MBLSciShoots: The Amazing Flexible Octopus

What has eight arms, thousands of suckers, and is capable of some truly incredible dexterity? The wily octopus! Join MBL Senior Scientist Roger Hanlon on a deep dive into the world of octopuses in our latest #MBLSciShoots digital learning lesson.

Learn more about the Hanlon Lab.

Related Reading

The amazing brains and morphing skin of octopuses and other cephalopods | TED2019

Where is the Octopus | Science Friday

Do You See What Eye See? | Hakai Magazine

Scientific Literature

Grasso, F. W. (2008). Octopus sucker-arm coordination in grasping and manipulation. American Malacological Bulletin 24(1), 13–23. DOI: 10.4003/0740-2783-24.1.13

Huffard, C. L., Boneka, F. and Full, R. J. (2005). Underwater bipedal locomotion by octopuses in disguise. Science 307(5717), 1927. DOI: 10.1126/science.1109616 

Mather, J. A. (1998). How do octopuses use their arms? J. Comparative Psychology 112(3), 306–316. DOI: 10.1037/0735-7036.112.3.306

Zelman, I., Titon, M., Yekutieli, Y., Hanassy, S., Hochner, B. and Flash, T. (2013). Kinematic decomposition and classification of octopus arm movements. Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience 7(60), 1–15. DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2013.00060

Zullo, L., Eichenstein, H., Maiole, F. and Hochner, B. (2019). Motor control pathways in the nervous system of Octopus vulgaris arm. J. Comparative Physiology A. Neuroethol. Sensory, Neural, Behav. Physiol. 205(2), 271–279. DOI: 10.1007/s00359-019-01332-6

Questions from the Audience

Are any of the species of octopus that you've studied more dexterous than others, or do they all have roughly the same flexibility?

We are currently analyzing field video of Octopus vulgaris, which is common in Europe and in the Caribbean Sea. First results look similar to Octopus bimaculoides, which was in our video and is native to California. We have field video of other octopus species but until a thorough analysis of video is done we cannot answer this question. However, we are familiar with some species that have short stubby arms and they are probably not as capable and dextrous as other species.You said octopus suckers can act as taste buds. Have you seen them give up release less "flavorful" food in favor of something more "tasty”?

Yes we have seen them reject different foods, and this is part of our ongoing experiments. We are just beginning those experiments so we cannot yet tell you which foods of tastes are more attractive to the octopus.

What sort of predators to octopuses have in the wild and how do they stay safe from them?

Lots of fishes prey on octopuses. Eels will bit off an arm or two when octopuses are reaching in crevices where eels live. Typical fish predators like groupers, snappers, barracuda and the like all have been found with octopus remains in their stomachs. Sharks and porpoises and seals all eat octopuses on occasion, as do some diving birds.

Do all cephalopods have this sort of flexibility in their arms or is it just octopuses?

Squid and cuttlefish arms are quite different in structure and do not have the diverse flexibility of octopus arms. Part of the reason is that octopuses are bottom dwelling creatures and need those arms for crawling and reaching into tight spots for food, whereas cuttlefish and squid do not do this.

Watch the rest of the MBLSciShoot videos on our Youtube channel.