Octopus
The Common Octopus, Octopus vulgaris.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Mollusca
Class:	Cephalopoda
Superorder:	Octopodiformes
Order:	Octopoda Leach, 1818[1]
Suborders
Cirrina Incirrina
Synonyms
Octopoida Leach, 1817[2]

The octopus ( /ˈɒktəpʊs/; traditionally, plural: octopuses, see below) is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms. Octopuses have no internal or external skeleton (although some species have a vestigial remnant of a shell inside their mantle), allowing them to squeeze through tight places. Octopuses are among the most intelligent and behaviorally flexible of all invertebrates.

The octopus inhabits many diverse regions of the ocean, including coral reefs, pelagic waters, and the ocean floor. They have numerous strategies for defending themselves against predators, including the expulsion of ink, the use of camouflage and deimatic displays, their ability to jet quickly through the water, and their ability to hide. An octopus trails its eight arms behind it as it swims. All octopuses are venomous, but only one group, the blue-ringed octopuses, is known to be deadly to humans.^[3]

There are around 300 recognized octopus species, which is over one-third of the total number of known cephalopod species. The term octopus may also be used to refer only to those creatures in the genus Octopus. A group of octopuses is called a consortium.

Biology[link]

Schematic lateral aspect of octopod features

A Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris)

Octopuses are characterized by their eight arms, usually bearing suction cups. The arms of octopuses are often distinguished from the pair of feeding tentacles found in squid and cuttlefish.^[4] Both types of limbs are muscular hydrostats. Unlike most other cephalopods, the majority of octopuses – those in the suborder most commonly known, Incirrina – have almost entirely soft bodies with no internal skeleton. They have neither a protective outer shell like the nautilus, nor any vestige of an internal shell or bones, like cuttlefish or squid. A beak, similar in shape to a parrot's beak, is the only hard part of their body. This enables them to squeeze through very narrow slits between underwater rocks, which is very helpful when they are fleeing from morays or other predatory fish. The octopuses in the less familiar Cirrina suborder have two fins and an internal shell, generally reducing their ability to squeeze into small spaces. These cirrate species are often free-swimming and live in deep-water habitats, while incirrate octopus species are found in reefs and other shallower seafloor habitats.

An octopus moving between tide pools during low tide

Octopuses have a relatively short life expectancy, and some species live for as little as six months. Larger species, such as the Giant Pacific Octopus, may live for up to five years under suitable circumstances. However, reproduction is a cause of death: males can only live for a few months after mating, and females die shortly after their eggs hatch. They neglect to eat during the (roughly) one month period spent taking care of their unhatched eggs, eventually dying of starvation. In a scientific experiment, it was discovered that removal of both optic glands after spawning results in cessation of broodiness, resumption of feeding, increased growth, and greatly extended life-span.^[5]

Grimpoteuthis discoveryi, a finned octopus of the suborder Cirrina

Octopuses have three hearts. Two branchial hearts pump blood through each of the two gills, while the third pumps blood through the body. Octopus blood contains the copper-rich protein hemocyanin for transporting oxygen. Although less efficient under normal conditions than the iron-rich hemoglobin of vertebrates, in cold conditions with low oxygen pressure, hemocyanin oxygen transportation is more efficient than hemoglobin oxygen transportation. The hemocyanin is dissolved in the plasma instead of being carried within red blood cells and gives the blood a bluish color. Octopuses draw water into their mantle cavity where it passes through its gills. As mollusks, octopuses have gills that are finely divided and vascularized outgrowths of either the outer or the inner body surface.

Intelligence[link]

Octopuses are highly intelligent, likely more so than any other order of invertebrates. The exact extent of their intelligence and learning capability is much debated among biologists,^[6][7][8][9] but maze and problem-solving experiments have shown evidence of a memory system that can store both short- and long-term memory. It is not known precisely what contribution learning makes to adult octopus behavior. Young octopuses learn almost no behaviors from their parents, with whom they have very little contact.

An octopus opening a container with a screw cap

An octopus has a highly complex nervous system, only part of which is localized in its brain. Two-thirds of an octopus's neurons are found in the nerve cords of its arms, which have limited functional autonomy. Octopus arms show a variety of complex reflex actions that persist even when they have no input from the brain.^[10] Unlike vertebrates, the complex motor skills of octopuses are not organized in their brain using an internal somatotopic map of its body, using a non-somatotopic system unique to large-brained invertebrates.^[11] Some octopuses, such as the mimic octopus, will move their arms in ways that emulate the shape and movements of other sea creatures.

