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Octopus: The Ocean's Intelligent Invertebrate
In this beautifully photographed book, three leading marine biologists bring readers face to face with these amazingly complex animals that have fascinated scientists for decades. From the molluscan ancestry of today's octopus to its ingenious anatomy, amazing mating and predatory behaviors, and other-worldly relatives, the authors take readers through the astounding life cycle, uncovering the details of distinctive octopus personalities. With personal narratives, underwater research, stunning closeup photography, and thoughtful guidance for keeping octopuses in captivity, Octopus is the first comprehensive natural history of this smart denizen of the sea.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published May 21, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
April 18, 2022
The best book on octopuses is Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness a 10-star book to me), but it concentrates much more on the metaphysical, and so this book, Octopus: The Ocean's Intelligent Invertebrate concentrating on the animal, in a scientfice way, but with interesting anecdotes is a good pairing.
An 60lb Giant Pacific Octopus lays 100,000 eggs which takes 6 months to hatch. During that time the mother keeps them safe in her den, wafting away predators, intruders, debris, barnacles and keep the water pure for her potential babies. She doesn't eat, her body digests itself, not fat as it doesn't have any, but muscles. And as soon as her eggs hatch, she dies. The story of Olive the Octopus in the book is also here in the Seattle Times together with a picture of her.
I've always been fascinated by octopuses, ugly, alien creatures who can recognise people and have an intelligence we can relate to. I read The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness which was really rather awful, concentrating on the author and on her surmising how an octopus feels, and wanted a hard, science books on these amazing creatures.
An 60lb Giant Pacific Octopus lays 100,000 eggs which takes 6 months to hatch. During that time the mother keeps them safe in her den, wafting away predators, intruders, debris, barnacles and keep the water pure for her potential babies. She doesn't eat, her body digests itself, not fat as it doesn't have any, but muscles. And as soon as her eggs hatch, she dies. The story of Olive the Octopus in the book is also here in the Seattle Times together with a picture of her.
I've always been fascinated by octopuses, ugly, alien creatures who can recognise people and have an intelligence we can relate to. I read The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness which was really rather awful, concentrating on the author and on her surmising how an octopus feels, and wanted a hard, science books on these amazing creatures.
May 22, 2023
4 to 5 stars.
I enjoyed this octopus book. It’s a little unusual to have three authors, but generally it comes off as one voice with many sidebars describing the individual research or first hand experience of the three. Having three authors may contribute to some repetition, but I looked on that as reinforcement.
Octopuses (not octopi we are told here) are possibly the most intelligent of invertebrates and that alone makes them worth studying. The first part of the book describes their many features, how they move, mate, feed, take care of their young, how they differ from each other and their life span (disappointingly short at 2 to 3 years normally. They reach adulthood, mate and go into senescence, behave abnormally, get eaten or just die). Later parts of the book reinforce earlier facts by talking about research on Octopus lives and describe research methods. That may be the least interesting part of the book for the general reader.
The facts are amazing. This book is well worth reading if you have any interest in the octopus (the eight legged) or just sea life in general.
I enjoyed this octopus book. It’s a little unusual to have three authors, but generally it comes off as one voice with many sidebars describing the individual research or first hand experience of the three. Having three authors may contribute to some repetition, but I looked on that as reinforcement.
Octopuses (not octopi we are told here) are possibly the most intelligent of invertebrates and that alone makes them worth studying. The first part of the book describes their many features, how they move, mate, feed, take care of their young, how they differ from each other and their life span (disappointingly short at 2 to 3 years normally. They reach adulthood, mate and go into senescence, behave abnormally, get eaten or just die). Later parts of the book reinforce earlier facts by talking about research on Octopus lives and describe research methods. That may be the least interesting part of the book for the general reader.
The facts are amazing. This book is well worth reading if you have any interest in the octopus (the eight legged) or just sea life in general.
July 25, 2018
This detailed and useful book was published in the U.S. in 2010 by Timber Press and authored by three long-time North American experts on cephalopods. James Wood maintains his own website, called The Cephalopod Page. This collection includes 38 color plates, and the discussion is for the non-specialist. It includes recent developments in the field and offers information in a way that is inviting.
No one knows how many octopus species exist, but it is estimated there are 100 members of the genus Octopus. Octopuses (not octopussies, everyone) are found at every depth in the ocean and while some are very large (up to 80 lb), most can be measure in millimeters at hatching. And yes, octopuses lay eggs.
Many variations in observed habits are discussed here, but the important thing is that octopuses don’t generally have a long lifespan—usually around two years, though the range is six months to four years, depending on the species. Sexual activity takes place towards the end of the lifespan, the mother often dying shortly after the eggs have successfully hatched. During gestation the mother typically doesn’t eat, neither attracted to food nor interested to attract possible predators to the cave in which she is holed up with a bunch of developing eggs. Her last days are spent spurting oxygenated water over the eggs attached to the walls of caves.
Much of what we know about the octopus is that they are great escape artists: they squeeze into tight spots, change color, and will lose an arm to evade capture. They can also put on a dazzling camouflage called ‘Passing Cloud,’ which is designed to confuse potential prey, not predators. This display makes nearby prey think something large is passing over their environment casting a moving shadow. It is thought the intent is to startle a motionless prey into revealing their location so they can be captured by the octopus with spread arms and web.
One of the things I like best about this book is that the information is delivered painlessly and in a conversational tone. The authors freely seed the work with ravishing stories, like the one about finding ‘a cuttlefish singles bar’ on a small rocky reef in South Australia in 2002—a huge aggregation of giant cuttlefish (41,000 estimated, about one per square yard) ready to reproduce, four males for each female, all trying for courtship, changing skin displays & waiting for a guarding male to get distracted. It’s just hard to wrap one’s mind around. This is determined, thinking behavior. Isn’t it?
Anyway, this book reminds me of the kind of book many of us read as pre-adolescents, obsessed with dinosaurs or airplanes or something, and reading whatever we could find on the subject until… until we were teased out of our expertise or the lure of the opposite sex scrambled our brains. Even a child could enjoy reading this book.
