Shakespeare Club: octopuses (NOT octopi)

Octopus in New England Aquarium, Boston. Photo credit Betty Wills/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

submitted by Joan Gaughan, Shakespeare Club 

At the January 27 Shakespeare Club meeting, Linda Breight began her presentation with a physical description of an octopus. With a life span of 3–5 years, this amazing creature has a brain located between its two eyes, three hearts, and eight arms, each of which is separate, in constant motion, and can regenerate if cut off. Each arm is covered with two rows of suckers that allow it to grasp, pull, lift and strike objects. A siphon on the head allows it to eject a deadly, inky-blue substance to use as a screen to cover its escape from a predator, deceive an enemy, or attract attention. Although they can weigh up to 40–45 pounds, because they have no hard parts, such as bones or shells, they are capable of squeezing themselves into tiny spaces. 

Although a female carefully guards her eggs, cleans them with her suckers, and continually agitates the water surrounding them, she dies as soon as they are hatched, and the male dies soon afterward. The offspring therefore have to learn how to survive on their own. The result is that they have become extremely intelligent and can smell, taste, and think to the point of planning ahead. They have been known, for instance, to collect and to use stones and shells to build fortresses for self-protection. Well aware of their vulnerability, they are masters of camouflage and can instantly change not only colors but also patterns and textures in order to blend in perfectly with their environment. By changing colors, they can show dislike but also affection for another animal and even for a person.

They like to play with objects, which is a sign of intelligence, but they can also get bored and escape their tanks and go for a stroll, which is not always a good thing, because they can survive for only 18 minutes out of water. And they can cause mischief. Lucretia McEvil, for instance, figured out how to open the valve on her tank and flooded the entire area of the facility in which she was housed, causing several hundreds of dollars of damage. 

There are several excellent videos describing these marvelous creatures, including a National Geographic program. If you watch any of them with your kids or grandkids, however, please be aware that the Shakespeare Club rejects any responsibility if they then want to flood the basement and adopt one as a pet.

The Shakespeare Club was founded in 1897. It meets twice monthly from late September to mid-May in Manchester to enjoy informative presentations by members on varying and fascinating topics. If you are interested in learning more about the Shakespeare Club, email Joan Gaughan at allgaughan@yahoo.com.

For as little as $1 a month, you can keep Manchester-focused news coverage alive.

by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and a founder of the Manchester Mirror.