The specialty of the octopus is not only having 8 arms, it actually has 3 hearts and has blue blood
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Octopuses have many features, namely having more than one heart and copper-rich blue blood. Photo/Danspetcare/Live Science/NewAtlas
WASHINGTON – The octopus is known as a special animal because of its intelligence and has eight arms. Not only that, octopuses also have other features, namely having more than one heart and blue blood which is rich in copper.
Kirt Onthank, an octopus biologist at Walla Walla University, Washington says that an octopus has three hearts. The largest heart of an octopus, is a systemic heart which is located in the middle of its body.
This heart pumps oxygenated blood throughout the body, but not to the gills. “It is the largest and most muscular of the three hearts,” said Onthank quoted from the Live Science page, Tuesday (7/3/2023).
The other two hearts are called branchial hearts, each of which is attached to one of the octopus’s two gills. Each branchial heart pumps blood through the gills attached to it. “(These two hearts) are often called ‘gill hearts’. This heart is relatively small and not very strong, “continued Onthank.
Why does an octopus need three hearts? Judging from its function, according to Onthank, these three hearts are to solve the problem of low blood pressure. This process is the same as in the heart of humans and other mammals, which have four chambers in their heart.
Animals need sufficient blood pressure to circulate blood throughout their bodies effectively. If someone has low blood pressure, “they can get dizzy or even faint,” Onthank says.
Here the octopus’s gills help draw vital oxygen from the water, and the branchial heart helps pump oxygen-poor blood through the gills. However, the oxygen-rich blood that comes out of the gills comes out at low pressure.
In other words, octopuses and humans solve the same problem in two very different ways. Octopuses with many hearts, and humans with multi-chambered hearts.
What makes octopuses unique is that their circulatory system is blue because it uses a copper-based protein called hemocyanin (hemocyanin) to carry oxygen in the blood. This is in contrast to humans who use an iron-based protein called hemoglobin.
Hemocyanin is less effective than hemoglobin at binding oxygen at room temperature. Hemocyanin carries more oxygen than hemoglobin in low-oxygen and low-temperature environments. “This is what makes it more useful at sea,” said Onthank.
(wib)
