Tool use observed in octopi

[Rogue 9]

BBC

Octopus snatches coconut and runs
By Rebecca Morelle
Science reporter, BBC News

An octopus and its coconut-carrying antics have surprised scientists.

Underwater footage reveals that the creatures scoop up halved coconut shells before scampering away with them so they can later use them as shelters.

Writing in the journal Current Biology, the team says it is the first example of tool use in octopuses.

One of the researchers, Dr Julian Finn from Australia's Museum Victoria, told BBC News: "I almost drowned laughing when I saw this the first time."

He added: "I could tell it was going to do something, but I didn't expect this - I didn't expect it would pick up the shell and run away with it."

Quick getaway

The veined octopuses ( Amphioctopus marginatus ) were filmed between 1999 and 2008 off the coasts of Northern Sulawesi and Bali in Indonesia. The bizarre behaviour was spotted on four occasions.

The eight-armed beasts used halved coconuts that had been discarded by humans and had eventually settled in the ocean.

Dr Mark Norman, head of science at Museum Victoria, Melbourne, and one of the authors of the paper, said: "It is amazing watching them excavate one of these shells. They probe their arms down to loosen the mud, then they rotate them out."

After turning the shells so the open side faces upwards, the octopuses blow jets of mud out of the bowl before extending their arms around the shell - or if they have two halves, stacking them first, one inside the other - before stiffening their legs and tip-toeing away.

Dr Norman said: "I think it is amazing that those arms of pure muscle get turned into rigid rods so that they can run along a bit like a high-speed spider.

"It comes down to amazing dexterity and co-ordination of eight arms and several hundred suckers."

Home, sweet home

The octopuses were filmed moving up to 20m with the shells.

And their awkward gait, which the scientists describe as "stilt-walking", is surprisingly speedy, possibly because the creatures are left vulnerable to attack from predators while they scuttle away with their prized coconuts.

The octopuses eventually use the shells as a protective shelter. If they just have one half, they simply turn it over and hide underneath. But if they are lucky enough to have retrieved two halves, they assemble them back into the original closed coconut form and sneak inside.

The shells provide important protection for the octopuses in a patch of seabed where there are few places to hide.

Dr Norman explained: "This is an incredibly dangerous habitat for these animals - soft sediment and mud couldn't be worse.

"If they are buried loose in mud without a shell, any predator coming along can just scoop them up. And they are pure rump steak, a terrific meat supply for any predator."

The researchers think that the creatures would initially have used large bivalve shells as their haven, but later swapped to coconuts after our insatiable appetite for them meant their discarded shells became a regular feature on the sea bed.

Surprisingly smart

Tool use was once thought to be an exclusively human skill, but this behaviour has now been observed in a growing list of primates, mammals and birds.



The researchers say their study suggests that these coconut-grabbing octopuses should now be added to these ranks.

Professor Tom Tregenza, an evolutionary ecologist from the University of Exeter, UK, and another author of the paper, said: "A tool is something an animal carries around and then uses on a particular occasion for a particular purpose.

"While the octopus carries the coconut around there is no use to it - no more use than an umbrella is to you when you have it folded up and you are carrying it about. The umbrella only becomes useful when you lift it above your head and open it up.

"And just in the same way, the coconut becomes useful to this octopus when it stops and turns it the other way up and climbs inside it."

He added that octopuses already have a reputation for being an intelligent invertebrate.

He explained: "They've been shown to be able to solve simple puzzles, there is the mimic octopus, which has a range of different species that it can mimic, and now there is this tool use.

"They do things which, normally, you'd only expect vertebrates to do."

[Themightytom]

That is both unintentionally hilarious, and also fascinating. is there a list of tool wielding creatures anywhere?

incidently we caught my dog nosing a stick into the door so it wouldn't close behind him leaving a slot he can stick his head into and slide open does this count as tool use?

[Zixinus]

Very cute.

This shouldn't come as a surprise: octopuses are well-known for their intelligence, as they have to rely on it more than say, sharks.

[Spoonist]

http://wildshores.blogspot.com/2009/03/ ... n-box.html
http://animal.discovery.com/videos/fool ... puses.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8oQBYw6 ... re=related

Octopus are really funny and intelligent. If you ever have been to an aquarium where they let them play with jars or lego or bottles one can clearly see the potential for grasping the use of tools.