In laboratory experiments, octopuses can be readily trained to distinguish between different shapes and patterns. They have been reported to practice observational learning,^[12] although the validity of these findings is widely contested on a number of grounds.^[6][7] Octopuses have also been observed in what some have described as play: repeatedly releasing bottles or toys into a circular current in their aquariums and then catching them.^[13] Octopuses often break out of their aquariums and sometimes into others in search of food. They have even boarded fishing boats and opened holds to eat crabs.^[8]

In some countries, octopuses are on the list of experimental animals on which surgery may not be performed without anesthesia. In the UK, cephalopods such as octopuses are regarded as honorary vertebrates under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 and other cruelty to animals legislation, extending to them protections not normally afforded to invertebrates.^[14]

The octopus is the only invertebrate which has been shown to use tools. At least four specimens of the Veined Octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus) have been witnessed retrieving discarded coconut shells, manipulating them, and then reassembling them to use as shelter. This discovery was documented in the journal Current Biology and has also been caught on video.^[15][16]

Defense[link]

Greater Blue-ringed Octopus (Hapalochlaena lunulata)

An octopus's main (primary) defense is to hide, either not to be seen at all, or not to be detected as an octopus.^[17] Octopuses have several secondary defenses (defenses they use once they have been seen by a predator). The most common secondary defense is fast escape. Other defenses include the use of ink sacs, camouflage, and autotomising limbs.

Most octopuses can eject a thick blackish ink in a large cloud to aid in escaping from predators. The main coloring agent of the ink is melanin, which is the same chemical that gives humans their hair and skin color. This ink cloud is thought to reduce the efficiency of olfactory organs, which would aid an octopus's evasion from predators that employ smell for hunting, such as sharks. Ink clouds of some species might serve as pseudomorphs, or decoys that the predator attacks instead.^[18]

Amphioctopus marginatus travels with shells it has collected for protection

An octopus's camouflage is aided by certain specialized skin cells which can change the apparent color, opacity, and reflectiveness of the epidermis. Chromatophores contain yellow, orange, red, brown, or black pigments; most species have three of these colors, while some have two or four. Other color-changing cells are reflective iridophores, and leucophores (white).^[19] This color-changing ability can also be used to communicate with or warn other octopuses. The very venomous blue-ringed octopus becomes bright yellow with blue rings when it is provoked. Octopuses can use muscles in the skin to change the texture of their mantle to achieve a greater camouflage. In some species the mantle can take on the spiky appearance of seaweed, or the scraggly, bumpy texture of a rock, among other disguises. However in some species skin anatomy is limited to relatively patternless shades of one color, and limited skin texture. It is thought that octopuses that are day-active and/or live in complex habitats such as coral reefs have evolved more complex skin than their nocturnal and/or sand-dwelling relatives.^[17]

When under attack, some octopuses can perform arm autotomy, in a similar manner to the way skinks and other lizards detach their tails. The crawling arm serves as a distraction to would-be predators.

A few species, such as the Mimic Octopus, have a fourth defense mechanism. They can combine their highly flexible bodies with their color-changing ability to accurately mimic other, more dangerous animals such as lionfish, sea snakes, and eels.^[20][21]

Reproduction[link]

When octopuses reproduce, males use a specialized arm called a hectocotylus to insert spermatophores (packets of sperm) into the female's mantle cavity. The hectocotylus in benthic octopuses is usually the third right arm. Males die within a few months of mating. In some species, the female octopus can keep the sperm alive inside her for weeks until her eggs are mature. After they have been fertilized, the female lays about 200,000 eggs (this figure dramatically varies between families, genera, species and also individuals). The female hangs these eggs in strings from the ceiling of her lair, or individually attaches them to the substrate depending on the species. The female cares for the eggs, guarding them against predators, and gently blowing currents of water over them so that they get enough oxygen. The female does not hunt during the roughly one-month period spent taking care of the unhatched eggs and may ingest some of her own arms for sustenance. At around the time the eggs hatch, the mother leaves the lair and is too weak to defend herself from predators like cod, often succumbing to their attacks. The young larval octopuses spend a period of time drifting in clouds of plankton, where they feed on copepods, larval crabs and larval starfish until they are ready to descend to the ocean bottom, where the cycle repeats. This is a dangerous time for the larval octopuses; in the plankton cloud they are vulnerable to plankton eaters. In some deeper dwelling species, the young do not go through this period.^{[citation needed]}

Sensation[link]

Eye of Octopus vulgaris

Octopuses have keen eyesight. Octopuses, like other cephalopods, can distinguish the polarization of light. Color vision appears to vary from species to species, being present in Octopus aegina but absent in Octopus vulgaris.^[22] Attached to the brain are two special organs, called statocysts, that allow the octopus to sense the orientation of its body relative to horizontal. An autonomic response keeps the octopus's eyes oriented so that the pupil slit is always horizontal.