The authors have side comments on argonauts (yes, the ones the Greek playwrights mentioned), cuttlefish, squid and specific individual octopuses that made a difference in the lives of countless scientists. This is a terrific gift for the not-yet-specialist.
No one knows how many octopus species exist, but it is estimated there are 100 members of the genus Octopus. Octopuses (not octopussies, everyone) are found at every depth in the ocean and while some are very large (up to 80 lb), most can be measure in millimeters at hatching. And yes, octopuses lay eggs.
Many variations in observed habits are discussed here, but the important thing is that octopuses don’t generally have a long lifespan—usually around two years, though the range is six months to four years, depending on the species. Sexual activity takes place towards the end of the lifespan, the mother often dying shortly after the eggs have successfully hatched. During gestation the mother typically doesn’t eat, neither attracted to food nor interested to attract possible predators to the cave in which she is holed up with a bunch of developing eggs. Her last days are spent spurting oxygenated water over the eggs attached to the walls of caves.
Much of what we know about the octopus is that they are great escape artists: they squeeze into tight spots, change color, and will lose an arm to evade capture. They can also put on a dazzling camouflage called ‘Passing Cloud,’ which is designed to confuse potential prey, not predators. This display makes nearby prey think something large is passing over their environment casting a moving shadow. It is thought the intent is to startle a motionless prey into revealing their location so they can be captured by the octopus with spread arms and web.
One of the things I like best about this book is that the information is delivered painlessly and in a conversational tone. The authors freely seed the work with ravishing stories, like the one about finding ‘a cuttlefish singles bar’ on a small rocky reef in South Australia in 2002—a huge aggregation of giant cuttlefish (41,000 estimated, about one per square yard) ready to reproduce, four males for each female, all trying for courtship, changing skin displays & waiting for a guarding male to get distracted. It’s just hard to wrap one’s mind around. This is determined, thinking behavior. Isn’t it?
Anyway, this book reminds me of the kind of book many of us read as pre-adolescents, obsessed with dinosaurs or airplanes or something, and reading whatever we could find on the subject until… until we were teased out of our expertise or the lure of the opposite sex scrambled our brains. Even a child could enjoy reading this book.
The authors have side comments on argonauts (yes, the ones the Greek playwrights mentioned), cuttlefish, squid and specific individual octopuses that made a difference in the lives of countless scientists. This is a terrific gift for the not-yet-specialist.
June 9, 2019
My love for octopuses began with Sy Montgomery’s Soul of an Octopus. I have not eaten one since, it would be a crime against something magically beautiful and intelligent.
This book brought a love of nature, of the ocean, every time I opened it. It’s a collaborative effort of aficionados that mixes educational material with lively personal stories.
Considering the amount of authors this was smoothly done. I live far from the ocean but I know and care more for it because of this book.
So beautiful.
One sad fact: The United States still has no ethical standards for the care of invertebrates. Sigh.
I hope things turn around because I would like this to be me someday...
January 28, 2017
Absolutely loved this book.
Despite many years of reading everything I could about Cephalopods in general and Octopus in particular, and despite have read a fair few papers by two of the authors, this book charmed me. Within the covers, Mathers, Anderson and Wood give us the story of The Octopus from the egg to the end of its life which, often, is the egg laying. There is a final chapter touching upon the rest of the Cephalopods and a Postscript with useful information for anyone who would like to keep an aquarium with an Octopus.
The scientific knowledge and practical experience of the authors is formidable, however, here in this book they have a chance to air the anecdotes, personal experiences, joys and frustrations of years of octopus experience without being restricted to the conventions of scientific papers in peer review journals, which are very specifically formatted.
Nevertheless the years of writing experience come through in that it is beautifully written and edited and so the reading experience was as pleasant as the subject matter. This brevity also meant that the book was chock-a-block full of information (and what a relief to read a book about invertebrates and KNOW that the information is reliable!), leading to the fact that it took me a long time to finish.
Possibly Octopus: The Ocean's Intelligent Invertebrate took me longer than any other recent read, but part of that was that I rationed myself, saving a few pages as a lift for a day that was not as good. Making myself take it slowly when I wanted to gobble down whole chapters. Re-reading sections over, that I especially enjoyed.
The reading matter is enhanced by 37 spectacular colour plates, many of them captured by one of the authors.
Despite many years of reading everything I could about Cephalopods in general and Octopus in particular, and despite have read a fair few papers by two of the authors, this book charmed me. Within the covers, Mathers, Anderson and Wood give us the story of The Octopus from the egg to the end of its life which, often, is the egg laying. There is a final chapter touching upon the rest of the Cephalopods and a Postscript with useful information for anyone who would like to keep an aquarium with an Octopus.
The scientific knowledge and practical experience of the authors is formidable, however, here in this book they have a chance to air the anecdotes, personal experiences, joys and frustrations of years of octopus experience without being restricted to the conventions of scientific papers in peer review journals, which are very specifically formatted.
Nevertheless the years of writing experience come through in that it is beautifully written and edited and so the reading experience was as pleasant as the subject matter. This brevity also meant that the book was chock-a-block full of information (and what a relief to read a book about invertebrates and KNOW that the information is reliable!), leading to the fact that it took me a long time to finish.
Possibly Octopus: The Ocean's Intelligent Invertebrate took me longer than any other recent read, but part of that was that I rationed myself, saving a few pages as a lift for a day that was not as good. Making myself take it slowly when I wanted to gobble down whole chapters. Re-reading sections over, that I especially enjoyed.
The reading matter is enhanced by 37 spectacular colour plates, many of them captured by one of the authors.
January 28, 2021
Octopuses are fascinating creatures.
February 17, 2021
I like octopuses. When i was travelling from the South Island of New Zealand to the North Island there was a large octopus in a vertically rectangular tank at the entrance to where one boards the ferry. It noticed me watching it and started signalling to me in hieroglyphic semaphores. Its arms kept portraying different glyph configurations but retained the "message" in a square (like a Maya Glyph). I was dumbstruck and thought to myself "it's trying to tell me something". Then a telepathic thought intruded into my brain "Yes, I'm trying to tell you to get me out of here". The semaphore like signalling continued at a frantic pace.
