Study
Octopus: Physiology and Behaviour of an Advanced Invertebrate
Wells, Martin J.
Springer, 1978
A synthesis of octopus circulation, respiration, feeding, locomotion and nervous organisation, drawing on decades of experimental work at the Stazione Zoologica in Naples.
- Studied in
- Octopus vulgaris
- Sample size
- monographic synthesis of octopus physiology
An octopus has three hearts: two branchial hearts pumping blood through the gills and one systemic heart driving it round the body. Oxygen is carried by haemocyanin, a copper-based pigment dissolved in the blood rather than packed into cells, which is blue when oxygenated and works well in cold, low-oxygen water and poorly at high activity. The systemic heart stops during jet-propelled swimming, which is why octopuses prefer to crawl.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Octopus physiology is shaped by the limitations of haemocyanin as an oxygen carrier, which constrains sustained activity despite the animal’s behavioural sophistication.
How NatureHQ reads it
Three hearts and blue blood are the two facts everyone knows, and the interesting part is that they are the same fact. Haemocyanin is a poor oxygen carrier compared with haemoglobin, so the animal needs extra pumping to compensate — and still cannot sustain fast swimming, because the main heart stops when it jets. The famous trivia is a description of a constraint, not a superpower.
- Predates most modern work on cephalopod neurobiology and genomics.
- Concentrates on Octopus vulgaris, and around 300 octopus species differ considerably.
- Much of the experimental work involved procedures that would not be approved today.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Academic book publishersPublished as an academic monograph.
doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2468-5
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-11.