I especially like this story:

The guest of honor in the aquarium's Kids' Corner octopus tank had swum to the top of the enclosure and disassembled the recycling system's valve, flooding the place with some 200 gallons of seawater.
"It had grabbed the tube that pulls out the water and caused it to spray outside the tank," said aquarium education specialist Nick Fash. Judging by the size of the flood, Fash estimated that the water flowed for about 10 hours before the first staff member, Aaron Kind, showed up for work.
Kind issued an all-hands-on-deck call to summon co-workers to the pier with mops, water vacuums and fans. Even though the aquarium is built over the beach, it has no floor drain.

[Korto]

incidently we caught my dog nosing a stick into the door so it wouldn't close behind him leaving a slot he can stick his head into and slide open does this count as tool use?

I would say yes. It picked up a stick it had no immediate use for, and then used it to keep the door open.

Professor Tom Tregenza, an evolutionary ecologist from the University of Exeter, UK, and another author of the paper, said: "A tool is something an animal carries around and then uses on a particular occasion for a particular purpose.

I remember being young and it was scientific fact that man used tools and animals didn't, and that was one of the things proving the seperation between man and animals.

[Spectre_nz]

I absolutly love Octopus annecdotes; every aquarium I've gone to that had octopus, there were always stories of the hijinks the octopus had gotten up to on some or other occasion. They're every bit as entertaining as monkeys...

Like the octopi that learned how to short out a bright light that was irritating it http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... havoc.html

There's an aquarium here in Auckland city where the resident octopi was escaping from its tank at night, making its way across carpet to another tank around 5 meters away that contained crabs and crayfish (a spiny lobster to you north americans) then leaving the shell remains in a third tank... posibly to incriminate someone else, probably just because it wanted to eat in peace away from the agitated crustations, then returning to its tank before morning.

Endlessly facinating.

[Crossroads Inc.]

so what we basically have here is a case of an animal trying to "Armor" itself as it were. Its pretty amazing, Its using the shells like a Hermit crab which shows it recognizes how vulnerable its own body is and how a shell can offer protections.

[Razorgeist]

So basically its not the apes we have to worry about usurping us its the octopi...well we're screwed. Saw this on Olbermann yesterday. Pretty amazing and funny at the same time.

[Spoonist]

There's an aquarium here in Auckland city where the resident octopi was escaping from its tank at night, making its way across carpet to another tank around 5 meters away that contained crabs and crayfish (a spiny lobster to you north americans) then leaving the shell remains in a third tank... posibly to incriminate someone else, probably just because it wanted to eat in peace away from the agitated crustations, then returning to its tank before morning.

I have heard that from so many different sources that I think that it is a myth. It can't possibly have happened in so many places.
But it might have originated somewhere, who knows?

[Imperial Overlord]

There's an aquarium here in Auckland city where the resident octopi was escaping from its tank at night, making its way across carpet to another tank around 5 meters away that contained crabs and crayfish (a spiny lobster to you north americans) then leaving the shell remains in a third tank... posibly to incriminate someone else, probably just because it wanted to eat in peace away from the agitated crustations, then returning to its tank before morning.

I have heard that from so many different sources that I think that it is a myth. It can't possibly have happened in so many places.
But it might have originated somewhere, who knows?

It's probably true. Octupi are notoriously skilled at getting out of cages and a fairly common feature of aquariums. The one in the Vancouver Aquarium used to leave its tank and eat the inhabitants of a nearby tank, and then return to its own. It was caught when it failed to return one night.

[Spoonist]

Hehe checked it out and these stories go back to 1873:

In 1873, a stock of young lump-fish in the Brighton Aquarium began to slowly diminish for no apparent reason. Almost daily, there was one less fish in the tank and no clues as to what had happened. One early morning the mystery was solved when an aquarium official found an octopus in the lump fishes’ tank. The octopus somehow had discovered that the fish were in an adjoining tank, and had thereafter raided it nightly. To avoid detection, every night after its meal, the octopus would return to its tank looking innocent of any wrong doing. But this was not the end. After its capture, the octopus seemed to know that it was being watched, so it remained in its tank for a week. Then one night, two octopuses climbed out of the tank, the previous offender and another, moved in opposite directions, both avoiding the adjacent tanks and entered those beyond. Unfortunately for both octopuses, one found itself in a tank with several over-sized crabs and the other with a giant lobster.

