Biologist discovers 2 species of octopus attempting to walk

[JI7]

<Looking a bit like a cartoonist's effort to make strange sea creatures seem more human, two species of octopus have been caught on tape walking on just two of their eight legs.

One species wraps six of its legs around itself in a tight ball as it jogs backwards across the sea bed on the other two, somewhat like a little green video game alien trying to avoid being eaten or shot. The other holds six arms up in frozen, crooked poses like tree branches as it moves on two arms that seem to act like mini conveyor belts.

The Bay Area biologist who discovered the strange behavior suspects it may be a clever way for the animals to disguise themselves from predators while on the move.

"They are able to do two things at once, camouflage and walk, which is fairly unique for an octopus," said Christine Huffard a UC Berkeley graduate student who has been studying the creatures for nearly a decade.

Her findings will be published Friday in Science.>

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/nation/11...

for those who want to see the video of this, here is a link to msnbc which has the video of it:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7286853 /

[Hardrada]

1. And repuglicans have learned to hide

Their dorsal fins.

[Fridays Child]

2. ...and their egg-laying behavior.

!

[lebkuchen]

32. and their cold-bloodedness

[bettyellen]

3. octupii are brilliant escape artists too.....

hello, big f'ing heads.
vampire bats also walk. that was also in the news this week.

[burrowowl]

4. Octopi are very intelligent

probably smarter than homo sapiens sapiens (actually at this point any specis is).
It is sad that female octopi once they lay their eggs and fix everthing up die. I guess this makes up praying manthis who lop off the males head to make him ejaculate (what a way to go) and to get some extra needed protein.

[expatriot]

5. Planet of the Octupi nt

[cornfedyank]

6. octopuses......... n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

7. Thanks for this cool post! Octopi are the cleverest of the molluscs

and this is a neat addition to their lore. It's also a reminder that there are always more mysteries and more surprises to amaze and refresh us in the natural world.

[stanwyck]

37. Just back from diving in Bonaire

and saw two octopi...one was so hidden I barely got to see little more than his tentacles. The other was right out in the open during a day dive, which is unusual. Their eyes are very human looking. I love to find them during a night dive; they can appear very pearly and luminescent. We try not to startle them too much but we're always so thrilled to see an octopus that we can't help hovering around for a while.

[Nothing Without Hope]

40. Wow! I'm one "degree of separation" away from seeing living octopi

swimming in the ocean. So amazing.

I'm abashed to admit, I don't know where Bonaire is, not having traveled all that much and never for pleasure.

[stanwyck]

48. Bonaire is one of the ABC

islands...Aruba, Bonaire, Curacel. The Dutch Anthilles. Bonaire is a place to go only if you're into scuba diving, snorkeling, wind surfing, or kite-boarding. The island itself is very arid. Lots of cactus. It's not a lush tropical island like Jamaica. But the reef is very accessible (lots of shore diving) and has been carefully protected. There are huge schools of fish, many varieties, and the wind is excellent for wind surfers and kite boarding.
The Dutch own Bonaire and most of the businesses are Dutch owned and operated. Many Dutch people vacation there. You get a lot of Amstel and gouda. Almost everything,-- food, consumer goods--, is imported from The Netherlands.
It's not a real night life kind of place, but there are good restaurants with fresh seafood.

[Nothing Without Hope]

49. I did a bit of Googling to make the place more real to myself

Here's a site with underwater movies, including one of a Bonaire octopus!

EDITED TO ADD: I JUST WATCHED THE MOVIE OF THE BONAIRE REEF OCTOPUS AND IT IS NOT TO BE MISSED! HERE IS THE PAGE WITH THE VIDEO LINKS:

http://www.metridium.com/%20movies/movies.html

And here are some of the thousands of still Bonaire shots:

[stanwyck]

50. Thanks!

don't know when I'll be able to return...so this is great. Thanks for sharing.

[NYC]

59. Thank you for the Metridium Fields link.

I've been watching lots of videos.

[Nothing Without Hope]

63. You're welcome! I'm glad Stanwyck gave me the idea to search

and the thread made me think to look for octopi too. I would never have seen this collection of videos without combining "Bonaire" with "octopus" in the Google Image search.

The one of the octopus really captures its wonderful grace and the subtle shadings of its changing coloration. A beautiful creature, with all its ways of moving, its watchful, human-like eyes steadily assessing its surroundings including the intruder. It didn't seem afraid, but it did eventually get annoyed enough to leave in yet another mode of moving. The pearlescent look Stanwyck mentioned was visible too. Watching that video, it was easier to believe that these creatures have many more tricks that we may slowly discover if they choose to show us. Walking on two "legs"! What a fine joke that was for the surprised know-it-all human observers!

[NYC]

69. I'm not surprised.

Did you read the part where locals had reported that octopuses hiding in coconut shells had been seen to stick legs out to walk while still in the shells?

I have been fascinated by octopuses since childhood. Within the last 5 years, I saw an octopus program on PBS that was wonderful. It discussed their color and texture changes. They are amazing animals.

