The earliest forms of sea life were just gooey blobs. The octopus is closely related to these earliest forms of sea life.

The octopus has no bones; the only hard item being the beak on its mouth. There are advantages to this, however, such as squeezing into narrow crevices where bony enemies cannot follow. The octopus has developed other defenses, too. It has suckers on each of its legs that can immobilize a foe. And if it has to run away, it can leave a puff of dark "ink" to disguise its escape route. Although the octopus can pose a risk to swimmers, it is not THE most dangerous animal in the sea for swimmers. We will let you know at the end of this page which animal that is. Can you guess? What does "octopus" mean? Eight legs. But most gooey blobs are easy for predators to eat, so many of these animals began to look for a little protection. Some developed stony shells, like clams and oysters. An opened oyster. Clams can grow quite large. The giant clam can weigh hundreds of pounds, and pose a risk to swimmers if it clamps down on a foot. But the most interesting type of these animals is the oyster. Whenever a grain of sand gets inside the shell, it irritates, so the oyster puts layer upon layer of a smooth substance over the sand to make it less irritable. Eventually these layers grow into a pearl, which can be quite valuable!

Clams and oysters have stony shells to protect them, but lobsters grow their own bony shell, called an exoskeleton. The exoskeleton protects them against all but the largest predators. In addition, they have strong claws, which can drive away even larger enemies. The lobster. There are other sea creatures related to the lobster, such as the crawfish and shrimp. But amazingly enough, lobsters are also related to spiders and scorpions (which look like little lobsters) that live on the land. One of the most mysterious of the sea creatures is the giant squid, similar to the octopus, but with two extra leg-like extensions. It is mysterious, because it's never been seen alive! It is believed that they can reach 100 feet or longer, but the only giant squids ever actually seen have been dead - washed ashore during the night. Searches are still being conducted to photograph a living giant squid. The elusive giant squid. Does the giant squid kill whales? No The giant squid (kraken) devours a ship! It was once thought that squids were large enough to sink a ship, and that they regularly attacked and ate whales. A squid could not be large enough to sink a ship, however. And the squid sucker marks found on the faces of many whales is now thought to be a desperate attempt by the squid to live - since those whales eat squids. And now for the most dangerous animal in the sea for humans - a primitive gooey glob of sealife. It is one of the jellyfish. Although many jellyfish have stingers, some are more painful than others. And the stingers of the box jellyfish are so venomous that it paralyzes the swimmer. Immediate medical help is needed, and a quick wash of vinegar over the wounded area is the first aid needed, after which the victim should be immediately rushed to the hospital. The ferocious killer of the deep - the box jellyfish. Most people would guess that the great white shark, or the killer whale, or even the electric eel were the most dangerous to swimmers. And yet it turns out to be the silent, bobbing, soft glob of cells called a jellyfish that turns out to be the most dangerous. This just shows that the way you can stay the safest around wild animals is to know which ones are dangerous, and how to avoid getting hurt by them. It is a matter of knowledge. Return to the Ocean. Outstanding Kids' Magazines ↓  For Your Favorite Little Animal Lover  ↓ Home Animal Research Library About AmericaZoo Lesley Fountain  ♦  P. O. Box 215, Fortuna, CA 95540  ♦  Voicemail 1-214-292-9404 email-us @ americazoo.com