I've watched documentaries, examined footage on You tube and Facebook but have never seen that sort of confined messaging in any of hundreds of clips. It could well be i imagined the intrusion - after all why would it have come through in English? Just the same i looked for a way to get the octopus out and where i might place it if i did. No solution presented itself and the last chance to board whistle had me avoid being arrested for aiding and abetting an octopus' bid for freedom.
I have since read half a dozen books on octopi and mostly favoured the stories on escapes and the animal's behaviours. This book was mostly like a textbook or technical manual, although informative was on a three star read enjoyment level. Chapters 8 & 9 (on Personalities & Intelligence respectively) were the most enjoyable rating five stars.
There were sections (in Chapter Five) on spatial understanding of where an octopus might figure where it is and (Chapter Six) on colour changes and descriptions of how those colours were produced that were engaging.
I've watched documentaries, examined footage on You tube and Facebook but have never seen that sort of confined messaging in any of hundreds of clips. It could well be i imagined the intrusion - after all why would it have come through in English? Just the same i looked for a way to get the octopus out and where i might place it if i did. No solution presented itself and the last chance to board whistle had me avoid being arrested for aiding and abetting an octopus' bid for freedom.
I have since read half a dozen books on octopi and mostly favoured the stories on escapes and the animal's behaviours. This book was mostly like a textbook or technical manual, although informative was on a three star read enjoyment level. Chapters 8 & 9 (on Personalities & Intelligence respectively) were the most enjoyable rating five stars.
There were sections (in Chapter Five) on spatial understanding of where an octopus might figure where it is and (Chapter Six) on colour changes and descriptions of how those colours were produced that were engaging.
July 7, 2022
A very interesting read. Dovetails nicely with the Radiolab episode titled Octomom which is well worth checking out if you think this book would be interesting.
February 23, 2017
It read like a textbook.
The whole time I felt I was reading something for school and I got bored but I read it so yay!
I felt that they could have done a better job executing the information because I'll be honest, I can't recall everything this book was trying to teach me.
If you like to read textbooks and if you like octopuses, here you go.
The whole time I felt I was reading something for school and I got bored but I read it so yay!
I felt that they could have done a better job executing the information because I'll be honest, I can't recall everything this book was trying to teach me.
If you like to read textbooks and if you like octopuses, here you go.
September 5, 2025
This is an interesting and textbook-like examination of the octopus and several of its cephalopod cousins (squids, nautilus and cuttlefish). The book is written in twelve chapters, (each 10 to 15 pages in length), with 38 colour plates, 12 pages of references and an index. The first ten chapters explore the various stages of the octopus’s life cycle, its habitat, behavior, appearance, personality, intelligence and reproduction. Chapter 11 briefly provides similar information for several other cephalopods. The final chapter is a Postscript with detailed information on keeping an octopus in captivity.
The book is co-authored by three marine biologists, academics with years of field research on octopuses and numerous papers published in scholarly journals. The authors provide much detailed information on their subject and frequently reference papers published by themselves or by other researchers.
This is a fairly academic work that would be of interest to students of marine biology or those with a strong interest in cephalopod zoology (teuthology). As a curious outsider, with only a passing interest in cephalopods, I found the book intriguing but somewhat dry. It presented a wealth of information and I learned a lot about cephalopods but at times, for me it became a bit of a slog - perhaps because of the writing style. 3 stars
The book is co-authored by three marine biologists, academics with years of field research on octopuses and numerous papers published in scholarly journals. The authors provide much detailed information on their subject and frequently reference papers published by themselves or by other researchers.
This is a fairly academic work that would be of interest to students of marine biology or those with a strong interest in cephalopod zoology (teuthology). As a curious outsider, with only a passing interest in cephalopods, I found the book intriguing but somewhat dry. It presented a wealth of information and I learned a lot about cephalopods but at times, for me it became a bit of a slog - perhaps because of the writing style. 3 stars
August 21, 2022
If you were an octopus you could do this: first change colour, turning as dark as ink, then release a cloud of real ink mixed with mucus which holds its shape in the water just like a decoy octopus, then instantly turn pale again and glide serenely away while the predator is still fumbling with the decoy.
Impressive, but that would just be the beginning. Besides their eight arms, three hearts, blue blood and jet-propulsion, some can inject venom a hundred times more toxic than the black widow spider's; they have no skeleton so can squidge through tiny cracks and holes; they can out-camouflage the chameleon and their piece de resistance is the "Passing Cloud", a shadow which moves across its screen of skin the way light-bulbs flashing in sequence produce a moving advertising image! Oh yes, they're also intelligent enough to dismantle an aquarium and escape, and it's even rumoured among marine biologists who've studied them for decades that, just maybe, they're self-aware too - conscious.
This isn't the best-written book I've ever read: it has three authors and that does show a bit at times; it's also mostly pretty dry and academic in style, more textbook than nature book - which is fine by me, and if you don't mind it either you'll find this a fascinating read. It's packed with detail, of which here's just one: the fossilised ink sac from a 65-million-year-old cuttlefish, when ground up and mixed with alcohol, produced perfectly good writing ink (want to write about dinosaurs? Why not use genuine Cretaceous ink!) What also comes across is how much the authors love these amazing molluscs: they gleefully describe a night security guard, routinely annoying one octopus with a flashlight beam, being soaked with jets of water in return; they describe octopuses inventing and playing games, something only "higher" vertebrates are supposed to do; and, finally, they introduced me to a subject I'd never thought about before: invertebrate welfare. Kept in bare tanks without stimulation, octopuses show all the same distress behaviours exhibited by other intelligent animals in bad zoos: repetitive movements, self-harming, even biting off their own arms (the only reason I didn't give this book five stars is because it includes an advice section at the end for anyone thinking of keeping octopuses, and I'm not sure now whether amateurs should be keeping octopuses at home).
