Adult octopus feed on crabs, clams, snails, small fish, and even other octopuses. All octopus species have venom of varying levels of toxicity, which are injected with a bird-like beak. They usually hunt at night, pouncing on their prey and wrapping it in straps between their arms. What octopus eat depends on what species they are and where they live.
Its prey includes gastropods, such as snails and sea slugs; bivalves, such as clams and mussels; crustaceans, such as lobsters and crabs; and fish. They mainly consume molluscs and crustaceans. They are also known to eat several types of fish and snails. Sometimes, they also feed on smaller species of octopus that are around them when they can't find enough food sources to survive.
They have a very strong and powerful beak in the mouth that they use to catch prey and tear them apart. They will swallow whole pieces of food. To complete the dining experience, an octopus has another tooth-covered organ called the salivary papilla that is located just below the radula. If you decide to raise an octopus as a pet, you'll need to know what to feed your pet with cephalopods to keep it alive.
On the other hand, the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris), which lives on a reef full of food, can be more demanding looking until it finds its perfect lunch. With more than 10,000 chemoreceptor cells in a single suction cup, octopuses can lazily navigate the reef by sticking their arms into the crevices of rocks to see if something seems right to them. This helps the octopus eat its food more easily by making the meat more flexible and easier to tear. Although there are many different species of octopus, they have a lot in common when it comes to eating.
The common octopus has even been observed using its ink to distract and disorient its prey before they attack. Next in an octopus chef's kit is radula, a tongue covered with tiny teeth that is used to sip clams and mussels from their shells once they have been opened. The Atlantic pygmy octopus (Octopus joubini), a small octopus nugget measuring about 4 cm (1.5 inches), will have very different eating habits than the giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) that weighs more than 250 kg (600 pounds) with a 9 meter (30 foot) arm. Almost all octopus species are predatory carnivores, which means they eat animal matter to survive.
When confronted with humans, an octopus tends not to be aggressive, as long as you give them space, as you would with any marine animal. Octopus species that live on shallow water reefs also make use of their excellent eyesight to track their prey.