Octopuses also have an excellent sense of touch. An octopus's suction cups are equipped with chemoreceptors so that the octopus can taste what it is touching. The arms contain tension sensors so that the octopus knows whether its arms are stretched out. However, the octopus has a very poor proprioceptive sense. The tension receptors are not sufficient for the octopus brain to determine the position of the octopus's body or arms. (It is not clear that the octopus brain would be capable of processing the large amount of information that this would require; the flexibility of an octopus's arms is much greater than that of the limbs of vertebrates, which devote large areas of cerebral cortex to the processing of proprioceptive inputs.) As a result, the octopus does not possess stereognosis; that is, it does not form a mental image of the overall shape of the object it is handling. It can detect local texture variations, but cannot integrate the information into a larger picture.^[23]

The neurological autonomy of the arms means that the octopus has great difficulty learning about the detailed effects of its motions. The brain may issue a high-level command to the arms, but the nerve cords in the arms execute the details. There is no neurological path for the brain to receive feedback about just how its command was executed by the arms; the only way it knows just what motions were made is by observing the arms visually.^[23]

Octopuses appear to have limited hearing.^[24]

Octopuses swim headfirst, with arms trailing behind

Locomotion[link]

Video of an octopus in its natural habitat

Octopuses move about by crawling or swimming. Their main means of slow travel is crawling, with some swimming. Jet propulsion is their fastest means of locomotion, followed by swimming and walking.^[25]

They crawl by walking on their arms, usually on many at once, on both solid and soft surfaces, while supported in water. In 2005 it was reported that some octopuses (Adopus aculeatus and Amphioctopus marginatus under current taxonomy) can walk on two arms, while at the same time resembling plant matter.^[26] This form of locomotion allows these octopuses to move quickly away from a potential predator while possibly not triggering that predator's search image for octopus (food).^[25] A study of this behavior conducted by the Weymouth Sea Life Centre led to the suggestion that the two rearmost appendages may be more accurately termed legs rather than arms.^[27] Some species of octopuses can crawl out of the water for a short period, which they may do between tide pools while hunting crustacea or gastropods or to escape predators.^[28][29]

Octopuses swim by expelling a jet of water from a contractile mantle, and aiming it via a muscular siphon.

Predation[link]

Bottom-dwelling octopuses eat mainly crabs, polychaete worms, and other molluscs such as whelks and clams. Open-ocean octopuses eat mainly prawns, fish and other cephalopods. They usually inject their prey with a paralysing saliva before dismembering it into small pieces with their beaks.^[30] Octopuses feed on shelled molluscs either by using force, or by drilling a hole in the shell, injecting a secretion into the hole, and then extracting the soft body of the mollusc.^[31]

Size[link]

An adult Giant Pacific Octopus, Enteroctopus dofleini

The Giant Pacific Octopus, Enteroctopus dofleini, is often cited as the largest octopus species. Adults usually weigh around 15 kg (33 lb), with an arm span of up to 4.3 m (14 ft).^[32] The largest specimen of this species to be scientifically documented was an animal with a live mass of 71 kg (156.5 lb).^[33] The alternative contender is the Seven-arm Octopus, Haliphron atlanticus, based on a 61 kg (134 lb) carcass estimated to have a live mass of 75 kg (165 lb).^[34][35] However, there are a number of questionable size records that would suggest E. dofleini is the largest of all octopus species by a considerable margin;^[36] one such record is of a specimen weighing 272 kg (600 lb) and having an arm span of 9 m (30 ft).^[37]

Etymology and pluralization[link]

The term "octopus" is from Greek ὀκτάπους^[38][39] (oktapous, "eight-footed"), with traditional plural forms "octopuses" (pronounced /ˈɒktəpʊsɪz/) from English grammar and "octopodes" (pronounced /ɒkˈtɒpədiːz/) from the Greek. Currently, "octopuses" is the most common form in both the US and the UK. The term "octopod" (plural: "octopods" or "octopodes") is taken from the taxonomic order Octopoda but has no classical equivalent. The collective plural "octopus" is usually reserved for animals consumed for food.

Some authorities find that octopi is an objectionable^[40] hypercorrection, feeling that the form arose from the incorrect assumption that "octopus" is a Latin 2nd declension form. However, "octopus" is a Scientific Latin 3rd declension noun with a plural of octopodes. Nevertheless, the Oxford English Dictionary (2008 Draft Revision)^[41] lists "octopuses", "octopi", and "octopodes" (in that order), labelling "octopodes" 'rare' and noting that "octopi" derives from the misapprehension that octōpus is a second declension Latin noun. The book further maintains that if the word were native to Latin, it would be third declension octōpēs (plural: octōpedes) after the pattern of pēs ("foot", plural pedēs).^[42] The original Latin word for octopus and other similar species is polypus, from Greek polýpous (πολύπους, "many-footed"); again, usually the inappropriate plural polypī is used instead of polypodēs.

Fowler's Modern English Usage states that 'the only acceptable plural in English is "octopuses"', that "octopi" is 'misconceived', and "octopodes" 'pedantic'. Chambers 21st Century Dictionary^[43] and the Compact Oxford Dictionary^[44] list only "octopuses", although the latter notes that "octopodes" is 'still occasionally used'. The descriptivist Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary lists "octopuses" and "octopi" in that order; likewise, Webster's New World College Dictionary lists in order "octopuses", "octopi", and "octopodes".

In modern Greek, the word is χταπόδι (khtapódi; plural: χταπόδια, khtapódia), from Byzantine ὀκταπόδιον (oktapódion) derived from the Classical Greek variant ὀκτάπους (oktápous).

