78 The Greatly Feared Octopus

The octopus’s reputation as a human-killer isn’t simply an exaggeration—it’s a total myth. Clams, mussels, crabs, lobsters, and an occasional sick or unwary fish have re- cently to be frightened even the largest octopus. Even a giant octopus is much too son to interest the largest octopuses, far from being large enough to engulf a subma- riner as most people imagine in movies, have been known to do, the largest octopuses, smaller than monster octopuses in 10 feet, weigh around 110 pounds and grow to a diameter of no more than 10 feet.

It is difficult to understand why so many people consider octopuses to be dan- gerous creatures. The hard, parrotlike beak of an octopus is not used for attacking deep-sea divers but for cutting open crabs and lobsters. Indeed, the octopus pos- sesses such a tiny throat that it cannot even swallow large pieces of meat. It feeds, instead by pouring digestive juices into its victims and then sucking up the soupy remains. A clam, oyster, or scallop that finds itself in the grasp of an octopus has only a short time to live. But human beings are perfectly safe around octopuses.

Still, people rarely care to venture close enough to these timid underwater creatures to get a good look at them.

78 备受畏惧的章鱼

章鱼作为人类杀手的名声不仅仅是夸张——这完全是个神话。蛤蜊、贻贝、螃蟹、龙虾，以及偶尔生病或不小心的鱼，最近甚至让最大的章鱼都感到害怕。即使是巨型章鱼也太小了，不足以引起最大的章鱼的兴趣，它们远没有大到能吞没潜水员（就像大多数人在电影中想象的那样），已知的最大章鱼也不到10英尺长，重约110磅，直径不超过10英尺。

很难理解为什么这么多人认为章鱼是危险的生物。章鱼坚硬的鹦鹉状喙不是用来攻击深海潜水员的，而是用来打开螃蟹和龙虾的。事实上，章鱼的喉咙非常小，甚至无法吞下大块的肉。它的进食方式是将消化液倒入猎物体内，然后吸食浓稠的残渣。如果蛤蜊、牡蛎或扇贝被章鱼抓住，它们存活的时间就很短了。但人类在章鱼周围是绝对安全的。

不过，人们很少愿意冒险靠近这些胆小的水下生物，好好观察它们。