Good book otherwise though. The name of one genus is Wunderpus (Wunderpus photogenicus) and they certainly are.
Impressive, but that would just be the beginning. Besides their eight arms, three hearts, blue blood and jet-propulsion, some can inject venom a hundred times more toxic than the black widow spider's; they have no skeleton so can squidge through tiny cracks and holes; they can out-camouflage the chameleon and their piece de resistance is the "Passing Cloud", a shadow which moves across its screen of skin the way light-bulbs flashing in sequence produce a moving advertising image! Oh yes, they're also intelligent enough to dismantle an aquarium and escape, and it's even rumoured among marine biologists who've studied them for decades that, just maybe, they're self-aware too - conscious.
This isn't the best-written book I've ever read: it has three authors and that does show a bit at times; it's also mostly pretty dry and academic in style, more textbook than nature book - which is fine by me, and if you don't mind it either you'll find this a fascinating read. It's packed with detail, of which here's just one: the fossilised ink sac from a 65-million-year-old cuttlefish, when ground up and mixed with alcohol, produced perfectly good writing ink (want to write about dinosaurs? Why not use genuine Cretaceous ink!) What also comes across is how much the authors love these amazing molluscs: they gleefully describe a night security guard, routinely annoying one octopus with a flashlight beam, being soaked with jets of water in return; they describe octopuses inventing and playing games, something only "higher" vertebrates are supposed to do; and, finally, they introduced me to a subject I'd never thought about before: invertebrate welfare. Kept in bare tanks without stimulation, octopuses show all the same distress behaviours exhibited by other intelligent animals in bad zoos: repetitive movements, self-harming, even biting off their own arms (the only reason I didn't give this book five stars is because it includes an advice section at the end for anyone thinking of keeping octopuses, and I'm not sure now whether amateurs should be keeping octopuses at home).
Good book otherwise though. The name of one genus is Wunderpus (Wunderpus photogenicus) and they certainly are.
July 26, 2022
I love octopuses, can't get enough of them. For a layman like me, Octopus: The Ocean's Intelligent Invertebrate, it's the octopus Bible, covering everything from behavior to reproduction to personality (they can be quite characters) to how to raise your own octopus.
Less philosophical than the beautiful Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness and less personal than The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness, this book is more comprehensive than either, although I absolutely loved all three.
Gorgeous color plate pictures, I can't stop looking at them.
Less philosophical than the beautiful Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness and less personal than The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness, this book is more comprehensive than either, although I absolutely loved all three.
Gorgeous color plate pictures, I can't stop looking at them.
December 18, 2016
After suffering through the human-anecdote stuffed The Soul of an Octopus earlier this year I really, really needed something more scholarly on octopuses; I'm happy to say this delivered. The book covered all the basics of octopuses - which still seem pretty mysterious after all these years. [Guess it's just hard to study a water-based animal when you're an air-breathing land mammal.] While it was a more scholarly work, the authors still managed to imbue some personality into the book so I got both human warmth (without all the unrelated human anecdotes) and science. Yay!
September 21, 2011
This is the most comprehensive book I've been able to find about octopuses. The information is presented in an easy to read format in several chapters. Although the language is easy to understand by non-scientists, the information is definitely not lacking. I've been interested in animals since I was a small child and I consider the octopus my all-time favorite. Still though, I learned something new with every turn of the page.
June 22, 2019
Labai jau sausai (vadoveliskai) parasyta knyga.
O gyviai tai labai idomus. Turi tris sirdis, gyvena trumpai, nuo dvieju iki triju metu (priklausomai nuo rusies), poruojasi tik karta I gyvenimo pabaiga. Patinelis mirsta neuzilgo po sueities, patele dar sulaukia issiritant is kiausiniu vaikuciu ir mirsta nuo issekimo.
Gali maziau kaip per sekunde pakeisti isvaizda, atsimena kur ju "namai" ir gal net turi humoro jausma...
O gyviai tai labai idomus. Turi tris sirdis, gyvena trumpai, nuo dvieju iki triju metu (priklausomai nuo rusies), poruojasi tik karta I gyvenimo pabaiga. Patinelis mirsta neuzilgo po sueities, patele dar sulaukia issiritant is kiausiniu vaikuciu ir mirsta nuo issekimo.
Gali maziau kaip per sekunde pakeisti isvaizda, atsimena kur ju "namai" ir gal net turi humoro jausma...
January 8, 2012
Non-Fiction. Octopuses, what they look like, where they live, how they work, what they eat, how they think, how they reproduce, and a bonus chapter on how to keep them in an aquarium.
I did learn quite a few things about octopuses, but this isn't the glossy pop science book it appears to be. The writing is repetitious and can be overly technical at times, the transitions are poor, and the sidebars frequently interrupt the text instead of coming at natural breaks. There are about thirty color plates, gorgeous, but all in the middle of the book. It has a bibliography and an index, but no endnotes. It also would have benefited from a glossary.
And maybe a better editor?
I think a couple of words are missing from that sentence because no matter how much I tilt my head, it makes no sense.
Ozone does act as a greenhouse gas, but only in the upper troposphere. The ozone layer itself is in the stratosphere, which is above the troposphere. In the upper troposphere, ozone is short lived, decays much faster than carbon dioxide, and doesn't have a strong global effect. So, as far as I understand it, ozone in the ozone layer is not a greenhouse gas, does not contribute to global warming, and is not actually reduced by plankton no matter where it is. Like trees, plankton acts as a carbon sink, not an ozone sink as they seem to be suggesting. I think what they meant was that plankton reduces the amount of CO2, which is a greenhouse gas, by metabolizing it instead of leaving it to zoom around the atmosphere and heat up the place.
Plankton doesn't reduce the ozone layer, and the ozone layer doesn't contribute to global warming; it protects us from ultraviolet rays. The depletion of the ozone layer means increased UV radiation, which, as it turns out, is one of the causes of coral bleaching. How does a book written by three scientists mess up science so badly?