Relationship to humans[link]

Left: Vase from a Mycenaean Greek cemetery at Prosymna, Argos, grave 2, c. 1500 BCE
Centre: Moche Octopus (200 AD), Larco Museum Collection, Lima, Peru
Right: Ancient Greek black-figure amphora, 530–520 BC. On the left, a hoplite with an octopus image on his shield. Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich, Germany

Ancient peoples of the Mediterranean were aware of the octopus, as evidenced by certain artworks and designs of prehistory. For example, a stone carving found in the archaeological recovery from Bronze Age Minoan Crete at Knossos has a depiction of a fisherman carrying an octopus.^[45]

Octopuses were often depicted in the art of the Moche people of ancient Peru, who worshipped the sea and its animals.^[46]

In mythology[link]

The Hawaiian creation myth relates that the present cosmos is only the last of a series, having arisen in stages from the wreck of the previous universe. In this account, the octopus is the lone survivor of the previous, alien universe.^[47]

In literature[link]

The octopus has a significant role in Victor Hugo's book Travailleurs de la mer (Toilers of the Sea).^[48]

As a metaphor[link]

Due to having numerous arms that emanate from a common center, the octopus is often used as a metaphor for a group or organization which is perceived as being powerful, manipulative or bent on domination. Use of this terminology is invariably negative and employed by the opponents of the groups or institutions so described.^[49]

As food[link]

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Octopus

Octopus at Tsukiji fish market

Humans eat octopus in many cultures. The arms and sometimes other body parts are prepared in various ways, often varying by species.

Octopus is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine, including sushi, takoyaki, and Akashiyaki.

In Korea, some small species are sometimes eaten alive as a novelty food. A live octopus is usually sliced up, and it is eaten while still squirming.

Octopuses are "tickled" out of their holes‎ in the Hawaiian Islands with 3-pronged polespears

Raw octopus arms		Lightly boiled octopus arm that turned a bright purple

Octopus is eaten regularly in Hawaii, since many popular dishes are Asian in origin. Locally known by their Hawaiian or Japanese names ("he'e" and "tako" respectively), octopus is also a popular fish bait.

Octopus is a common food in Mediterranean cuisine and Portuguese cuisine. In Galicia, polbo á feira (market fair style octopus) is a local delicacy. Restaurants which specialize or serve this dish are known as pulperías. On the Tunisian island of Djerba, local people catch octopuses by taking advantage of the animals' habit of hiding in safe places during the night. In the evening they put grey ceramic pots on the sea bed. The morning of the following day they check them for octopuses that sheltered there. A common scene in the Greek islands is octopuses hanging in the sunlight from a rope, just like laundry from a clothesline. They are often caught by spear fishing close to the shore. The fisherman brings his prey to land and tenderizes the flesh by pounding the carcass against a stone surface. Thus treated they are hung out to dry, and later will be served grilled either hot, or chilled in a salad. They are considered a superb meze, especially alongside ouzo.

According to the USDA Nutrient Database (2007), cooked octopus contains approximately 139 calories per three ounce portion, and is a source of vitamin B₃, B₁₂, potassium, phosphorus, and selenium.^[50]

Care must be taken to boil the octopus properly, to rid it of slime, smell, and residual ink.

As pets[link]

Though octopuses can be difficult to keep in captivity, some people keep them as pets. Octopuses often escape even from supposedly secure tanks, due to their problem-solving skills, mobility and lack of rigid structure.

The variation in size and life span among octopus species makes it difficult to know how long a new specimen can naturally be expected to live. That is, a small octopus may be just born or may be an adult, depending on its species. By selecting a well-known species, such as the California Two-spot Octopus, one can choose a small octopus (around the size of a tennis ball) and be confident that it is young with a full life ahead of it.

Octopuses are also quite strong for their size. Octopuses kept as pets have been known to open the covers of their aquariums and survive for a time in the air in order to get to a nearby feeder tank and gorge themselves on the fish there^{[citation needed]}. Large octopuses have also been known to catch and kill some species of sharks.^[51]

Classification[link]

Wikispecies has information related to: Octopoda

Cirrothauma murrayi

Amphitretus pelagicus

• Class Cephalopoda
  • Subclass Nautiloidea: nautilus
  • Subclass Coleoidea
    • Superorder Decapodiformes: squid, cuttlefish
    • Superorder Octopodiformes
      • Family †Trachyteuthididae (incertae sedis)
      • Order Vampyromorphida: Vampire Squid
      • Order Octopoda
        • Genus †Keuppia (incertae sedis)
        • Genus †Palaeoctopus (incertae sedis)
        • Genus †Paleocirroteuthis (incertae sedis)
        • Genus †Pohlsepia (incertae sedis)
        • Genus †Proteroctopus (incertae sedis)
        • Genus †Styletoctopus (incertae sedis)
        • Suborder Cirrina: finned deep-sea octopus
          • Family Opisthoteuthidae: umbrella octopus
          • Family Cirroteuthidae
          • Family Stauroteuthidae
        • Suborder Incirrina
          • Family Amphitretidae: telescope octopus
          • Family Bolitaenidae: gelatinous octopus
          • Family Octopodidae: benthic octopus
          • Family Vitreledonellidae: Glass Octopus
          • Superfamily Argonautoida
            • Family Alloposidae: Seven-arm Octopus
            • Family Argonautidae: argonauts
            • Family Ocythoidae: Tuberculate Pelagic Octopus
            • Family Tremoctopodidae: blanket octopus

