8 Fun Facts You Probably Didn't Know About Octopuses

You knew that we were celebrating our flagship store's eighth year as a small business in Old Town Fort Collins, right? August 15th officially marked our eight years with our store front. To mark the occasion we launched our Inaugural Golden Ticket Scavenger Hunt that was a big success. In honor of this 8th store-front-birthday occasion, Suzanne, created 8% Salty. October 8th also happens to be World Octopus Day, so we thought we'd share eight fun facts about octopuses!

Eight years – eight arms (not tentacles, keep reading) – eight fun facts about octopuses. So, it's time for you to dig in to fun facts about octopuses! 

1. Octopus fossils date back to more than 300 million years, predating dinos! Different species vary in size and weight, and can grow to weigh more than 600 pounds.
2. With 500 million neurons located in their brains and arms, they're highly intelligent.
3. Octopuses have three hearts. Three. Two that move blood past the gills, the other pumps blood to the rest of the body.
4. Have you ever been corrected with"No, it's octopi"? Well you were right, the correct plural of octopus is octopuses.
5. Octopuses rarely swim, but instead they walk along the seafloor. When octopuses swim, their "third" heart stops pumping blood throughout the body, so crawling is more efficient and less exhausting.
6. They have eight arms, zero tentacles. Squid, cuttlefish, and nautiluses have tentacles, but octopuses have arms. AND each one has a mind of their own.
7. Octopuses are masters of camouflage and quick at it. They can change the entire color of their body in three-tenths of a second. BOOM. These creatures will skillfully mimic specific undersea surroundings that make them seemingly disappear.
8. They live a fast, short life. The typical lifespan for an octopus is a few years, but most survive 6 - 18 months.

Shop our 8% Salty Collection!