Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Cryptids and Mythological creatures were real? What would that be like? How would they affect the environment? How would they be classified? Find out in this encyclopedia that mysteriously appeared fro...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Animal Class: Mollusk
Diet: Carnivorous
Originally called the Oklahoma Octopus, its name was changed when it was discovered that they actually live in multiple different places around the United States and in certain parts of Southern Canada and Northern Mexico.
Like its name says, it's a freshwater species and is currently the only known species of Octopus to live in freshwater.
Like its saltwater relatives, the American Freshwater Octopus has the ability to come on land for a little while. However, where the saltwater variety can only stay on land for around a hour, this species has been shown to be capable of surviving out of water for several days.
Not only can they survive on land much longer than their relatives, they have also been shown to hunt on land. They have even developed a venomous bite that makes up for their slow mobility on land. This venom has been shown to be potent enough to bring down large herbivores like Elk and Cattle in only a few minutes.
They don't seem to cope very well with low temperatures and thus hibernate through cold times. In addition to being the only freshwater species, this also makes them the only known species of Octopus to hibernate.
Despite not having the name Oklahoma Octopus anymore, they are still far more common in Oklahoma and the surrounding Midwestern/Southern states than they are in other parts of their range.
Like other types of Octopus, they are highly intelligent and have been known to use tools. Some have even been known to climb into trees to raid bird nests or to ambush prey by attacking from above.
The spikes on their tentacles have observed being sharp enough to pierce Alligator skin.
They lay around 1000 eggs at a time and usually place them in the mud at the bottom of large bodies of water.
They do have the ability to produce ink, but they fire it out of tiny holes at the end of their tentacles instead of spraying it out from between their gills.
Extra Fun Fact: Their habit of attacking by latching onto the face of whatever they're attacking has lead to them being compared to the Facehuggers from the " Alien" Franchise.
