Mmastodon ScienceScience first seen 17 h ago, last 24 min ago, peak #1

Swimming Exhausts Octopuses Because Their Main Heart Stops

Original: An octopus has three hearts — and when it swims, the main heart that pumps blood to the body actually stops. That's why

An octopus has three hearts, and when it swims the main heart that pumps blood to the body stops beating, which is why the animals prefer crawling: swimming literally exhausts them. Their blood is also blue, thanks to a copper-based molecule instead of iron-based haemoglobin. The quirky physiology fact is being widely shared as a fun piece of marine biology trivia.

Why now: The surprising and counterintuitive biology of octopus hearts and blue blood makes for shareable trivia.

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Evidence

• An octopus has three hearts — and when it swims, the main heart that pumps blood to the body actually stops. That's why they prefer crawling: swimming literally exhausts them. Oh, and their blood is blue. 💙 # science # ocean # biology · eatrics · 10

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