Uh, I was saying...about octopuses? Um, here's something you might be interested in. The plural of octopus isn't octopi because that would be slapping a Latin suffix on a Greek root. The Greek plural would be octopodes. But the writers of the book call them octopuses. Not that we should believe anything they're saying.
Two stars. Awkward writing, and possibly some really WRONG science. The authors clearly love their octopuses, which is sweet, but if you really want to be delighted by octopuses, read this article in Orion Magazine and then watch the YouTube video of an octopus stealing a guy's camera, and then, for extra credit, read Texts From Cephalopods, and you'll be set.
I did learn quite a few things about octopuses, but this isn't the glossy pop science book it appears to be. The writing is repetitious and can be overly technical at times, the transitions are poor, and the sidebars frequently interrupt the text instead of coming at natural breaks. There are about thirty color plates, gorgeous, but all in the middle of the book. It has a bibliography and an index, but no endnotes. It also would have benefited from a glossary.
And maybe a better editor?
Plankton may also lessen the atmospheric ozone layer that contributes to global warming and bleaches the coral habitats in which many octopuses live. Clearly, the plankton in the oceans is immeasurably important for our survival. (p.42)
I think a couple of words are missing from that sentence because no matter how much I tilt my head, it makes no sense.
Ozone does act as a greenhouse gas, but only in the upper troposphere. The ozone layer itself is in the stratosphere, which is above the troposphere. In the upper troposphere, ozone is short lived, decays much faster than carbon dioxide, and doesn't have a strong global effect. So, as far as I understand it, ozone in the ozone layer is not a greenhouse gas, does not contribute to global warming, and is not actually reduced by plankton no matter where it is. Like trees, plankton acts as a carbon sink, not an ozone sink as they seem to be suggesting. I think what they meant was that plankton reduces the amount of CO2, which is a greenhouse gas, by metabolizing it instead of leaving it to zoom around the atmosphere and heat up the place.
Plankton doesn't reduce the ozone layer, and the ozone layer doesn't contribute to global warming; it protects us from ultraviolet rays. The depletion of the ozone layer means increased UV radiation, which, as it turns out, is one of the causes of coral bleaching. How does a book written by three scientists mess up science so badly?
Uh, I was saying...about octopuses? Um, here's something you might be interested in. The plural of octopus isn't octopi because that would be slapping a Latin suffix on a Greek root. The Greek plural would be octopodes. But the writers of the book call them octopuses. Not that we should believe anything they're saying.
Two stars. Awkward writing, and possibly some really WRONG science. The authors clearly love their octopuses, which is sweet, but if you really want to be delighted by octopuses, read this article in Orion Magazine and then watch the YouTube video of an octopus stealing a guy's camera, and then, for extra credit, read Texts From Cephalopods, and you'll be set.
February 11, 2012
As a big fan of cephalopods I really enjoyed this book, which covers in depth the life cycle, biology, behaviour, intelligence, and personalities of octopodes and select other relatives. If you weren't previously aware of just how incredible an animal the octopus is, you will be after reading this. Recommended.
September 13, 2019
To summarise this relatively long/ranty review: if you're a reader starting out with the assumption that octopuses are non-sentient cephalopods with no behavioural variation or cognitive function – prepare to have your mind blown. However, if you're a reader, who, like myself, takes sentience, variation and cognition (all to varying degrees) in animals for granted, but has fallen for the all hype around what is often presented as the almost mystical intelligence of octopuses, prepare to be disappointed. Considering the information provided in this book, the life cycle of the octopus and it's physiology are really what make it stand out as a fascinating, unique animal, and not it's supposed “intelligence” and “personality”. Also, if you're at all concerned about animal ethics, prepare to be disturbed by the sinister postscript on “Keeping a Captive Octopus”.
***
This book was especially disappointing for me because I actually really enjoyed the first 7 chapters (which detailed the life cycles of different octopus species, their physiology and behaviour, etc.) - they were scientific, informative, well structured, and easy to read and follow. I also really appreciated that the more personal/anecdotal segments were clearly differentiated from the rest of the text and were supplementary rather than necessary in order to understand the rest of the content. Things started to go down hill however when I got to Chapter 8: Personalities and Chapter 9: Intelligence, and of course the postscript: “Keeping a Captive Octopus” which is what really turned what could have been a 3 star review, into a 2 star one (which is still better than the 1 star I gave Octopus!: The Most Mysterious Creature in the Sea by Katherine Harmon Courage).
My issues with chapters 8 and 9 mostly have to do with what I think were questionable word choices (which, despite being common enough in most popular science books about animals, I can't seem to get over). The use of the word “personality” to mean temperament/behavioural variation (shy versus aggressive, etc.) and the word “intelligence” to mean cognitive abilities, are word substitutions that I personally think are misleading at best and possibly even harmful. It may seem like pointless semantic nit-picking, but I really think that using those words suggests something almost metaphysical (and therefore impossible to prove) like a “conscious” or “soul” instead of conveying sentience, variation and cognition as biological, evolutionary strategies that most animals have in varying degrees – which, because they are actually provable to a certain extent, can actually have a meaningful impact on animal welfare laws, etc.
When it comes to octopus “intelligence”, I understand the limitations to studying octopuses mentioned by the authors, and why regular, standard tests for animal intelligence may not apply to them (e.g. octopuses score poorly in studies that require them to learn to consistently choose rewarded versus unrewarded stimulus because of difficulties determining their preferences and because of their win-switch foraging strategy that requires them to search for food in new places rather than revisiting the same sites, which results in misleading outcomes), but given the "evidence" that the authors present, and in the absence of reliable tests, surely it's not exactly very scientific to throw around the word “intelligence”. The only evidence of “intelligence” that the authors present is that octopuses:
1) appear to have both working and spatial memory (which enables their win-switch foraging strategy and to find their way back to their dens after foraging),
2) use “learning to direct their actions” and therefore “will habituate to repeated stimuli”, and
3) can exhibit “play like behaviour” and exhibit signs of learning from visual and tactile stimuli (for example learning to drill a hole “into snail and clam shells at particular places, and that these are the right places for the toxin they are going to inject to have the most effect on the prey’s muscle”).
