The Seahorse

Seahorses are truly unique, and not just because of their unusual equine shape. Unlike most other fish, they are monogamous and mate for life. Rarer still, they are among the only animal species on Earth in which male bears the unborn young. Found in shallow tropical and temperate waters throughout the world, these upright-swimming relatives of the pipefish can range in size from 0.6 inches (1.5 centimeters ) to 14 inches (35 centimeters) long. Male seahorses are equipped with a brood pouch on their ventral, or front-facing, side. When mating, the female deposits her eggs in his pouch, and the male fertilizes them internally. He carries the eggs in his pouch until they hatch, then releases fully formed, miniature seahorses into the water. Because of their body shape, seahorses are rather inept swimmers and can easily die of exhaustion when caught in storm-roiled seas. They propel themselves by using a small fin on their back which flutters up to 35 times per second. They have small fins also located on their head which they use for steering. They ancor themselves with their tales to seagrass and coral. Their snouts are long which help them to suck up small plankton and crusteans floating by. They consume about 3,000 of those a day. Credits go to: National Geographic

The Giant Pacific Octopus

The octopus is a mollusk. It belongs to the same group as chitons, abalone, snails, limpets, scallops, oysters, clams, and mussels. The octopus also belongs to a sub-species of mollusks called the cephalopods. This means head to foot and is used as the same name because an octopus' "feet" are attached to its head. Octopuses tend to be small in warm tropical waters and larger in colder waters.Octopuses live in all the oceans but are strictly salt water creatures. The Giant Pacific Octopus lives in the costal waters of British Columbia and is the largest octopus in the world. The largest Giant Pacific Octopus weighed about 600 pounds, about the same weight as a brown bear!The tenticles of the beast spanned upwards 33 feet in length. Obviously octopi are generally much smaller. For example, females rarely exceed 55 pounds and males average less than 90.The Giant Pacific Octopus is one of the longer lived species whereas most octopuses live only 1 or 2 years. The male can live to approximately 4 years and the female can live to about 3.5 years.The octopus has an excellent eye-sight and a well-developed brain. It can instantly change the color and the texture of its skin to match the surrounding area. This camouflage is a major method of protection. The body of an octopus looks like a bag. It moves as the octopus breathes. Inside the mantle (the body) there are 3 hearts, the stomache, and other organs. One heart pumps blood through each gill at the end of each of the two appendages. Water flows over the gills and fills the mantle when the octopus breathes in. The water is forced out of a tube called the siphon as the octopus breathes out. It can force water through the siphon rapidly and jet itself backwards if the octopus is trying to escape a predator. Using jet propulsion, octopuses travel many kilometers. An octopus can protect itself temporarily blinding an attacker by squirting ink at it. The third heart pumps blood through the body. The octopus blood is light blue.

Credits go to: National Geographic