See also[link]

	Book: Cephalopoda
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Octopus wrestling
• Legend of the Octopus
• Henry the Hexapus, a six-armed octopus
• Paul the Octopus, an octopus famous for predicting football results in the 2010 FIFA World Cup
• Paralarva

References[link]

External links[link]

The Wikibook Dichotomous Key has a page on the topic of Octopoda

Find more about octopus on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

• The Cephalopod Page
• TONMO.COM – The Octopus News Magazine Online
• Tree of Life website: information about cephalopods along with pictures and videos
• Discussion about the plural
• An octopus's shark encounter – footage of an octopus eating a shark (also in Quicktime format)
• Camouflage in action
• Video showing an Octopus escaping through a 1-inch (25 mm) hole
• Bipedal Octopuses- Video, Information, Original paper
• Why Cephalopods Change ColorPDF (359 KB)
• Video of walking octopuses
• Conference on Cephalopods and Art, Insitute for Advanced Study, University of Minnesota, March, 2011

v t e Principal commercial fishery species groups Wild Large pelagic fish Mackerel Salmon Shark Swordfish Tuna albacore bigeye Atlantic bluefin Pacific bluefin southern bluefin skipjack yellowfin Forage fish Anchovy Capelin Herring Ilish Menhaden Sardines Shad Demersal fish Catfish Cod Atlantic Pacific Flatfish flounder halibut plaice sole turbot Haddock Mullet Orange roughy Pollock Smelt-whitings Toothfish Freshwater fish Carp Sturgeon Tilapia Trout Other wild fish Eel Whitebait more... Crustaceans Crab Krill Lobster Shrimp and prawn more... Molluscs Abalone Mussels Octopus Oysters Scallops Squid more... Echinoderms Sea cucumbers Sea urchin more... Farmed Carp bighead common crucian grass silver Catfish Freshwater prawns Mussels Oysters Salmon Atlantic salmon trout coho chinook Scallops Seaweed Shrimp Tilapia Commercial fishing World fish production Fishing topics Fisheries glossary

v t e Commercial mollusks Marine gastropods Abalone Periwinkle Whelk Buccinum undatum Bullacta exarata Land and freshwater gastropods Helix pomatia Helix aspersa Helix aperta Cepaea nemoralis Otala lactea Escargot Free-swimming marine bivalves Scallop Queen scallop Pecten maximus Pecten jacobaeus Argopecten irradians Placopecten magellanicus Infaunal bivalves Clam Atlantic surf clam Soft-shell clam Mercenaria mercenaria Austrovenus stutchburyi Saxidomus nutalli Arctica islandica Cockle Geoduck Spisula solidissima Paphies ventricosa Paphies australis Tuatua Ruditapes largillierti Grooved carpet shell Sessile bivalves Oyster Mussel Pearl oyster Pinctada maxima Freshwater bivalves Freshwater pearl mussel Cephalopods Octopus Squid Techniques Heliciculture Gathering by hand Clam digging Dredging Oyster farming Oyster boats Pearl farming Pearl diving Ama divers Trawling List of fishing topics by subject

v t e Edible mollusks Bivalves Clams Atlantic jackknife Atlantic surf Geoduck Grooved carpet shell Hard clam Horse Mactra stultorum Blunt gaper Ocean quahog Pacific razor Pecten jacobaeus Venus California butterclam Senilia senilis Smooth clam Soft-shell Triangle shell Tuatua Japanese littleneck Razor clam Pod razor Ensis (razor genus) Paphies Cockles Common Blood Goolwa New Zealand Mussels Blue Mediterranean New Zealand green-lipped California Brown Asian/Philippine green Date Mytilidae (mussel family) Oysters Auckland Eastern Olympia Southern mud Colchester native Pacific Portuguese Windowpane Rock Sydney rock Ostra chilena/Bluff Gillardeau oysters Crassostrea ("true oyster" genus) Scallops Atlantic bay Great/King New Zealand Peruvian calico Yesso Gastropods Abalone White Red Black Green Pink Blacklip Green ormer Pāua (group of 3 species) Chilean Conches Queen Dog Limpets Black foot opihi/Haiwaiian China Common European Rayed Mediterranean Ribbed Mediterranean Rustic Turtle/Talc Yellow foot opihi Periwinkles Common Banded Littorina sitkana Whelks Common Knobbed Lightning Channeled Other snails Sea Mud-flat Korean mud Chorus giganteus Land Helix aspersa Helix lucorum Helix pomatia Freshwater Nerites Inkfish Cuttlefish Spineless Bottletail Octopus Common Atlantic White-spotted Big Blue Pacific Giant Southern Red Amphioctopus fangsiao Squid New Zealand Arrow Japanese Flying Humboldt Neon flying Chitons Chiton magnificus Acanthopleura granulata Related topics: Oyster farming Land snail farming

