Hunter of Sharks and Birds: OCTOPUSES use their 3 Hearts and 9 Brains to EAT 🐙

If you think that octopuses are calm creatures, that feed only on scraps of the sea and small animals, let me tell you that it is not so. Octopuses are capable of transforming into rocks or corals, becoming invisible hunters when they wish so. Thanks to this, they plan ambushes, use tools and even hit fish just to get in their way. They turn their seemingly simple and fragile tentacles into lethal weapons that have enough strength to carry all kinds of animals inside their mouths. Inside their mouths, something unimaginably terrifying is hidden. An exceptional grinding machine, a toothed tongue that pierces shells, and a large internal beak that pierces everything that falls inside. And the way they taste their prey is stranger than you imagine. They don't do it with their mouths, but with their gills. Octopuses have perfected an art, that of hunting without being seen. Each species, from the tiny ones to the giant octopuses, have developed unique techniques. Although the small ones feed on seaweed and sea worms, the larger ones can eat crustaceans, molluscs, large fish, or even subjects of their own species. I forgot that they also eat some sharks, and some seagulls. Octopuses have been recorded capturing marine birds that rest on the surface of the water. And this is strange, because normally it is the seagulls that feed on them. But, knowing that they feed on such large and complex prey, our curiosity only asks, how do they manage to dismember such large and hard prey? At this point, things get even more interesting. Maybe you didn't know this, but octopuses have a structure called the tongue, which works like a toothed tongue covered with small, bony teeth. Their teeth are pointy and extremely hard, a first-rate drilling tool. When they contract and move, the tongue scratches, pierces and grinds the prey. They help to wear out soft shells or exoskeletons, and help to push the food into the esophagus. If they can't get through a shell, they don't give up. Their salivary glands take action, injecting juices with toxins such as proteases and chitinases. These enzymes are like nature's can opener, paralyzing and loosening the prey's muscles. And not only that, their mouths are equipped with a corneal beak, very similar to that of a parrot, incredibly hard and capable of tearing apart its prey. It is a hard structure, made mainly of chitin and proteins, located inside the oral cavity. It has two parts, a upper and a lower jaw, which fit together like a parrot's beak. With this hard beak, it manages to split, cut and tear apart its prey. Let's go back to the rattle. They act like a scraper, shredding the meat to facilitate digestion in its digestive tract. And here's a fact that will drive you crazy. Despite having this powerful tongue, they don't have taste buds like humans. Octopuses use their arms and gills to taste their prey. Yes, octopuses can taste with their tentacles. This chemiotactic ability allows them to explore their environment without depending only on sight. But their ability to hunt is on another level. Octopuses can literally disappear in front of the eyes of their prey and catch them without them noticing. Octopuses have a unique talent, to become anything. All this thanks to their millions of chromatophores in their skin, which give them the ability to change color and texture. These cells, surrounded by muscles, expand or contract to create patterns and tones identical to their environment. They can imitate corals, stones and even the sea floor. And so they wait patiently until a prey approaches. Some octopuses have photophores organs that produce light. They use them as a lure, to attract curious creatures that don't suspect anything. And if that doesn't work, they have a final trick. Ink. A dark cloud, which not only reduces their visibility, but also contains chemical substances that disorientate the prey, allowing a quick capture. When the time comes, their arms take action. They use six tentacles to hold the prey with their suction cups and leave two free tentacles to stabilize their body. If the enemy is big or dangerous, they use the eight tentacles to immobilize it. And behind all this is their central brain, and the eight mini-brains of each arm. Each one can move, taste and decide almost independently. They also use tools. They have been seen using pieces of shell to remove the sediment and find hidden food. Once the prey appears, their tentacles, armed with powerful suction cups, hold it firmly to take it to its beak and radula, where it will be chopped. Although most of them hunt alone, some octopuses, such as the Octopus cyanea, collaborate with fish such as the black-tailed grouper. If a prey escapes and hides among the rocks, the grouper shakes its head in a signal to the octopus, telling it where the prey is. The octopus understands the message and enters the crevices, where the grouper cannot reach. If the octopus fails to catch it, the frightened prey escapes, and the grouper catches it. Both benefit from this silent pact. When they come together, both the octopus and the grouper have more chances of getting food. When an octopus is fed up with nearby intruders, it does something unexpected. It hits the fish with its tentacles to show them who is in charge. But they are stranger than you thought. Some facts about octopuses seem science fiction. They are underwater interior decorators. They stack empty shells of their prey, rocks, and other objects around their nests, creating what biologists call an octopus garden. They have a sexual arm called ectocotillus. They use it to transfer sperm to the female. Blue blood circulates. Unlike humans, whose hemoglobin with iron gives blood a red color, octopuses have blood based on copper and hemocyanin. When it comes in contact with oxygen, its blood turns a surprising blue. They have a triple heart. To get oxygen from water, they have three different hearts. One pumps oxygenated blood to the body, and the other two are in charge of transferring blood without oxygen to the gills. They also have nine brains. A central brain, protected by a cartilaginous structure, but they also have eight brain cells in each of their arms. Each cell has thousands of neurons, which allows them to perform several tasks simultaneously. They can also regenerate. If an octopus loses one of its arms, they can regenerate a new one through a process called epimorphosis. Leave us a like, and see you in the next video.