Fish Forums banner

run away very slow

2.8K views 28 replies 10 participants last post by  fish_doc  
#1 ·
Octopuses, known for using camouflage to avoid predators, have been observed apparently trying to sneak away by walking on two arms while pretending to be a bunch of algae. Two kinds of octopus were seen to use different ways of walking along the sea floor, researchers were reporting in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

The movements were discovered by Christine L. Huffard of the University of California, Berkeley, who was studying underwater video camera tapes of the animals.

Berkeley professor Robert J. Full said Huffard was studying octopus movement as part of a robotics project. He said the researchers use examples from nature in designing robots; one project is to build a soft robot.

Octopuses trying to avoid being eaten usually hold still to camouflage themselves. But by walking on two arms, these two types were able to move quickly while using their other arms to disguise themselves.

Two individuals of O. marginatus from Indonesia wrapped six arms around themselves, looking like a coconut on the sea floor. They then used the two rear arms to move backward.

In Australia, O. aculeatus was seen raising two arms above its head before lifting four more and moving backward on the two remaining arms. The researchers described it as looking like "a clump of algae tiptoeing away."

The researchers believe the octopuses were trying to flee from predators, though they cannot be sure until they have seen more examples of the behavior.
 
#4 ·
I've seen videos of octopi not only looking like other things, but acting like them. they took on the shape of a flounder, and a veneomus sea snake. pretty cool stuff.

octopi are predators but are still soft bodied animals that get eaten by a number of things, but they have the ability to regenrate limbs, and shoot out ink.
 
G
#8 ·
i had an octopus that i "trained" to unscrew bottle caps and pull out corks to get it's food. They are extremely intelligent animals.
RC,
the scientists aren't on drugs.... Octopi actually can take on the shap of other things and act like them
The mimic octopus is especially famous for this. it can become a flounder, sea snake, and many other things, like shev said. i think he is reffering to a mimic octopus.
 
#14 ·
Okay, I was already laughing at the topic, laughed even harder when i saw the video link Shev added......but, OMG.....you all should take a look at the other stuff on that site. Laughed so freaking hard at the Milkshake clip. It is teachers at a school dancing and singing to Milkshake......and well, reminded me of my mom, 50 years old and loves rap. Thank you fish_doc for starting the topic, and Shev for the link, i have laughed so hard I cried, time for bed. :mrgreen:
 
#22 ·
i have cought two out of the three octopus i found. there were two in the keys, the one i cought was at night, walking fast along on the side of the rocks. the other got away. the second one i cought was in west palm beach, snorkling in the middle of the day, this one was walking real slow trying to get buy all the people the one in the keys i let go, the one in west palmbeach a friend kept as a pet.
 
#25 ·
I had someone tell me a while back that he had a friend who had an Octopus tank and a tank with some crabs in it. The guy started noticing some of the crabs were missing occasionally. Well he was a bit flabergasted by these turn of events and could not figure out what was goin on. He decided to set up a video camera to film the crab tank. Another crab came up missing so he watched the film from the previous hours he was not there and saw the Octopus get out of his tankwalk across the room, get into the other tank, snag a crab, and then make its way back to its own tank.

I thought it was pretty wild. Reading this thread jogged my memory a little bit.