Can Octopuses & Squids Breathe Air?


In order to breathe air, organisms need lungs, which cephalopods – being aquatic animals – do not have. While some scientists claim that some octopuses can survive outside of the sea for several days by hiding in small areas and breathing air through their skin, most experts do not recommend keeping octopuses off of the water for extended periods of time because it is dangerous to their health.

Octopuses and squids cannot breathe air. To breathe air, they would need lungs, and they lack these. Instead, the two animals have gills that allow them to acquire oxygen via a gas exchange that occurs when water passes over them. However, octopuses can hold their breath to walk on land.

Since most octopus owners keep their pets in an aquarium with a lid, this question is generally not relevant; however, those who own aquatic pet stores where cephalopods are sold should make sure that all animals remain submerged at all times as they can dry up and suffocate if taken out of the water for too long.

A. Can octopuses breathe air?

This question may seem like a matter of semantics, because all living things need oxygen to live, and if an octopus can survive out of water for fifteen minutes, then it must be getting the oxygen it needs from somewhere. However, this is not entirely true. There are certain aquatic species that will rise to the surface every once in a while and gulp air into their mantle cavity.

These creatures get their breath just like we do: by transferring gases across respiratory surfaces. Air-breathing does not mean that these animals use air as a source of oxygen; rather they use it as an additional means of gas exchange (there is also some evidence that at least one species might occasionally absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide and replace it with oxygen).

Octopuses are not air-breathers. While there is no scientific proof of it, scientists generally assume that octopuses do not take in oxygen through their skin. This means that out of the water, the cephalopods need another way to keep their tissues supplied with the oxygen-gas exchange by diffusion across their mantle cavity walls cannot be enough.

Therefore, octopuses should only be able to walk about on dry land for a short period of time until they run out of the little available oxygen within their bodies (the amount inside them depends on how recently they have fed). The octopus would also likely suffer severe muscle fatigue; furthermore, since it is terrestrial and its blood is copper-based rather than iron-based like that of most marine animals, its blood would literally start to rust.

Close-up ventral view of the skin. Note pigment cells (melanocytes) and deep vascular plexuses (blue). The outermost layer is a thick epidermis with cilia (red dots), the deeper dermis contains connective tissue and chromatophores (yellow).

Although they do not depend on atmospheric oxygen, octopuses do need some form of gas exchange as well as some way to deal with the waste products of anaerobic metabolisms, such as ammonia. Unlike the terrestrial vertebrates who rely on ventilation or diffusion across moist membranes for gaseous exchange, octopuses use their skin; it has been observed that black ink diffuses out of the animal’s body through its skin rather than being ejected from a specialized ink gland.

To deal with waste products, octopuses have large, paired gills inside their mantle cavity; these extract dissolved oxygen from the water and eject spent waters via the siphon. mollusks typically exchange gases across their moist external skin (the literal translation of ‘cutaneous respiration’), whereas air-breathing uses structures such as lungs or gills. While some mollusks can temporarily withdraw into their shell to prevent desiccation when on land, they are not true air breathers in contrast to vertebrates with internal gas exchangers such as lungfish and certain amphibians.

The main area of research into the terrestrial behavior of octopuses is their crawling speed. The consensus among researchers seems to be that an octopus out of water can only crawl at about 25% of the speed it would move in its normal, aquatic habitat – which means they are very vulnerable to predators if stranded on land.

B. How long can an octopus survive out of water?

The common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) has been observed to live for up to three days out of water. While this is not much time for a species that lives almost exclusively in the sea, it is still much longer than many people might expect, suggesting that some octopuses may be more tolerant of low-oxygen environments than previously thought.

However, most experts do not recommend putting an octopus on land, as it can damage their skin and may even dry them out completely. In the wild, octopuses have been observed to access land only during very low tides, but there are reports of captives being found up to a mile from the sea at night (when they were presumably hunting) and living for several days or even weeks before perishing.

C. Can squid breathe out of water?

Some people believe that cephalopods such as octopuses and squid could survive indefinitely if taken out of the water because they will be able to breathe air for as long as they remain moist; however, such ideas are based on ignorance of respiratory physiology. The idea that mollusks are able to breathe gas by absorbing it directly across their skin is incorrect. The outer epidermis of all mollusks consists of dead cells, which are impermeable to gases. Underneath this layer, they have a layer of connective tissue and blood vessels that transports gases around the body.

Cephalopods such as octopuses and squid exchange oxygen via their gills, while also disposing of carbon dioxide via the flow of saline seawater through their bodies. Their gills consist of many thin filaments containing branchial hearts and blood vessels; these branch off into individual pockets called ctenidia (singular: ctenidium), where diffusion occurs. The average oxygen consumption rate for an octopus was found to be 130% of the oxygen supply.

Cephalopods are also sensitive to variations in water temperature, and they use countercurrent exchangers to minimize heat loss – which is particularly important for maintaining their large brain.

Cephalopods typically avoid coming to the surface because they cannot tolerate exposure to atmospheric pressure changes; this means that when taken out of the sea, cephalopods suffocate within a few minutes. It takes approximately five minutes for an octopus placed onto dry land to die. So unless you want your pet octopus to expire in agony, keep it immersed in water at all times.

D. Can an octopus hear?

While some researchers claim that there is evidence to show that cephalopods are sensitive to sound, it is still unclear whether they can actually hear. The octopus brain has been observed to contain an area called the statocyst that appears well suited for detecting sound waves in water.

However, there is no current evidence showing how much noise cephalopods can detect or whether they even use their hearing as a means of communication. It may be possible that they only rely on other senses such as seeing and touch when out of water.

The common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) has been observed to live for up to three days out of water. While this is not much time for a species that lives almost exclusively in the sea, it is still much longer than many people might expect, suggesting that some octopuses may be more tolerant of low-oxygen environments than previously thought.

However, most experts do not recommend putting an octopus on land, as it can damage their skin and may even dry them out completely. In the wild, octopuses have been observed to access land only during very low tides, but there are reports of captives being found up to a mile from the sea at night (when they were presumably hunting) and living for several days or even weeks before perishing.

While some researchers claim that there is evidence to show that cephalopods are sensitive to sound, it is still unclear whether they can actually hear. The octopus brain has been observed to contain an area called the statocyst that appears well suited for detecting sound waves in water.

However, there is no current evidence showing how much noise cephalopods can detect or whether they even use their hearing as a means of communication. It may be possible that they only rely on other senses such as seeing and touch when out of water.

CONCLUSION

Even though octopuses breathe in the water, they can survive for short periods of time if taken out of the water. A normal cutaneous respiration is used to supplement gills while an accessory airway allows them to exchange gases with the surface even when submerged.

Octopuses do not live well outside of water and should only be lifted out for a moment or two before quickly being put back down. If this behavior is observed in an octopus, it may be indicative of stress or illness. Some species (e.g., Enteroctopus dofleini) have been known to rest on land rather than immediately sink but they prefer being submerged and will attempt to get back into the water if possible. In addition, squids can survive for longer periods of time if they are kept moist and outside of water. Octopuses have sensitive hearing that aids in long-distance navigation (e.g., avoiding predators) and is aided by structures known as otocysts which lie on nerve cords throughout their arms.

Nicholas Finn

I've been the captain of a fishing boat for over 20 years, and I created Pirateering to share my knowledge of and interest in seafaring.

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