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You are here: Home / Animals / How does an Octopus Use Ink to Defend Itself Against Predators when Threatened and is it Poisonous?

How does an Octopus Use Ink to Defend Itself Against Predators when Threatened and is it Poisonous?

June 15, 2020 by Karen Hill

When an Octopus is threatened by a predator it will squirt ink, change skin color as camouflage, and jet away.

octopus swim head first

As good a job as the ink does of hiding something as hard to hide as an octopus, it’s also poisonous to some creatures and stuns others, even when diluted in the vastness of the ocean.

How poisonous is the ink? If released by an octopus caged in an aquarium, the ink would kill everything inside the glass walls, including the octopus itself.

Most octopuses have no internal or external skeleton, allowing them to squeeze through tight places and escape.

They are also highly intelligent for an invertebrate.

Related Facts

  • How Else Does an Octopus Defend Itself From Other Animals Besides Shooting Ink at Predators?
  • Does an octopus’s ink serve any purpose besides darkening the water for camouflage from predators?
  • Is the Plural for the Singular Octopus Octopi or Octopuses, and Which is more Correct in English?
  • How Is Glass Made?
  • Do Octopuses Attack Divers?
  • How often have People been Attacked by Octopuses and How Dangerous or Poisonous are they?

Filed Under: Animals

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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