Octopus
by: Jeffrey Wang
Introduction
What animal is a third of the cephalopod population? What animal lives in all of the world’s oceans? The octopus has amazing appearance, reproduction, and habitat. The octopus is a very interesting marine animal.
Body Structure and Appearance
The body structure of an octopus is fascinating. These eight armed animals can grow from eight inches to 18 feet. With their tentacles spread out, some can have an arm span of 30 feet. The body of the octopus is soft. The octopus has a sharp beak. Also they have eight tentacles. so they can move faster. Tentacles help catch the prey because the tentacles have rows of suckers. It sticks to the prey. On the inside, these deep sea creatures have three hearts. Two hearts are for pumping blood into the gills and the other heart is for pumping pale blue blood through the rest of the body. Besides that, octopi do not have a skeleton. Plus, males and females are different in size. However, octopus have different sucker patterns. Another fact is that octopus can change into various different colors for blending in so they can pop out at prey or hide from predators. Also, octopus are pelagic animals which means they can flush their transparent layer of skin. When it grows back, they can do it again. Octopus can change from green, blue, gray, brown, pink, and red. These magnificent creatures have fascinating body structure and appearance.
Habitat
These deep sea creatures have a habitat scientist don’t know much about because they live so deep in the ocean. But, octopus can live from 1,000 feet to 24,000 feet down in the ocean. Also, they live in the oceanic zone which means open sea. Likewise, octopus live close to the hydrothermal vent fields or geysers. These eight tentacle animals can be found in every ocean as you can see, octopus have fascinating habitat.
Reproduction
The octopus has an interesting reproduction process. The male, has an enlarged segment on its arms which transfers sperm into the mantle cavity on the females during copulation. The eggs are large and have a casing which hardens in water. The female lays eggs under rocks or shells. The octopus can lay up to 100,000 eggs but only some survive. Octopus have no breeding season so they can lay eggs all year long. Obviously, octopus have a unique reproduction process.
Conclusion
Octopus have many interesting facts and is an amazing animal. These color changing creatures have wonderful body structure, interesting, habitat, and amazing reproduction. Octopodes with their amazing life is sadly only six months to five years.
Emu
Jeffrey Wang
Family Life
Australian Food
Emu
My Australian food that I chose was Emu. Emu is first founded in Australia. European explorers went to Australia and found the Emu in 1696. They first called it fast-footer new hollander. After, they decided to call it emu. The Emu is usually eaten at lunch or dinner.
Roasted Emu
Ingredients
5 to 6 lb. emu roast
2 Tbsp. garlic
1 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. thyme
2 Tbsp. rosemary
2 Tbsp. basil
2 Tbsp. parsley
¼ cup olive oil
2 cups red wine
Directions
Mix dry spices together. Spread half of the spice mixture onto the roast and cover. Marinade for 4-6 hours in the refrigerator. Remove the roast and place into a roasting pan. Preheat oven to 350° F. Re-season roast with remaining spices. Add olive oil and wine. Insert meat thermometer in thickest part of roast and bake for 1½ to 2 hours or until thermometer reaches 160°. Baste every 20-30 minutes with pan juices. Serves 8-10.