We learn more about what octopuses apparently cannot do rather than what they can (“While we know a lot of what an octopus can’t do, by finding limits to concepts like learning types, concept formation, and self-awareness, we learn about an animal’s abilities.”), which is important, but I thought that the way that the authors spun this was a little bit problematic. For example, we learn that an octopus most likely would not pass the “spot test” of self-awareness/consciousness by recognising itself in a mirror, despite acknowledging the presence of something there – the authors imply that this is a sign of intelligence because it reveals which information is or isn't important for an octopus to process, which, ok, fair enough, but surely there's something wrong with the logic that not only is an animal intelligent if it exhibits signs of intelligence, but also that an animal can be classified as "intelligent" if it fails to exhibit certain signs of intelligence because this can be attributed to the fact that its just too intelligent for researchers to create tests to prove it's intelligence....? Or even perhaps that it's just too intelligent to devote its intelligence to appearing intelligent....?
Considering the fact that the authors didn't include any intelligence tests that allowed/accounted for “domain specificity”, or even species specific tests to test octopus intelligence, I'm just not really convinced by their arguments. Complex, sentient animals - yes, but “intelligent”... I don't know... If that's the criteria for intelligence then couldn't we say that all animals are intelligent? To be clear, I'm not saying that they're not, but if they all are, then, given the information in this book, what makes the octopus stand out?
After trying to convince the reader of how complex and intelligent octopuses are, the authors decided it would be a good idea to write entire postscript detailing how anyone can acquire and keep a captive octopus, and even encourage it: “Many people believe that keeping octopuses is extremely difficult, but with proper knowledge and marine aquarium experience, it is doable and fun.” They give detailed instructions on everything from how to obtain one (the options range from purchasing one from a local aquarium store, to using a “diver’s tropical fish-collecting net” while snorkeling, or even using “chemicals”, which the authors are “wary of because of the risk of damage to the octopus” but still provide detailed instructions for, including what dosages to use), to how to transport one over long distances (cephalopods apparently “do not ship well” and even with the most careful of transportation, octopuses are still at risk of suffocating on their own ink or excretions, etc.).
The postscript ends with these two lines: “Octopuses are fascinating animals, and with some precautions and patience they can be successfully kept throughout their natural life span in captivity. The large-egged species can even be raised from eggs in captivity.” I found this especially disturbing. These aren't domesticated animals we're talking about here... and even though I personally think, ethically, there's a difference between keeping domesticated animals that have been bred to completely rely on humans for their survival and keeping wild animals that are fair players in the game of survival in the wild (and rely on humans only indirectly in the sense that humans get to decide whether or not their habitats are destroyed, etc.), I think there would still be something really sinister about these 2 lines even if octopuses were domesticated – but I won't get into that can of worms here. The focus is very much on: is it possible and not on: is it ethical. As far as the authors are concerned, providing a “variety of food” and “enrichment” in the form of “a complex environment with hiding places and things to interact with” is a sufficient enough response to any possible ethical qualms a reader may have.
***
This book was especially disappointing for me because I actually really enjoyed the first 7 chapters (which detailed the life cycles of different octopus species, their physiology and behaviour, etc.) - they were scientific, informative, well structured, and easy to read and follow. I also really appreciated that the more personal/anecdotal segments were clearly differentiated from the rest of the text and were supplementary rather than necessary in order to understand the rest of the content. Things started to go down hill however when I got to Chapter 8: Personalities and Chapter 9: Intelligence, and of course the postscript: “Keeping a Captive Octopus” which is what really turned what could have been a 3 star review, into a 2 star one (which is still better than the 1 star I gave Octopus!: The Most Mysterious Creature in the Sea by Katherine Harmon Courage).
My issues with chapters 8 and 9 mostly have to do with what I think were questionable word choices (which, despite being common enough in most popular science books about animals, I can't seem to get over). The use of the word “personality” to mean temperament/behavioural variation (shy versus aggressive, etc.) and the word “intelligence” to mean cognitive abilities, are word substitutions that I personally think are misleading at best and possibly even harmful. It may seem like pointless semantic nit-picking, but I really think that using those words suggests something almost metaphysical (and therefore impossible to prove) like a “conscious” or “soul” instead of conveying sentience, variation and cognition as biological, evolutionary strategies that most animals have in varying degrees – which, because they are actually provable to a certain extent, can actually have a meaningful impact on animal welfare laws, etc.
When it comes to octopus “intelligence”, I understand the limitations to studying octopuses mentioned by the authors, and why regular, standard tests for animal intelligence may not apply to them (e.g. octopuses score poorly in studies that require them to learn to consistently choose rewarded versus unrewarded stimulus because of difficulties determining their preferences and because of their win-switch foraging strategy that requires them to search for food in new places rather than revisiting the same sites, which results in misleading outcomes), but given the "evidence" that the authors present, and in the absence of reliable tests, surely it's not exactly very scientific to throw around the word “intelligence”. The only evidence of “intelligence” that the authors present is that octopuses:
1) appear to have both working and spatial memory (which enables their win-switch foraging strategy and to find their way back to their dens after foraging),
2) use “learning to direct their actions” and therefore “will habituate to repeated stimuli”, and
3) can exhibit “play like behaviour” and exhibit signs of learning from visual and tactile stimuli (for example learning to drill a hole “into snail and clam shells at particular places, and that these are the right places for the toxin they are going to inject to have the most effect on the prey’s muscle”).
We learn more about what octopuses apparently cannot do rather than what they can (“While we know a lot of what an octopus can’t do, by finding limits to concepts like learning types, concept formation, and self-awareness, we learn about an animal’s abilities.”), which is important, but I thought that the way that the authors spun this was a little bit problematic. For example, we learn that an octopus most likely would not pass the “spot test” of self-awareness/consciousness by recognising itself in a mirror, despite acknowledging the presence of something there – the authors imply that this is a sign of intelligence because it reveals which information is or isn't important for an octopus to process, which, ok, fair enough, but surely there's something wrong with the logic that not only is an animal intelligent if it exhibits signs of intelligence, but also that an animal can be classified as "intelligent" if it fails to exhibit certain signs of intelligence because this can be attributed to the fact that its just too intelligent for researchers to create tests to prove it's intelligence....? Or even perhaps that it's just too intelligent to devote its intelligence to appearing intelligent....?
