“Aliens” inhabiting the Earth might practically exist among us. They could be a very well-known species – the octopus, according to scientists.

Scientists are noting the tremendous intelligence of marine animals and their similarity to humans, according to a report.

The brains of the octopus work practically like the human brain.

Their species is “curious, affectionate, and playful.” The octopuses also can get bored and might even be having dreams exactly the way the humans do, according to the latest findings, The Daily Mail reports.

Yet, at the same time, the marine animal is also very different from the human – with its three hearts, eight tentacles, and blue-green blood.

Peter Godfrey-Smith, an Australian philosopher, dubbed the octopuses “probably the closest” thing to an “intelligent alien” that humans are ever going to meet.

At the same time, humans are increasingly “developing a taste” for consuming octopuses. This in turn led to a coalition of conservationists and academics teaming up in order to oppose octopus farming projects.

Experts are particularly uniting against an initiative to build the first commercial octopus farm in the world. This is a $71 million development in Las Palmas, on Spain’s Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands.

The farm is supposed to produce octopus meat in “industrial quantities” for sale all over the globe.

According to its owner, Nueva Pescanova, the farm will be producing about 3,000 metric tons of the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) per year – meaning about half a million of the marine animals would have to be slaughtered annually.

While the company insists that farming would improve a lot of wild octopus populations by limiting the need for their fishing, critics claim humans shouldn’t even be eating the animal at all, precisely because of its human-like mental characteristics.

According to Jennifer Jacquet, an NYU professor and leading campaigner against octopus farming, there is no way to justify treating octopuses as a luxury food product.

The report suggests it’s unlikely that octopus farming would be hampered and it remains to be seen whether it would benefit wildlife as much as its proponents claim.