In an article in Scientific American published, October ,12, 2010, recent studies show that an octopus can use its tentacles as individual vessels of control.
Everybody knows that Octopus are really smart. They have been seen to show insane intelligence even going as far as tool usage.
What this new study shows is that each suction on the tentacle of an octopus can be used individually to twist, or hold at different pressures. this provides an incredible amount of dexterity and maneuverability.
The octopus uses each sucker by allowing different amounts of water in which changes the pressure and the strength of hold that each sucker has. This allows the octopus to twist things up to 360 degrees and support its own body weight with only a few select suckers.
This adaptation is extremely beneficial to the octopus as it provides control and the ability to use it's environment more efficiently.
The pressure that can be exerted is determined by how much water is let underneath the sucker, creating for negative water pressure. This study was determined in lab tests examining the usage of suckers of octopus and other marine life. The pressure will vary given on suction size and amount of water, but if several suctions are involved it will surely support the animal's body weight and be essentially impossible for any prey to dislodge a sucker.
I thought that it was really amazing to read this. I work at the New England Aquarium and our octopus could actually climb out of his tank and into the tanks of other fish to eat them before returning to his own. This was always so amazing to me. Paired with that kind of intelligence and the physical ability of being able to use the individualized suckers they are a serious marine animal to contend with.
Leah Salloway
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Octopus are exceptionally smart. However, I had no idea that they are actually smart enough to engage in tool usage! How has this behavior been discovered? Has it been seen in the wild, or has it been manipulated in a lab? Also, what kinds of tools has it been associated with?
ReplyDeleteAbbie Lamarre-DeJesus
I have also worked in an aquarium (and heard the same story about an octopus leaving its tank and later returning), and have felt octopus suckers first-hand. They're surprisingly strong. How were the researchers able to measure the specific aspects of the "suckers" they needed for this study?
ReplyDeletePosted by Dana Mirsky
I've heard about their intelligence several times but I didn't know they had this ability. Do you know how much pressure or strength they can exert?
ReplyDeletePosted by Jen Kodela
Thats pretty cool I had no idea that octopuses had any control over their suckers let alone control over each individual sucker. I wonder how often they use this ability in nature.
ReplyDeletePosted by Charles Carville
Sounds like they are very dexterous animals. Its interesting to know they can control so much.
ReplyDeleteAlberto Suarez