Octopus (Common) - Food and Hunting

The octopus hunts at dusk. Crabs, crayfish and bivalve molluscs (two-shelled molluscs such as cockles) are preferred, although it will eat almost anything it can catch. It is able to change colour to blend in with its surroundings, and is able to jump upon any unwary prey that strays across its path. The prey is paralysed by a nerve poison, which the octopus secretes, and the octopus is able to grasp its prey using its powerful tentacles with their two rows of suckers. If the victim is a shelled mollusc, the octopus uses its small teeth to punch a hole in the shell before sucking out the fleshy contents.

If the octopus is trying to tackle a more dangerous opponent, such as a lobster, it first squirts ink into the water to create a smoke screen and confuse the lobster. Then it creeps upon the lobster and seizes it from behind using its tentacles.