--- title: "Cephalopods (Cephalopoda) | Evolutionary Clade | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "Three hearts, blue hemocyanin blood, and skin that functions like a high-speed video screen. Explore 13 species in the Cephalopods evolutionary lineage." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/icon-512.png" --- # Cephalopods (*Cephalopoda*) > Three hearts, blue hemocyanin blood, and skin that functions like a high-speed video screen. Cephalopods separated from other molluscs over 500 million years ago by swapping heavy protective shells for hyper-maneuverable jet propulsion and decentralized intelligence. Two-thirds of their neurons are spread throughout their flexible arms, allowing individual limbs to taste, smell, and execute predatory strikes without waiting for commands from the central brain. ## Key Evolutionary Adaptations - Three separate hearts pump blue copper-based blood through pressurized aquatic circulatory systems. - Chromatophore, iridophore, and leucophore skin layers change color and 3D texture in under 200 milliseconds. - Lacking rigid internal bones, soft-bodied octopuses can squeeze through any gap larger than their sharp chitinous beaks. ## Member Species (13 Creatures) - [Bigfin Squid](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/bigfin-squid/) (*Magnapinna sp.*) - **Superpower**: Elbow-jointed arms trailing sticky filaments that may reach up to 20 times its body length - **Musical Match**: Earth (Sludge Metal & Abyssal Doom) - [Blue-Ringed Octopus](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/blue-ringed-octopus/) (*Hapalochlaena lunulata*) - **Superpower**: Symbiotic Tetrodotoxin Neurotoxin & Optical Iridophore Ring Strobing - **Musical Match**: Ladytron (Dance-Punk & Electroclash) - [Casper Octopus](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/casper-octopus/) (*Incirrata sp.*) - **Superpower**: No pigment cells and a diaphanous, jelly-like body with almost no muscle, in a food-scarce world - **Musical Match**: Grouper (Dream Pop & Shoegaze) - [Chambered Nautilus](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/chambered-nautilus/) (*Nautilus pompilius*) - **Superpower**: A chambered shell with a gas-releasing buoyancy tube called the siphuncle, plus more than 90 suckerless tentacles and a pair of rhinophores that track an odor plume to its source - **Musical Match**: Chon (Math Rock & Midwest Emo) - [Colossal Squid](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/colossal-squid/) (*Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni*) - **Superpower**: Along with the giant squid, the largest eyes in the animal kingdom, about 27 centimeters (10.6 inches) across, plus tentacle-club hooks that can swivel 360 to 720 degrees to keep their grip on prey. - **Musical Match**: Evoken (Sludge Metal & Abyssal Doom) - [Common Cuttlefish](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/common-cuttlefish/) (*Sepia officinalis*) - **Superpower**: Camouflage built from about 30 skin pattern components, shape-shifting papillae muscles, and polarized vision that may help it see through other animals' camouflage. - **Musical Match**: Deftones (90s Alt-Metal & Shoegaze) - [Common Octopus](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/common-octopus/) (*Octopus vulgaris*) - **Superpower**: Skin patterns carried out by over half a million neurons in the chromatophore lobes of its brain - **Musical Match**: Robyn (2010s Pop & Electropop) - [Dumbo Octopus](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/dumbo-octopus/) (*Grimpoteuthis*) - **Superpower**: No ink sac: it moves quickly to get away instead. It also swims with its ear-like fins, unusual for octopuses, which typically rely on jet propulsion. - **Musical Match**: Mary Lattimore (Glacial Ambient & Drone Soundscapes) - [Flamboyant Cuttlefish](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/flamboyant-cuttlefish/) (*Metasepia pfefferi*) - **Superpower**: In captivity it often sends colors traveling across its mantle, in many kinds of situations. Other cuttlefish are generally seen doing this while hunting or showing aggression. - **Musical Match**: Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band (West African Highlife & Palm-Wine Music) - [Giant Pacific Octopus](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/giant-pacific-octopus/) (*Enteroctopus dofleini*) - **Superpower**: Three hearts, blue copper-rich blood, about 2,140 to 2,240 suckers that grip, taste, and smell, and a body that can squeeze through any hole large enough for its beak. - **Musical Match**: Radiohead (Trip-Hop & Velvet Downtempo) - [Giant Squid](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/giant-squid/) (*Architeuthis dux*) - **Superpower**: Two long feeding tentacles that strike and tangle prey - **Musical Match**: Bell Witch (Sludge Metal & Abyssal Doom) - [Mimic Octopus](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/mimic-octopus/) (*Thaumoctopus mimicus*) - **Superpower**: Dynamic mimicry, switching between impressions of toxic animals depending on which predator is around - **Musical Match**: Jamiroquai (Jazz-Funk, Soul & Lounge Fusion) - [Vampire Squid](https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/vampire-squid/) (*Vampyroteuthis infernalis*) - **Superpower**: Thriving where oxygen is only a fraction of surface levels, and pulsing blue light at its arm tips. - **Musical Match**: Burial (Future Garage & Deep Electronica) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://animaltracks.wiki/clades/cephalopods/#collection", "name": "Cephalopods (Cephalopoda)", "description": "Three hearts, blue hemocyanin blood, and skin that functions like a high-speed video screen.", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/clades/cephalopods/", "mainEntity": { "@type": "ItemList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Bigfin Squid", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/bigfin-squid/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Blue-Ringed Octopus", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/blue-ringed-octopus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Casper Octopus", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/casper-octopus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Chambered Nautilus", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/chambered-nautilus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "name": "Colossal Squid", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/colossal-squid/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "name": "Common Cuttlefish", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/common-cuttlefish/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "name": "Common Octopus", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/common-octopus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "name": "Dumbo Octopus", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/dumbo-octopus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "name": "Flamboyant Cuttlefish", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/flamboyant-cuttlefish/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "name": "Giant Pacific Octopus", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/giant-pacific-octopus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "name": "Giant Squid", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/giant-squid/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "name": "Mimic Octopus", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/mimic-octopus/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "name": "Vampire Squid", "url": "https://animaltracks.wiki/animals/vampire-squid/" } ] } } ] } ```