Éric Ripert (rih-pair) (born 1965 in Antibes) is a French chef, author and television personality specializing in modern French cuisine and renowned for his work with seafood.^[1]

Ripert's flagship restaurant, Le Bernardin, located in New York City, has been ranked among the best restaurants in the world by culinary magazines and S. Pellegrino's annual "Worlds 50 Best Restaurants" list.^[2][3] It holds the maximum ratings of four stars from The New York Times and three stars from the Michelin Guide. ^[4]

Biography[link]

Eric Ripert was born in France and learned to cook at a young age from his grandmother. When he was young, his family moved to Andorra, where he was raised. He later returned to France and attended culinary school in Perpignan.

Culinary career[link]

At the age of 17 in 1982 he moved to Paris where he worked for two years at La Tour d'Argent, a famous restaurant more than 400 years old. Ripert next worked at Jamin under Joël Robuchon and was soon promoted to Assistant Chef de Partie. In 1985 Ripert left to fulfill his military service, after which he returned to Jamin as Chef Poissonier.

In 1989, Ripert moved to the United States and was hired as a sous chef in the Watergate Hotel's Jean Louis Palladin restaurant. He stayed for two years before moving to New York City in 1991 to work for David Bouley. He stayed just under a year so he didn't break contract by being pursued by Gilbert Le Coze at Le Bernardin. In 1994, Ripert became Le Bernardin's executive chef after Gilbert Le Coze died unexpectedly of a heart attack. The following year, at the age of 29, Ripert earned a four-star rating from the New York Times, and in 1996 he became a part-owner. In the Michelin Guide NYC 2006, Ripert's Le Bernardin was one of four New York City restaurants to be awarded the maximum 3 Michelin stars for excellence in cuisine. Le Bernardin received four stars from the New York Times four consecutive times, making it the only restaurant to maintain that exquisite status for that length of time and never dropping a star in ten years. Le Bernardin is often referred to as the Temple of Seafood.

Ripert chairs the City Harvest’s Food Council, and is president of the Jean-Louis Palladin Foundation. He has been a guest chef at the French Embassies in Mexico and Venezuela and for the New York City Ballet.

In November 2007, Ripert opened Westend Bistro at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C., offering casual French and American bistro fare. In early 2009, Westend Bistro began serving a family-style Sunday Supper of a starter and entree for $28 per person.^[5] Ripert opened his newest venture in the Ritz Carlton Philadelphia spring 2008. The name of the restaurant, 10 Arts (run by former Le Bernardin Sous Chef and now Chef de cuisine Jennifer Carroll, also a Top Chef contestant), comes from the hotel's address along Philadelphia's Avenue of the Arts.

Media career[link]

Ripert has made several guest appearances on cooking-based television shows, including guest judge and assistant chef roles on the second, third, fourth and fifth seasons of Bravo's "Top Chef". Chef Ripert had been considered to join season 8 of Top Chef as a permanent judge, but bowed out when his employee Jen Caroll was selected as a contestant again. He is friends with and has appeared on many episodes of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. Most recently he has launched a series of brief online cooking videos called "Get Toasted" on his website AVECERIC.com which focuses on easy and quick meals that can be prepared and cooked in minutes with a toaster oven. In the series he uses a somewhat high end brick-oven based toaster oven produced by Cuisinart. Adding to his adventures, PBS has aired Avec Eric episodes (started September 2009) where he travels the world and finds inspiration and shows the idea in a profession setting, travels on location, and then finally shows the enlightenment in his very own home kitchen. Chef Eric occasionally resides in Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York with his wife, Sondra and son.

Ripert was a featured chef on Great Chefs television.^[6]

In 2010 he played himself in the television show Treme on HBO (season 1 episode 5). He returned in his cameo role in Season 2, in multiple episodes.

Published works[link]

• Le Bernardin Cookbook (co-authored with Maguy Le Coze) (1998), ISBN 0-385-48841-6
• A Return to Cooking (co-authored with Michael Ruhlman) (2002), ISBN 1-57965-187-9
• On the Line: The Stations, the Heat, the Cooks, the Costs, the Chaos, and the Triumphs (co-authored with Christine Muhlke) (November 2008), ISBN 1-57965-369-3
• Avec Eric: A Culinary Journey with Eric Ripert (2010), ISBN 978-0-470-88935-0

Awards[link]

• "Best Restaurant in America" (1997) by GQ
• "Best Food in New York City" (2000–2007) by Zagat
• "Outstanding Restaurant of the Year" (1998) by the James Beard Foundation
• "Top Chef in New York City" (1998) by the James Beard Foundation
• "Outstanding Service Award" (1999) by the James Beard Foundation
• "Outstanding Chef of the Year" (2003) by the James Beard Foundation
• Gayot Top 40 Restaurants in the US: 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004

Philanthropic activity[link]

Ripert is the chair of City Harvest’s Food Council. In this capacity he works to bring together New York’s top chefs, restaurateurs and others in the food community to assist City Harvest in its mission to raise funds and to increase the quantity and quality of food donations. "City Harvest, a non-profit organization founded in 1982, is the world's first and New York City's only food rescue program. City Harvest exists to end hunger in communities throughout New York City, through food rescue and distribution, education, and other practical, innovative solutions."