I watched several of those videos, including the hawkbilled turtle. I once drew a hawkbilled turtle from a photograph, and by the time I had finished (many hours later), I realized that not only did he appear to be soaring elegantly, the look on his face was serene. If you didn't watch that video, go back to watch it. I loved it.

Thanks again for that link.

[LiberallyInclined]

43. I fought with one for a shell on a night-dive in cozumel...

the octopus won.

[merh]

56. Several years ago I was diving at the jeddies near Panama City

in Florida. It is not a deep area 25 feet or so and it is very close to the public beaches. One man was fishing from the rocks when we first submerged and he was very frustrated, he kept losing his bait. As we swam near to where he was casting his line, having submerged about 10 to 15 feet, we realized why he was losing his bait. There was an octopus sitting in the rocks, grabbing his line with one arm and taking the bait with the other. Then of course, the octopus just ate his lunch and waited for more to come his way.

We went up to the surface and the man started yelling at us, he thought we had stolen his bait. He wouldn't believe us about the octopus, so we just continued on, giggling in our masks as we swam out to a deeper water.

I love Octopi! They are so clever!

[Nothing Without Hope]

70. What a wonderful story! Just imagine what the first divers, then the

first scuba divers felt when they saw this world with its occupants in their own millieu. I've enjoyed reading William Beebe's accounts of some of these early diving adventures. There wasn't scuba gear yet, he had a heavy metal helmet that sat on his shoulders and kept hiim supplied with air forced through a hose. He was entranced at the way the fish seemed so at home, like residents of a human village. Having only seen them gasping and dying or dead in the air, he had previously had no idea of their separate lives.

[merh]

72. Diving is the most peaceful experience.

It is truly wonderful.

[Solly Mack]

8. Anyone ever see that multi-part show on Evolution of Earth?

Basically using the science they have now to project what life will be like on Earth millions of years in the future.....from topography to animal/plant life...

an octopus/spider like creature was part of the future millions of years from now...that traveled through trees, swinging by their legs...and one of the "few" animals remaining...primates having already disappeared.

The octopus is a safe bet animal....very intelligent and keen on survival.

[CJCRANE]

17. Squibbons! eom

.

[ChickMagic]

22. Flish!!!

My favorite.

[ChickMagic]

23. When I was in school

in Galveston for my Marine Biology studies, we had a pet octopus. We'd put treats in a screw top mason jar and he'd unscrew it with no problem. His favorite hidey hole was a flower pot, and he'd peek at us through the hole in the bottom. They are amazing creatures. He always recognized the students who interacted with him.

[sharonking21]

75. We humans are conceited

As a rule, we fail to honor the accomplishments and complexities of other species. Anyone who watches animals etc for a long time and gets to really know the species, comes to realize there is so much more there that we are not aware of--merely because we don't bother to really look at them out of pure conceit--we, of course, being the masters of the universe. I saw the video clips on CNN--great stuff. Made me want to get to know them better. And somehow, made me happy.

[Solly Mack]

53. I loved the Flish!

It was agreat "series"

[FlemingsGhost]

9. Smoking too much Humboldt, and watching "Spongebob?"

Berkeley, huh?

Pssstt .. Christine. Squidworth is a squid.

[vpigrad]

10. When they learn to pee standing-up....

we're all in trouble.

[truthisfreedom]

11. walktopus

[Kenneth ken]

15. lol n/t

[izzie]

12. So I have seen animals talk and walk on the floor of Congress

Try c-span

[xchrom]

13. invasion of the octopus!

[StaggerLee]

41. I surrender!

And I'll gladly take them to our leader.

(Man, are they going to be disappointed)

[Richard Steele]

14. I, for one, WELCOME our new EIGHT-LEGGED overlords!

Nature maintains a balance, folks!

We, as a species, are moving BACKWARD...
the Octopi are just picking up the ball we dropped!

We primates had our chance, and a fine chance it was!
But we blew it on booze, nukes, and Lottery tickets!
BushCo is the FINAL SIGN that the PRIMATES are going the way of the T-rex!

Seriously, consider this scenario:
2008 Presidential Election: Random 'Walking Octopus' VS. Jeb Bush!

If that was the only choice, HONESTLY, how many of you would vote for Jeb?

Y'all know darn well it would be 75 to 22 for the octopus...
(3% Margin of Nader)

[ck4829]

16. Walktopus in 08!

[lumberjack_jeff]

27. The Walktapus/Squidward ticket is a winner n/t

[HysteryDiagnosis]

18. These shoes.... will become....

occupied in 100 million years..... heh heh... heh.

[GrouchierThanThou]

20. Octopied nt

[annabanana]

21. lol

They can't do much worse than we have..
AND

Welcome to DU!

[shadowknows69]

19. must be nice

to still be evolving as a species

[ktowntennesseedem]

24. I wonder it they are gay!

[AlienGirl]

38. The first octopuses ever seen mating in the wild were two males

And they were of different species.

