Octopus
The octopus comprises an order of soft-bodied marine mollusks that flourish across the world's oceans. Highly intelligent, though short-lived, the octopus and its cephalopod relatives survived the mass extinction and ocean acidification that killed off most of the old world's ocean creatures, and came to dominate the oceans of the Fifth World.
#Human relations
People who live in coastal areas hunt smaller octopuses for meat, cooking them in a wide variety of dishes. Sailors of the Fifth World also know larger octopuses as threats which they must placate with gifts and offerings before a long sea voyage.
#Specialization
A community specializing in relationship with octopuses will invariably live on or near the ocean, and rely on seafood for most of their diet. Such communities have great respect for the intelligent, wily octopus and may even feature the octopus as a figure in their trickster tales.
Octopus-hunters may catch their prey by lining the sides of underwater cliffs with small pots on ropes, then waiting for octopuses to move in. Thus, a community with a strong relationship to these creatures may also put great emphasis on pottery, working hard to create beautiful pots worthy of an octopus's home. They may decorate their pots with paint, or incorporate shiny rocks or pieces of old glass or CDs to attract an octopus's attention. Alternatively, they may use coconut shells or gourds (especially if they lack a local source of high-quality clay). Such a community may value swimming highly and become excellent swimmers with a talent for holding their breath for long periods of time.
Other communities that hunt octopuses do so with spears during low tide, luring them out of their dens before giving them a quick, humane death. These communities may have a tradition of “octopus callers”: people skilled at luring octopuses out of their dens with, for example, shiny or red objects. (Octopuses turn red when angry, so red works well as a lure color.)
Octopuses live in shallow, rocky waters. Therefore, humans find them often in the flooded ruins of old world coastal cities. A community specializing in relationship with them may see them as the spirits of the ancestors: dwelling in cities but living alone, intelligent but ruthless, and tragically short-lived.
Other implications for communities specializing in relationship with octopuses include a greater appreciation for loners than many communities, as most species of octopuses typically avoid socializing; dramatic, eight-pointed capes to resemble octopuses; the use of white as the traditional mourning color or symbol for death; tentacle-styled tattoos; and elaborate body painting traditions (to the point of imitating different textures) honoring octopuses’ color-changing abilities.
#Families
- Alloposidae
- Amphitretidae
- Argonautidae
- Bolitaenidae
- Cirroteuthidae
- Grimpoteuthididae
- Octopodidae
- Ocythoidae
- Tremoctopodidae
- Vitreledonellidae