don't worry about that just watch out for the blue ring. You can buy octopus on many online marine fish stores and your local marine pet fish store can order you one.
Have there been any documented attacks by colossal or giant squid on people?
For what it’s worth, here’s an article detailing just that. No fatalities reported.Giant squid 'attacks French boat'As far as legendary attacks involving cephalopods dragging down boats, there are many. There is the Kraken in Norse Culture. There is the Lusca in Caribbean culture. And also the tentacled aliens in Arrival in modern American culture. (Throwing ink at scientists would be classified as assault, especially if someone did it to me and also, unfortunately, if I did it to a colleague).It must be remembered that Cephalopods are predators. You’d need to be very huge if you intended to eat a large Cephalopod (whale sized, for instance). As predators Cephalopods are naturally aggressive. For example Humboldt Squids, which live in the Eastern Pacific(California to Chile), have been known to attack fishermen when they are hunting.All species of octopus are venomous. Blue ringed octopuses around 25 grams in weight can inject enough venom to kill 10 adult humans by paralysing their diaphragm causing them to suffocate to death. What’s 25 grams? A fistful of rice?
Is octopous ink deadly or poisonous?
I did lots of hunting to track down the answer for this intriguing question and in the process I've learned a great deal about the fascinating lives of squid and octopuses (a class called Cephalopods) Octopuses, in particular, appear to be very clever creatures. In the recent cooking sources I've checked, there is little mention of using octopus ink, though most certainly they do have ink sacs too. To answer your question about the toxicity of the inks we turned to Steven Webster, Senior Marine Biologist, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, California. We greatly appreciate his speedy and concise response. "All squids and octopuses have a venom gland and venomous bite, but the venom the ink are two different things. I find no references to the ink's being toxic itself, although it apparently may be somewhat toxic to other octopuses in a confined space. Perhaps the ink interferes with normal respiration, or other physiological activities, of the octopus. Squid and octopus inks are often consumed by humans in recipes for these species and, of course, by their natural predators. There is apparently no harmful effect in doing this." Steven also suggests the following relevant web site for those who want to learn more. There's an interesting article on Italian restaurants in Japan and the delights of Ikasumi spaghetti: http://japanupdate.com/previous/00/09/14... And if you're interested in learning more about the Monterey Bay Aquarium, please look up the aquarium's Website at http://www.mbayaq.org.
I need a quick middle school level science project on life science. Help please!!!! This is urgent.?
OK, how about looking at how different fertilizers affect pea seedling growth? It's interesting, cheap and quick.
Question about kelp forests?
The term "Forest" implies trees which grow on land, and kelp is one kind of seaweed! So the many different varieties of kelp grow in water, particularly in areas of the ocean! I know it grows around China and Japan, where it is popular in many food dishes. Kelp forests occur worldwide throughout temperate and polar coastal oceans. In 2007, kelp forests were also discovered in tropical waters near Ecuador. Kelps are primarily associated with temperate and arctic waters worldwide. Of the more dominant species, Laminaria is mainly associated with both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and the coasts of China and Japan; Ecklonia is found in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa; and Macrocystis occurs throughout the northeastern and southeastern Pacific Ocean, Southern Ocean archipelagos, and in patches around Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.[6] The region with the greatest diversity of kelps (>20 species) is the northeastern Pacific, from north of San Francisco, California, to the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. When I was a kid, (a couple of lifetimes ago), we had a shaker on the table with ground kelp in it. It is an interesting seasoning, and has lots of iodine and other good things.