Hunting and Feeding
Octopuses are active predators and use several hunting strategies depending on species and environment. Most are ambush predators — staying camouflaged and still, then lunging at prey that comes close. The common octopus also engages in active foraging, exploring crevices and reef structures for crabs, clams, and small fish.
Once prey is caught, octopuses inject venom through their beak to paralyze it. They can drill through mollusk shells using a tooth-like radula to inject venom or digestive enzymes directly.
Camouflage
Perhaps the most famous octopus behavior — instantaneous color, pattern, and texture change for concealment or communication. Accomplished through chromatophores, iridophores, and papillae in the skin. Full guide →
Tool Use
The veined octopus collects coconut shells and carries them for later use as portable shelters — genuine tool use documented in the wild. This requires planning: the octopus must recognize the shell's future utility, carry it at current cost, and assemble it when needed. Intelligence guide →
Problem Solving
Octopuses are exceptional puzzle solvers. In laboratory settings they open jars, navigate mazes, and learn lever sequences. Individual octopuses in aquariums have been observed repeatedly short-circuiting unwanted lights and squirting water at keepers they disliked.
Social Behavior: Mostly Solitary
Most octopus species are strongly solitary and territorial. Adults interact primarily for mating — and even then, interactions are brief. The male may mate by reaching an arm into the female's mantle from a safe distance to avoid being eaten. After mating, both sexes are biologically programmed to decline and die.
Sleep and Possible Dreaming
Octopuses exhibit clear sleep states — periods of immobility with characteristic posture changes. During what appears to be deep sleep, some octopuses undergo rapid skin color and pattern changes. Researchers at OIST published findings suggesting this resembles REM sleep and may indicate dream-like neural activity.
Play
Octopuses in aquariums have been observed repeatedly releasing and recapturing objects in a water current — behavior with no apparent survival purpose. This is considered possible play behavior, unusual in invertebrates.
Ink Defense
When camouflage fails, octopuses deploy ink — a chemical mixture that blinds and disorients predators. The ink can form a decoy body shape or a diffuse chemical cloud depending on the threat. Ink science →