He is president of the Jean-Louis Palladin Foundation which develops programs to increase the understanding and appreciation of high quality ingredients among young chefs and food professionals.

For three years, Ripert has hosted the Tibetan Aid Project's Taste & Tribute New York benefit dinner and auction at his Manhattan restaurant, Le Bernardin. "Funds raised at the annual Taste & Tribute benefit dinners help support efforts to restore Tibetan-language texts to libraries all over the Himalayan region. So far, this project has led to the distribution of nearly two million traditional Buddhist texts—one of the largest free book distributions in history. ^[7]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Profile at Great Chefs
• Personal Blog
• Biography at CuisineNet
• in depth video interview w/ Eric
• Biography at Global Gourmet
• iVillage's Secret Sauce: Eric Ripert's Warm Peekytoe-Maryland Lump "Crab Cake"
• iVillage's Secret Sauce: Eric Ripert's Grilled Trout with Sauce Vierge and Potato and Leek"
• Westend Bistro, Washington, DC
• Chef’s Table: Drinking with Eric Ripert

Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006), was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and painter, best remembered as a founder member of the band Pink Floyd. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter during the band's psychedelic years, providing major musical and stylistic direction in their early work, including their name. He left the group in 1968 amid speculations of mental illness exacerbated by drug use, and was briefly hospitalised.^[2]

Besides being a pioneer in psychedelic rock with his expressive guitar playing and imaginative compositions, Barrett was also a pioneer in the space rock and psychedelic folk genres. He was active in music for only about seven years, recording four singles, the debut album (and contributed to the second one), plus several unreleased songs with Pink Floyd; and a single and two albums (plus a third one of unreleased tracks/alternate takes), as a solo musician, before going into self-imposed seclusion lasting more than thirty years.

In his post-musician life, he continued with his painting and dedicated himself to gardening, never to return to the public eye. He died in 2006. A number of biographies have been written about him since the 1980s, and Pink Floyd wrote and recorded several tributes to him after he left, most notably the 1975 album Wish You Were Here.

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Barrett was born as Roger Keith Barrett in the English city of Cambridge to a middle-class family. His father, Arthur Max Barrett, was a prominent pathologist and it was known he was related to Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, although research on Syd Barrett genealogy has not found any relation yet.^[3] Max Barrett was member of the Cambridge Philharmonic Society and both he and his wife, Winifred, encouraged the young Roger (as he was known then) in his music. After playing piano occasionally, preferring writing and drawing (he liked Edward Lear), Roger got a ukulele at 10 or less, then a banjo at 11, then an Hofner acoustic guitar six months after.^[4] When Barrett was three years old, his family moved to 183 Hills Road. After his brothers and sisters left home, his mother rented out rooms to lodgers, including a future Prime Minister of Japan.^[5] One common tale of how Barrett acquired the nickname "Syd" at the age of 14, is of a reference to an old local Cambridge jazz double bassist, Sid 'the beat' Barrett, which claims Syd Barrett changed the spelling in order to differentiate himself from his namesake.^[6] However, when he was 13, his schoolmates nicknamed him "Syd" after he showed up to a field day at Abington Scout site wearing a flat cap instead of his Scout beret; making reference to "Syd" being a "working-class" name.^[7] He used both names interchangeably for several years and his sister Rosemary stated, "He was never Syd at home. He would never have allowed it".^[7] He attended Cambridgeshire High School for Boys and Cambridge College of Arts and Technology.

His father died of cancer on 11 December 1961, less than a month before Barrett's 16th birthday. Eager to help her son recover from his grief, Barrett's mother encouraged the band he played in, Geoff Mott and the Mottoes, to perform in their front room. Roger Waters and Barrett were childhood friends, and Waters often visited such gigs.^[8] Barrett enrolled in Camberwell Art School in South London in 1964 to study painting.^[9]

Pink Floyd years (1965–68)[link]

Starting in 1964, the band that would become Pink Floyd underwent various line-up and name changes such as "The Abdabs", "The Screaming Abdabs", "Sigma 6", and "The Meggadeaths". In 1965, Barrett joined them as The Tea Set, and when they found themselves playing a concert with a band of the same name, Barrett came up with the name "The Pink Floyd Sound" (later "The Pink Floyd"). He devised the name "Pink Floyd" by juxtaposing the first names of Pink Anderson and Floyd Council whom he had read about in a sleeve note by Paul Oliver for a 1962 Blind Boy Fuller LP (Philips BBL-7512): "Curley Weaver and Fred McMullen, (...) Pink Anderson or Floyd Council—these were a few amongst the many blues singers that were to be heard in the rolling hills of the Piedmont, or meandering with the streams through the wooded valleys".^[10] Barrett also told the story that the name was transmitted to him by a flying saucer while he was sitting on Glastonbury Tor.^[9]

