In most respects, the swampus looks like a typical octopus. One difference is immediately apparent: at first glance this creature appears to have four tentacles instead of eight. This is because four of its original tentacles have evolved into weight-bearing pads which it uses to move over land. They function like the foot of a gastropod, carrying the animal along by a rippling action of the muscles. The suckers of the tentacles have developed into horny ridges that grip the ground beneath them. The long tentacles at the front of the swampus are also used in locomotion, reaching out to grip logs and trunks, and then pulling the creature along. It is a clumsy movement, but sufficient to carry the animal's 44-pound (20 kilograms) weight through the thick vegetation of the humid swamp. The swampus can survive on land for up to four days at a time, safe from the electrical attacks of lurkfish. However, it must return to the water to replenish its oxygen supply and carry out other vital functions, such as mating. The murky water is no place to rear a family, though. Once she has mated, a female swampus clambers out of the water and into the surrounding vegetation to find a safe place in which to deposit her fertilized eggs. Instinct: To survive

• Entangle them with tentacles
• Camouflage