(Stord - Hordaland / 13 meters / 11.02.2004)

Phylum: Mollusca

Class: Cephalopoda

 

Norwegian: blekkspruter

The three orders dominating the class of cephalopods in Norwegian waters are the Sepiida (ten-armed cuttlefish), Teuthida (squids) and the Octopoda (eight-armed octopuses). There are approximately 750 known species in the world today. On the other hand, ten times as many fossil species have been found, indicating that the Cephalopods had a more dominating position in the oceans some hundred million years ago, before the vertebrates invaded land and long before humans set foot on earth. They are believed to descend from simple, externally shelled mollusks. They are the only mollusks that can claim to have a brain and they are regarded as the most intelligent invertebrates around.

I could not help being astonished by the octopus I saw leaving its aquarium in a laboratory. It crawled across the floor, into another fish tank. Here it caught one of the fishes. After the meal it returned to its own tank. This happened several nights and the scientists could not understand where the fish disappeared before they installed a video camera to watch the laboratory. I have been swimming with sharks twice my size without any worries, but I hope I never meet an octopus of my own weight class.