Kathryn McClure., age 8, of Woodlake, Calif., for her questions

How does an octopus breathe?

The octopus is a sea creature and, like the fish, he gets his oxygen from the water. The water enters his body through.,‑ very busy funnel. This funnel acts like a syphon to squirt ink, remove body wastes, lay eggs and produce the jet propulsion b y which the octopus moves through the water.

The soft body of the octopus is encased in a loose overcoat of muscle called the mantle. At the neck end is an opening called the collar. The useful funnel is attached under the chin of the octopus and reaches back inside the mantle. Down there are two tomblike gills 171 ;which the blood vessels are near enough to the surface to dissolve oxygen from the water. The funnel keeps a supply of water flowing over the gills. The gills take from the water the oxygen which the octopus needs for breathing.