OCTOPUS

I’ve been a fan since Dr. Suess took his trip in that giant pink nautilus. My favorite? The Pacific Giant Octopus is one of the largest known and can grow to be up to 30 feet across. Kraken anyone? 😀  ~Arwen

I was impressed when I have realized that they have a diffused nerve system that allows them to truly multitask. Also, cephalopods helped me get a good mark at my Invertebrate Zoology exam! ~Asya

My favorite cephalopod is the octopus because they can blend in with their surroundings. ~Cecilia

I love watching the octopus! You probably already know this but, when a female octopus lays her eggs, she guards them 24/7 and stops eating. This is the last part of her life. ~Karin

I have to answer that I love the octopus as they are shy and will not hurt any human but run. I love that the octopus has the weapon of ink that it will throw when it feels threatened. It is not harmful to us. I think they are graceful with how they walk on the bottom of the ocean or in tide pools… but also are good at swimming. ~Athena

“Octopus are famous for their sophisticated intelligence; some scientists even argue that cephalopods were the first intelligent beings on the planet. They are able to untie knots, open jars, and toddler proof cases, and are generally expert escape artists.” They also make great movie monsters!!!  ~Virginia

My favorite cephalopod is the octopus because it is the most intelligent of the invertebrates. ~Jackie

Dumbo octopus. The Grimpoteuthis does not have an ink sack and therefore, they change colors and size due to their chromatophore cells that helps them protect themselves from predators. ~Lenna

My favourite cephalopod is the octopus.  An octopus has 3 hearts and their blood is blue. I think they are really cool and I love the way they propel their bodies in the ocean. ~Linda

I love how smart they are. Some small males will masquerade as females to get past a big male and mate with a female. I wouldn’t have one, too many stories of them escaping their tanks. ~Jessica

I remembered from Biology class that an octopus has a brain at the base of each arm and another in its body.  So any cephalopod that is that smart has my vote! ~Joy

Aquariums always have lore about their octopuses. One in particular told of how a light in a lab kept getting shorted out at night. The humans had no idea why so they resorted to setting up a camera to record any nocturnal activity in the lab. Turns out the octopus was squirting a stream of water at the light. Apparently, he was rather annoyed by its being left on. This same octopus juggles his tank mates when he gets bored. ~Katharine

The octopus has three hearts. One pumps blood through its organs, the two others pump blood through its gills. ~Jessica

I love the octopus. It can get out of the tightest spaces and has 8 arms ~jerseylady45

The vampire squid is bioluminescent.  ~ daragold3

My favorite is the octopus because I can catch them off my dock in the Halifax river.  Of course, I am trying for fish and I always throw them back. ~Judy

Blue ring octopus. Size of a golf ball, one drop can kill 10 men. 😀 ~Meghan

This was difficult because I like to eat octopus and squid but kraken are EPIC.  I’m also conflicted because of how intelligent octopi are and therefore should not eat them. Sigh.

I will read a book if it says there is a kraken, so I guess that answers it. ~Shaleah

I have loved octopuses ever since I first saw the one in 007s Octopussy! Terrible, I know, but I

thought it was beautiful and fascinating. A fun fact:  Octopuses appear in Japanese erotic art, shunga. ~Sharon

I have two favorite cephalopods, the blue ringed octopus and the extinct ammonite! The blue ringed octopus is tiny and can literally kill you. Surprise, it comes from Australia and Japan. It can get up to 8 inches. Its adorable and looks harmless. Its toxin is the tetrodotoxin. It’s usually listed as one of the most dangerous creatures because of the potency of its toxin. Ammonites are extinct and went extinct in the cretaceous. They are more closely related to Cuttlefish, Octopus and Squids rather than the similar looking Nautilus. ~Janelle

My favorite cephalopod is Pearl, from Finding Nemo. She’s one of Nemo’s school friends, & says one of my favorite lines: “Aw! You guys made me ink!” (when they are daring each other to touch the “butt”; the boat that ultimately captures Nemo) She’s a flapjack octopus, which is a species of umbrella octopus, named for their appearance. They’re also known as flapjack (or pancake) devilfish. They’re transparent to dark red. Fun fact: They either push water through their funnel for jet propulsion, pulse their webbed arms, use their fins to swim, or even use all three at once! Who knew octopi had fins?! 🙂 Slightly off-topic fun fact: both “octopi” and “octopuses” are correct plurals for “octopus”. The original word came from Greek, making “octopuses” the correct plural, but it came into the English language through Latin, which means “octopi” is also correct. ~ Joy

NAUTILUS

My favorite cephalopod is the Nautilus, which is the last surviving genus of the ancient order Nautiloidea, and therefore is important in paleontology for dating the strata in which its fossils appear. ~Kelly

I find Nautilus amazing. They are called living fossils since they have survived unchanged for millions of years. ~Karen

CUTTLEFISH

I’m a huge fan of cephalopods in general because there so damn smart, but I think cuttlefish might be my favorite. I guess because of the chameleon like camo. Fun fact, cuttlefish count better than most human babies! 🙂 ~Mallory

SQUID

My favorite cephalopod is the Vampire Squid. They live in the dark mesopelagic zone of the ocean. Shooting black or purple ink at predators wouldn’t be effective in the dark, so they shoot a colorless bioluminescent substance at predators. The twinkling lights confuse predators and allow the Vampire Squid to escape. ~Jess

I love the different species and the colours. ~Alice

My favorite cephalopod is squid. An interesting fact is that some species of squid can swim up to 25 miles per hour, but only in short spurts. ~Angela

I think pygmy squids are so tiny and cute! They can be as small as a thumb nail and the males have a hectocotylus arm that they use for reproduction. And sometimes the males are a little too ready to fertilize some eggs that they mistake other males for females and inserts their arm into other males by accident. Just the visualization is hilarious! ~Jennifer

My favorite cephalopod is the googly eyed stubby squid https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lEhYJEQmExE I learned of them a couple years ago when this footage made the internet rounds. So cute!

The stubby squid isn’t a large species by any means; in fact, it’s pretty small, growing to a maximum of only 2 inches by 4.3 inches, and living on average up to two years before mating, laying their eggs in batches that attach to the bottom of rocks or onto seaweed, and then dying. ~ Jen

KRAKEN

My favorite is the kraken because the name is from the Norwegian and Swedish krake that means an unhealthy animal or something twisted. Thank you. ~Tamara

The kraken! My favorite fact is that it was once listed as a real creature in the 1735 edition of Systema Naturae. ~Lacey