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Octopus hearts stop beating when they swim

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 the systemic heart that pumps blood to the body stops beating while the animal swims, making swimming exhausting. This is why octopuses prefer crawling along the seafloor. Their blood is also blue, due to a copper-based protein called hemocyanin that carries oxygen instead of the iron-based hemoglobin in humans.

Why now: A surprising and shareable animal fact about octopus biology circulating widely online.

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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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