Octopus

There are many subspecies of octopuses, while there are individual differences amongst them, they also have many traits in common. Although Octopus merfolk may not possess all the traits of their counterpart sea creature, many a merfolk have had a pleasant encounter with this curious and intelligent creatures in the sea.

The octopus anatomy is a strange and alian thing. Who would think to swallow thier food through their brain after all. (No, litterally, that's what they do)

Racial traits:

Overview

Soft bodied and cuddly looking these creatures do posses soldi features such as an adapted scull for their large eyes (usually with a U or W shaped pupil) and circular brain through which their oesophagus runs as well as a powerful beak at the centre of their eight arms.

Attached to the back of the head is the mantle which houses most of these creatures internal organs.

Appendages

Their arms sometimes vulgarly known as tentacles, possess two rows of circular suction cups on their undersides and house a great deal of the nervous system, making every one of them able to act independently and are capable of reacting even if severed. The arms are prehensile and can be extended or contracted, rotated or bent in any direction at any part.

The arms are divided in Left and Right arms, numbered from 1, closest to the eyes to 4. Most octopuses prefer to crawl on the ocean floor using their hind most legs, rather than swimming for the likely reason that on of their three hearts (the systemic heart with pumps blood to the rest of the body) stops beating when they do.

The octopus has a keen sense of gravity and always know where its body is positioned in relation to it, never tangling or tying themselves in knots.

Skin

Attached to the arms is webbing which assist in swimming and camouflage and has like the rest of the octopus a capacity to extend or contract itself. A trait used for swiming, scaretactics and camoflage.

The arms themselves have a keen sense of touch and even taste. Their skin also possess a capacity to sense the light around them and may use this sense with little thought to adapt the colour patterns and texture of their skin to camouflage in their environment and may also flash bright colouring to scare off potential predators.

misc

The other two hearts (branchial hearts) insure the functioning of the gills which funnel water through the octopuses siphon at the side of its head. The siphon is also used for excretion, projecting ink, jet-propulsion and as a mating orifice.

Octopus have high blood-pressure because their blood is highly viscous and turns a blue colour when in contact with oxygen but is transparent when deoxygenated.

Gender specific traits:

Octopuses tend to be short lived, living their lives promiscuously after which they die.

Males have a modifies arm, the end of which is called a hectocotylus with an opening ridge called the calamus which sperm-packets or spermatophores are emitted and a ligula which functions much like a penis, scrubbing out other male's sperm and capable of inflating itself much like an erection once inside the females reproductive tracts.

In may species the hectocotylus I located on their third right arm. Usually they only have one, but with exceptions being abundant in the ocean, don't be surprised if you see a rare indicidual with more of those fun bits. (Heh, some of the octopus species could deffently use a couple more)

The Hectocotylus needs to enter the mantle cavity through the female's siphon and deposit a sperm-packet in the correct, species specific, location for a successful copulation. How exactly a male choses to use his sex arm varies from species to species. Some mounting the female from one side, others penetrating her from a safe distance, and yet others preferring to sever their Hectocotylus and toss it at her with the innate and perhaps reasonable fear of being cannibalised.

Males may also mate with other males, But this is because theyr bad at destinguishing genders, only realising after penetration. Unlike with females where penetrative sex may go on for hours, gay sex tends to be short, and end without the depositing of a valuable spermatophore.

The female will often mate with multiple males. Storing sperm away, and choosing to use them to fertilise her eggs at an appropriate moment once she has found a safe place to lay and brood her eggs.

The Hectocotilus, perhaps the most lively penis you'll ever meet.

Males often wither away after they copulate, their aging accelerated. In contrast, female octopuses lay their clutch of eggs which they guard obsessively without eating. After the eggs hatch the female will also relinquish her grasp on life and wither, much like the male.