Considering the fact that the authors didn't include any intelligence tests that allowed/accounted for “domain specificity”, or even species specific tests to test octopus intelligence, I'm just not really convinced by their arguments. Complex, sentient animals - yes, but “intelligent”... I don't know... If that's the criteria for intelligence then couldn't we say that all animals are intelligent? To be clear, I'm not saying that they're not, but if they all are, then, given the information in this book, what makes the octopus stand out?
After trying to convince the reader of how complex and intelligent octopuses are, the authors decided it would be a good idea to write entire postscript detailing how anyone can acquire and keep a captive octopus, and even encourage it: “Many people believe that keeping octopuses is extremely difficult, but with proper knowledge and marine aquarium experience, it is doable and fun.” They give detailed instructions on everything from how to obtain one (the options range from purchasing one from a local aquarium store, to using a “diver’s tropical fish-collecting net” while snorkeling, or even using “chemicals”, which the authors are “wary of because of the risk of damage to the octopus” but still provide detailed instructions for, including what dosages to use), to how to transport one over long distances (cephalopods apparently “do not ship well” and even with the most careful of transportation, octopuses are still at risk of suffocating on their own ink or excretions, etc.).
The postscript ends with these two lines: “Octopuses are fascinating animals, and with some precautions and patience they can be successfully kept throughout their natural life span in captivity. The large-egged species can even be raised from eggs in captivity.” I found this especially disturbing. These aren't domesticated animals we're talking about here... and even though I personally think, ethically, there's a difference between keeping domesticated animals that have been bred to completely rely on humans for their survival and keeping wild animals that are fair players in the game of survival in the wild (and rely on humans only indirectly in the sense that humans get to decide whether or not their habitats are destroyed, etc.), I think there would still be something really sinister about these 2 lines even if octopuses were domesticated – but I won't get into that can of worms here. The focus is very much on: is it possible and not on: is it ethical. As far as the authors are concerned, providing a “variety of food” and “enrichment” in the form of “a complex environment with hiding places and things to interact with” is a sufficient enough response to any possible ethical qualms a reader may have.
April 2, 2022
A nice overall introduction to octopods. Written for laymen . Wish they had not suggested taking an octopus from the wild
May 4, 2024
Very interesting read
March 5, 2018
Too many cooks here. It reads like the three authors divided up the chapters and wrote each independently... and didn't bother to check what the others wrote. The styles are inconsistent and facts are repeated constantly. How many times do you need to tell me that some octopuses have planktonic larvae and some have free-living young? Or that life slows down in cold water? Like 100, apparently. The overall repetition just suggests shoddy editing. In the worst cases, I found consecutive paragraphs that contained near-identical sentences.
Are there interesting facts here? Yes.. there are. But the way that many scientific "facts" are presented makes me uncomfortable. It is not uncommon to read statements along the lines of "This experiment didn't work, but here is my assumption why" or "We don't have the data or observations to support this claim, but it's probably true." If you're going to present yourself as a scientific authority on a topic, just leave the speculation at home. It's unnecessary and weakens the trust in the authors.
I suppose that's my major problem here: this whole book feels self-indulgent on the part of the authors. They write about themselves as if they are messiahs of octopus knowledge. The way they ended the book made me roll my eyes til they hurt, then throw the book with disgust into a pile for Goodwill.
As a final note, the pictures included in this book are boring and there are fewer than I was hoping. Skip it.
Are there interesting facts here? Yes.. there are. But the way that many scientific "facts" are presented makes me uncomfortable. It is not uncommon to read statements along the lines of "This experiment didn't work, but here is my assumption why" or "We don't have the data or observations to support this claim, but it's probably true." If you're going to present yourself as a scientific authority on a topic, just leave the speculation at home. It's unnecessary and weakens the trust in the authors.
I suppose that's my major problem here: this whole book feels self-indulgent on the part of the authors. They write about themselves as if they are messiahs of octopus knowledge. The way they ended the book made me roll my eyes til they hurt, then throw the book with disgust into a pile for Goodwill.
As a final note, the pictures included in this book are boring and there are fewer than I was hoping. Skip it.
November 6, 2021
Octopuses, like all the other species in the class Cephalopoda, are such interesting beings they seem out of this world. Different from what was thought since ancient times, they are neither monsters nor aliens as well, but a great natural evolutionary work. The book is very good at describing these beings, as well as other kinds of cephalopods, such as external and internal characteristics, feeding, locomotion, intelligence, reproduction, death, different kinds, etc.
While discussing their intelligence, the authors/scientists made clear that sometimes it is hard to discuss such a topic with those scientists who only consider intelligence as our human intellectual functioning. To French philosopher Descartes, for instance, humans were guided by an immaterial mind whereas the rest of nature was driven only by the laws of physics. And with that assumption that only our species has sentience/consciousness capacities, we end up disregarding other ways of expression or intelligence that are not exactly the human one. With that, we also endanger these other beings, that should be as much respected. The same goes for intelligent life in the universe, for as long as we attain our definition of intelligence, then, there might be billions of alien planets thriving with life, but we are sentient-blind to notice it.
While discussing their intelligence, the authors/scientists made clear that sometimes it is hard to discuss such a topic with those scientists who only consider intelligence as our human intellectual functioning. To French philosopher Descartes, for instance, humans were guided by an immaterial mind whereas the rest of nature was driven only by the laws of physics. And with that assumption that only our species has sentience/consciousness capacities, we end up disregarding other ways of expression or intelligence that are not exactly the human one. With that, we also endanger these other beings, that should be as much respected. The same goes for intelligent life in the universe, for as long as we attain our definition of intelligence, then, there might be billions of alien planets thriving with life, but we are sentient-blind to notice it.
