The common octopus is a master at blending in with its surroundings. If in a panic, an octopus may bury itself in the bottom of the tropical oceans or disguise itself by changing colors to blend in with its surroundings. The camouflaging process is very quick and would take an octopus less than 60 seconds to complete. The specialized muscles in an octopus's skin not only match the colors and patterns of its surroundings but can also simulate the textures.
Octopuses are invertebrates, which mean they don't have a backbone. This characteristic allows them to squeeze into dark and narrow spaces in an effort to avoid predators. An octopus also has the capability of losing one of its arms if it needs to escape an attacker; while the attacker eats the limb, the octopus will swim away. Because the octopus is an invertebrate, its arms will grow back and there is no permanent damage.
Another method octopuses use to distract predators or prey is to spray ink. The dark ink temporarily blinds the attacker, allowing the octopus to escape. The ink also has a chemical that dulls the attackers sense of smell, so it has a hard time finding the octopus after the ink dissolves.
Some octopuses, called mimic octopuses, have the capability to change their body shapes and mimic other sea animals. They generally mimic animals that are more dangerous than they are, including lion fish, sea snakes and eels. To disguise itself as a sea snake, the octopus buries six of its legs into the bottom of the sea, extends the other two arms and changes its coloring.