Q 01/05

The dumbo octopus is named after Disney's big-eared film star Dumbo, who is which kind of animal?

A) A fennec fox

B) An elephant

C) A donkey

D) A rabbit

Answer · why

B) An elephant

An elephant mocked for his oversized ears, Dumbo starred in a 1941 Disney film. The octopus's two big flapping fins reminded people of him.

Q 02/05

Dumbo octopuses, rarely seen alive by humans, hold which record among all known octopus species?

A) Fastest-swimming

B) Longest-lived

C) Deepest-living

D) Largest-brained

Answer · why

C) Deepest-living

Deepest-living of all known octopuses, they are usually found 3,000 to 4,000 metres down. A few have been recorded close to 7,000 metres.

Q 03/05

Living in permanent darkness, dumbo octopuses have lost which organ found in most shallow-water octopuses?

A) A pair of gills

B) A funnel

C) An ink sac

D) A stomach

Answer · why

C) An ink sac

An ink sac is no use where there is no light to block, so dumbo octopuses have none. The same is true of every finned deep-sea octopus.

Q 04/05

Rather than tearing food apart like most octopuses, how does a dumbo octopus typically eat its prey?

A) Swallows it whole

B) Sucks out the insides

C) Filters it from water

D) Dissolves it in venom

Answer · why

A) Swallows it whole

Swallows it whole is the dumbo octopus's way: small seafloor animals go down in one piece. Its simplified mouth has no need to tear or grind first.

Q 05/05

A dumbo octopus, like its shallow-water cousins, has three of which organ?

A) Stomachs

B) Kidneys

C) Lungs

D) Hearts

Answer · why

D) Hearts

Hearts come in threes for every octopus: two pump blood through the gills. The third sends it around the rest of the body.