August 30, 2012
REALLY fascinating. You get the idea that the "mean" of Octopus behaviour is so wide and varied that its really impossible to predict an individual's intelligence and behaviour. The variance across the genus is amazing and the complexities and subtleties of their physiology and intelligence is quite breath taking. It should really be studied more - and in different ways. You get the sense of just how intelligent this species is, and how totally alien they are to us and that we may be assessing them using a scale and tools totally inappropriate.
August 24, 2012
This really fed my fascination with octopus intelligence. Lots of research, lots of information, lots to chew on about how we define intelligence in our anthropocentric world.
September 26, 2017
Fascinating and helpful. I never get tired of learning new things about this incredible creature.
April 29, 2019
This book is poorly written, but it includes a lot of interesting information so I enjoyed it overall.
January 13, 2022
Fantastic book. I appreciated the precise level of scientific detail. A lot of octopus books are vague on the mechanics of certain biological functions-- this book doesn't shy away from that. At the same time the book is filled with colorful first-hand anecdotes and insights. The authors are established experts in their respective fields and clearly have a deep love of the Octopus and cephalopods in general. I would LOVE to see a new addition of this that takes into account everything we've learned about cephalopods since 2010. We now know of social colonies of pacific striped octopus, and there are several new theories as to how a colorblind animal can so effectively mimic its surroundings. What are Mather, Anderson and Wood's thoughts on these new discoveries?
July 28, 2021
Such an amazing book about this interesting creature. Each chapter emphasizes in specific characteristics. I was fascinated before by the octopus but now I am
Obsessed and cannot wait to encounter them while I scuba dive and focus on their behavior.
Obsessed and cannot wait to encounter them while I scuba dive and focus on their behavior.
November 6, 2022
Awesome
May 6, 2015
Octopuses? More like “rock-topuses!”
For (hopefully) obvious reasons, here are eight ways octopuses — and this book — rock:
1) Octopuses (and not, as I learned, “octopi”) are fascinating, smart and have distinct personalities; they are able to solve problems and learn new strategies (though, like some other unnamed animals [hint: humans], they still have behavioral blind spots that no amount of new data inputs can override).
2) They are masters of camouflage, able to blend in with any number of environmental backgrounds and even move patterns across the surface of their bodies like fleshy LED banners.
3) As an extension of #2, they can do all this even though their eyes are color blind, which makes me wonder if they have some kind of crazy, eyeless physical sight in their skin/appendages.
4) Even though this is related to squid and not octopuses, some may have a visual language on their skin to share information with fellow squid; in other words, they’re “living books.”
5) The authors are clearly experts with tons of shared experience with, and empathy for, octopuses, and the book is sprinkled with meaningful personal anecdotes.
6) Octopuses are mostly solitary, have boring sex lives that always end in senescence and they die young. The males basically fumble around with their arms, squirt some sperm and then get sick and die … or, more usually, are eaten by sharks and seals.
7) Octopus mothers are awesomely attentive to their eggs, carefully hanging up strands of thousands and thousands of eggs they carefully tending to them until just about the time they hatch. Then get sick and die. Or are eaten. And all the little babies whoosh out into the ocean where most are eaten. But a few live.
8) The whole ink thing is insane. Some can squirt out ink with such control, they can make a cloud that hides escape, or retains shape enough that it looks like a solid octopus. They can squirt out a couple of those, then change their skin color to match and all of sudden, a predator is faced with a bunch of inky duplicates hanging in the water that may or may not be the real deal. And some, down in the depths where light can’t reach and ink is meaningless, can squirt out glowing, bioluminescent ink!
Octopuses rock and this book is a great way to learn more about them. The Kindle version (at least on my Paperwhite) doesn’t do justice to the images, but that’s what YouTube is for. Read it if you want to learn more about cephalopods or be inspired by the mysteries of the ocean (or build your own aquarium; I skipped that section — leave the octopuses free in the sea).
For (hopefully) obvious reasons, here are eight ways octopuses — and this book — rock:
1) Octopuses (and not, as I learned, “octopi”) are fascinating, smart and have distinct personalities; they are able to solve problems and learn new strategies (though, like some other unnamed animals [hint: humans], they still have behavioral blind spots that no amount of new data inputs can override).
2) They are masters of camouflage, able to blend in with any number of environmental backgrounds and even move patterns across the surface of their bodies like fleshy LED banners.
3) As an extension of #2, they can do all this even though their eyes are color blind, which makes me wonder if they have some kind of crazy, eyeless physical sight in their skin/appendages.
4) Even though this is related to squid and not octopuses, some may have a visual language on their skin to share information with fellow squid; in other words, they’re “living books.”
5) The authors are clearly experts with tons of shared experience with, and empathy for, octopuses, and the book is sprinkled with meaningful personal anecdotes.
6) Octopuses are mostly solitary, have boring sex lives that always end in senescence and they die young. The males basically fumble around with their arms, squirt some sperm and then get sick and die … or, more usually, are eaten by sharks and seals.
7) Octopus mothers are awesomely attentive to their eggs, carefully hanging up strands of thousands and thousands of eggs they carefully tending to them until just about the time they hatch. Then get sick and die. Or are eaten. And all the little babies whoosh out into the ocean where most are eaten. But a few live.
8) The whole ink thing is insane. Some can squirt out ink with such control, they can make a cloud that hides escape, or retains shape enough that it looks like a solid octopus. They can squirt out a couple of those, then change their skin color to match and all of sudden, a predator is faced with a bunch of inky duplicates hanging in the water that may or may not be the real deal. And some, down in the depths where light can’t reach and ink is meaningless, can squirt out glowing, bioluminescent ink!
Octopuses rock and this book is a great way to learn more about them. The Kindle version (at least on my Paperwhite) doesn’t do justice to the images, but that’s what YouTube is for. Read it if you want to learn more about cephalopods or be inspired by the mysteries of the ocean (or build your own aquarium; I skipped that section — leave the octopuses free in the sea).
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