Sea Life

Is an Octopus Considered a Fish? Why or Why Not?

The fish and the octopus, both are aquatic animals that live in the water. We all already know that fish are of different types. Similarly, the octopus also has its own types. But, the question that arises in the minds of many people is that is the octopus considered a type of fish or not? 

As there are many different types of fishes, some are large in size and the others are small. Similarly, different types of fish have different shapes, for instance, there is a huge difference in the appearance of a whale shark and a neon tetra. Many people believe that the octopus being a sea animal also belongs to the family of fish and is considered a fish. But, the reality is different as the octopus is not a fish.

Are Octopus Fish?

The octopuses cannot be considered fish in any sense because they have almost all the characteristics and organs different from those possessed by fish. There are many types of octopus and similarly there are many kinds of fish but they are entirely different from each other and do not belong to the same family.

Photo by Serena Repice Lentini on Unsplash

What is the Main Reason That Makes Octopus Different From Fish?

The reason why an octopus cannot be considered a fish can be understood through some major differences they have between them. One of the core reasons amongst those is that fish do possess a backbone or a spine and also have a well structured skeleton and hence fish are called vertebrates. The octopus in contrast neither has spine nor has the skeleton and thus it is considered an invertebrate. Because the fish are vertebrates and the octopus are invertebrates, they can not be considered the same or they cannot belong to the same family.

What Makes an Octopus Unique From Other Sea Creatures

An octopus has eight arms unlike other sea life creatures. It is a popular saying about an octopus that it has three hearts unlike any other sea creature. Moreover, more surprisingly it has nine brains each of donut shape. The characteristic that makes it the most unique and strange is that it has blue colored blood and the reason behind this is that their blood contains copper instead of iron. When an octopus dies, its blood color changes from blue to transparent.

Most interestingly, octopuses are considered highly intelligent sea animals. Fish not only lack this characteristic but they do not have intelligence level even half of that possessed by the octopus.

The Bottom-Line 

An octopus can never be considered a fish because of its entirely unique characteristics that do not match the characteristics and traits of the fish. The octopus has eight arms, three hearts, nine brains and has no spine or backbone that makes it different from fish. Moreover, they are very unique characteristics and possess the traits that the fish lack.

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Talha