London Underground[link]

While Pink Floyd began by playing cover versions of American R&B songs (in much the same vein as contemporaries The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, and The Kinks), by 1966 they had carved out their own style of improvised rock and roll, which drew as much from improvised jazz as it did from British pop-rock, such as that championed by The Beatles. In that year, a new rock concert venue, the UFO, opened in London and quickly became a haven for British psychedelic music. Pink Floyd, the house band,^[11] was its most popular attraction and after making appearances at the rival Roundhouse, became the most popular musical group of the so-called "London Underground" psychedelic music scene.^[4]

By the end of 1966, Pink Floyd had gained a reliable management team in Andrew King and Peter Jenner (who went on to manage new wave band Ian Dury & The Blockheads). The duo befriended American expatriate Joe Boyd, the promoter of the UFO Club, who was making a name for himself as one of the more important entrepreneurs on the British music scene.

Releases[link]

Joe Boyd produced a recording session for the group in January 1967 at Sound Techniques in Chelsea, which resulted in a demo of the single "Arnold Layne". King and Jenner took the song to the recording behemoth EMI, who were impressed enough to offer the band a contract, under which they would be allowed to record an album; the band accepted. By the time the album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, was released, "Arnold Layne" had reached number 20 on the British singles charts (despite a ban by Radio London) and the follow-up single, "See Emily Play", had done even better, peaking at number 6.^[12]

Their first three singles, including their third ("Apples and Oranges"), were written by Barrett, who also was the principal visionary/author of their critically acclaimed 1967 debut album. Of the eleven songs on The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, Barrett wrote eight and co-wrote another two.^[13]

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn was recorded intermittently between January and July 1967 in Studio 3 at Abbey Road Studios, and produced by former Beatles engineer Norman Smith. At the same time, The Beatles were recording Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in Studio 2 and the Pretty Things were recording S.F. Sorrow in Studio 1. When The Piper at the Gates of Dawn was released in August of that year it became a smash hit in the UK, hitting #6 on the British album charts (although it was not nearly so successful in the US). However, as the band began to attract a large fan base, the mounting pressures^{[clarification needed]} on Barrett are thought^{[by whom?]} to have contributed to his escalating psychological problems^{[citation needed]}.

Barrett's departure from Pink Floyd[link]

Through late 1967 and early 1968, Barrett's behaviour became increasingly erratic and unpredictable, partly as a consequence of his reported heavy use of psychedelic drugs, most prominently LSD.^[4] Many report having seen him on stage with the group, strumming on one chord through the entire concert, or not playing at all.^[14] At a show at The Fillmore in San Francisco, during a performance of "Interstellar Overdrive", Barrett slowly detuned his guitar. The audience seemed to enjoy such antics, unaware of the rest of the band's consternation. Interviewed on Pat Boone's show during this tour, Syd's reply to Boone's questions was a "blank and totally mute stare"; according to Nick Mason, "Syd wasn't into moving his lips that day". Barrett exhibited similar behaviour during the band's first appearance on Dick Clark's popular TV show American Bandstand. When asked two questions by Clark, Barrett's answers were terse, almost to the point of rudeness (though, as Clark admitted, they had been flying non-stop from London to Los Angeles). Before a performance in late 1967, Barrett reportedly crushed Mandrax tranquilliser tablets and an entire tube of Brylcreem into his hair, which subsequently melted down his face under the heat of the stage lighting, making him look like "a guttered candle".^[15] Nick Mason later disputed the Mandrax portion of this story, stating that "Syd would never waste good mandies".^[16]

During their UK tour with Jimi Hendrix in November 1967, guitarist David O'List from The Nice was called in to substitute for Barrett on several occasions when he was unable to perform or failed to appear. And sometime around Christmas, David Gilmour (a school friend of Barrett's) was asked to join the band as a second guitarist to cover for Barrett, whose erratic behaviour prevented him from performing. For a handful of shows Gilmour played and sang while Barrett wandered around on stage, occasionally deciding to join in playing. The other band members soon grew tired of Barrett's antics and, on 26 January 1968, on the way to a show at Southampton University, the band elected not to pick Barrett up: one person in the car said, "Shall we pick Syd up?" and another said, "Let's not bother."^[17]As Barrett had, up until then, written the overwhelming bulk of the band's material the initial plan was to keep him in the group as a non-touring member — as The Beach Boys had done with Brian Wilson — but this soon proved to be impractical.^[18]

According to Roger Waters, Barrett came into what was to be their last practice session with a new song he had dubbed "Have You Got It, Yet?". The song seemed simple enough when he first presented it to his bandmates, but it soon became impossibly difficult to learn and they eventually realised that while they were practising it, Barrett kept changing the arrangement. He would then play it again, with the arbitrary changes, and sing "Have you got it yet?". Eventually they realised they never would and that they were simply bearing the brunt of Barrett's idiosyncratic sense of humour.^[19]