Tucker

[ktowntennesseedem]

45. Oh no! It's bad enough that they're all gay,

but inter-species sex? Quick, shut your eyes, lock up the kids!

Oh, the horror!!!!

(We now return you to your regular sarcasm-free programing.)

[sharonking21]

74. Cross-species breeding

I once worked for Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research as a primate observer, taking data on their behavior for an NIH grant to study cerebrovascular disease. The foundation had a cross-species breeding program to try to create a better model for human disease, so they were breeding mandrills with drills. One result of such crossing was a handsome male called Norwood.

My task was to watch young Hamadryas female baboons. My favorite among them was Bonnie (otherwise known as 2X89, the dominant female in one group of 10 females). Bonnie was the perfect leader compared to the leaders of the other 2 groups I watched. All of us really liked her and as you can see from the names we gave them, we were very much admirers of non-human primates.

Anyway, we observers came to greatly respect and love them as individuals and as a group. Bonnie would often look longingly across the way at Norwood and present to him, so we made up this limerick about the situation:

Said Bonnie the buxom baboon:
"That Norwood just makes me swoon!
Cross-species breeding
is where this is leading,
and I hope that it starts mighty soon!"

[KansDem]

25. Okay, we'll call one of the "Adam"...

Any suggestions on a name for the other?

[northzax]

30. "steve"?

[tinanator]

26. thats only the tip of the tentacle

I had an Octopus bimaculoides 17 years ago and it was bar none the most incredible animal you have ever seen. Capable of disguising itself with the most amazing transformations in texture from smooth to extremely spiky with concurrent limb twisting imitations of a starfish or some other less predacious critter. Instantaneous color changes of such speed and variability you had to realize they were capable of communicating at great speed and detail in ways that make us look more like chumps than chimps.
There is so much too learn from these Cephalopods its nice to see something being brought forth.

[maxsolomon]

28. you are making me feel bad about eating sushi

stop it!

i must think of them as chicken-level dumb to rationalize it!

[tinanator]

35. they are exceptionally intelligent

please dont eat the octopi. have some dumb as cow Republican instead.

[Megahurtz]

29. They're probably all just trying to

adapt to get the fuck out of here!

With echos of Ahnold nearby, vibrations of bogus news stories on the airwaves, and pollution of all types pouring into the ocean environment they're being way smarter than most humans.

[PhuLoi]

31. So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish.

[malmapus]

61. haha beat me to it!

Was gonna throw that out there about the Dolphins leaving =D

[Krupskaya]

33. Wait! I thought evolution was fake...

...because we never saw things evolve!!!! OMG, my brain is exploding!!!!!!!

/sarcasm

[Shakespeare]

34. They're plotting to take over the world. n/t

[AngryWhiteLiberal]

36. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.

JB

[Frederik]

47. That is not dead which...

We're fucked

[NuttyFluffers]

60. thank you, rounds off the story beautifully n/t

[dave29]

39. octopuses only live two years generally

they are remarkably intelligent given their life-span.

[sarcasmo]

42. Thanks for the cool post, if I were at a freeper board would they post

such a thing?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

44. They're going to come up here and slap us around

and give us hell for screwing up their planet, that's what!
More power to them!

[Gloria]

46. My reaction: this is ADORABLE

eom

[glitch]

51. Prediction ~65 million years their descendents will discover time travel

and come to our time to abduct and study us, to learn what not to do with hegemony.

children of the octopi!

[NYC]

52. Thank you very much.

Fascinating. I was unable to watch the video. It seemed to require that Internet Explorer be used. However, I saw the two still photographs, and the article is fascinating.

Thanks again.

[Deja Q]

54. KILL THEM! They will walk upon the land and kill us with their

weapons of mass inkings.


(/SARCASM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

[da_chimperor]

55. Only if we can eat the bodies.

I love octopus.

[Bullshot]

57. Was it an octopus? Or was it Dubya and Jeb trying to get up

and stagger to the toilet together after one of their drunk fests?

[warrior1]

58. This fella looks like he's walking to me.

[Lisa]

62. I saw one swimming in a Vancouver Island harbour a few years ago ...

I thought it was a clump of reddish seaweed at first, it was that well-camouflaged.

[Bonescrat]

64. for anyone who can't see the video...

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050321/full/050321-14.h...


Most people have a Quicktime plugin...


I giggled...

[Richard Steele]

71. THX Bonescrat!

And welcome to DU!

[Geo55]

65. Hmmmm....

"Two tiny species of tropical octopus have demonstrated a remarkable disappearing trick. They adopt a two-armed 'walk' that frees up their remaining six limbs to camouflage them as they slink away from trouble."

Democrats.....I smell , Democrats

[bobthedrummer]

66. Imagine: erect walking cephleopods!

[jayfish]

67. Cool, I Found Some Pictures!

Crafty little devils.


Jay

[DS1]

68. Probably hightailing it away from Florida...

[NYdemocrat089]

73. I saw some video of this on CNN and MSNBC.

They are amazing!