Land Octopus Flora & Fauna

General Information

Despite its name, the land octopus is not a true octopus, though it is a cephalopod and a distant cousin of the true octopus. It does, however share many of characteristics with an octopus, namely eight limbs (which is where it gets its name) as well as its intelligence and its diet. As with true octopuses, the land octopus has ink sacs that are released when frightened or threatened. The ink is used to blind its attackers so they may escape.

The land octopus is  a small invertebrate that inhabits the forests, rivers, and lakes of Paorr. It spends some of its life in the water, which is where the eggs hatch, and some of its life on rocks and in trees. While they only have air breathing lungs, they are able to remain underwater for extended amounts of time.

Diet

The diet of the land octopus is primarily crayfish, freshwater bivalves, small fish, insects, and small amphibians. They capture prey by latching onto it with its tentacles and forcing a beak-like proboscis and injecting a paralyzing venom. The notable exception is the short-limbed land octopus.

Speciation

There are four species of land octopus that have been discovered. The short-limbed land octopus, the Red-capped land octopus, the Giant land octopus, and the Glass land octopus.

The short-limbed land octopus is often kept as a pet. It is fairly docile and intelligent. In addition it is the only land octopus that does not use venom on its prey. Instead it latches onto its prey and proceeds to remove small chunks of flesh. It is also the smallest land octopus. The average adult size is three to five inches in both height and head diameter with tentacles between one and two inches.

The red-capped land octopus is the only species of land octopus native to Araz. It lives in the south east where there are dense forests and warm, wet weather. This species measures between five and seven inches in diameter with tentacles between four and six inches. 

The giant land octopus is the largest of the species measuring between ten and fifteen inches in diameter with tentacles between twelve and fifteen inches. Some specimens have been recorded at twenty inches with twenty four inch tentacles. These land octopus are in isolated areas near large rivers where their primary prey is fish and amphibians.

The glass land octopus slightly larger that the red-capped land octopus. It averages between six and eight inches in length. However, the tentacles are very long for its size. They average ten to twelve inches in length. This species gets its name from the fact that it is translucent. Despite its appearance and size, this land octopus is the most aggressive of land octopus. It is know to target prey that is five times its size successfully. In addition, it is the only species that is known to only enter the water for breeding. Most of its life is spent in trees where it stalks its prey. It captures its prey by leaping from tree branches and strangling its prey. They are the only species of land octopus to actively hunt mammals and reptiles. There have been reports of the glass land octopus attacking humans, though it is very rare.


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