That is almost verbatim.
http://msgboard.snopes.com/cgi-bin/ulti ... 001369;p=1
http://www.zandavisitor.com/newsarticle ... bster_Tank
http://www.mombu.com/aquarium/aquarium/ ... 31566.html
http://animalreviews.zelica.net/reviews/octopus.htm

The list goes on and on and on...


Now mind you octopus are escape artists and really like their night time munchies. But for the same thing to happen over and over at almost every aquarium, never. The probability is too low.

Also a lot of stories talk about a video of the event or a security cam taping the culprit. So again for that to happen and the video not making it to youtube is again such a low probabiliy that it is almost non-existant.

I bet that if you check it out at your local aquarium it would be the same as with most UL, well it was this coworker, this friend of a friend, it happened before my time, etc.

[General Trelane (Retired)]

I absolutly love Octopus annecdotes; every aquarium I've gone to that had octopus, there were always stories of the hijinks the octopus had gotten up to on some or other occasion. They're every bit as entertaining as monkeys...

Like the octopi that learned how to short out a bright light that was irritating it http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... havoc.html

There's an aquarium here in Auckland city where the resident octopi was escaping from its tank at night, making its way across carpet to another tank around 5 meters away that contained crabs and crayfish (a spiny lobster to you north americans) then leaving the shell remains in a third tank... posibly to incriminate someone else, probably just because it wanted to eat in peace away from the agitated crustations, then returning to its tank before morning.

Endlessly facinating.

Octopi is plural. Octopus is singular. The way you're using these terms suggests that you think it's the reverse.

But yes, they are fascinating. I recall a Discovery Network program highlighting their problem-solving abilities. Various food species were put in different containers and then placed in an aquarium with an octopus, which then figured out how to get the meal. Then glass jar with a screw-top lid stumped the octopus. . .until they screwed a lid on in sight of that octopus. That time, the octopus had the lid off quick.

[Mayabird]

That is both unintentionally hilarious, and also fascinating. is there a list of tool wielding creatures anywhere?

It is a very long list, and it includes a species of wasp. Which is why...

I remember being young and it was scientific fact that man used tools and animals didn't, and that was one of the things proving the seperation between man and animals.

...they've moved the goalposts now it's tool making that's considered special. And the number in that group is growing as more discoveries are made. And I wouldn't be surprised if octupi are listed there, too.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

There's nothing special about humans. I believe it's New Caledonian crows (Amy, who I am pretty sure told me this, can confirm it) who have been known to engage in targeted revenge actions against humans (they're also actually capable of more object-task discernment than many primates). For that matter, so have Elephants. Young male elephants who lose their mothers to human action will frequently wreck villages for spite and stand in the middle of the highway to block traffic in Africa.

[Imperial Overlord]

Now mind you octopus are escape artists and really like their night time munchies. But for the same thing to happen over and over at almost every aquarium, never. The probability is too low.

Or it happens all the time because octupi are good at escaping. As for Youtube, that's only been around for the last couple of years. A security camera is going to have to be in the right position (i.e. looking at the top of tanks instead of people on the floor) to catch an image of an octupus moving around and it'll be in the dark and camouflaged. The chances of getting good footage are low.

A friend of mine's dad is aquatic biologist and octupi escapes, even with rocks on the top of tanks, were common in his lab.

A few sources:

http://www.dailynexus.com/article.php?a=15746

http://www.independent.co.uk/environmen ... 09168.html

http://www.odt.co.nz/your-town/dunedin/ ... s-be-freed

one that can open her tank, opens bottles, but hasn't chosen to escape

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/artic ... d=10433426

A scientific paper on octupi escapes
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/conten ... a783707074

[Darth Fanboy]

Now mind you octopus are escape artists and really like their night time munchies. But for the same thing to happen over and over at almost every aquarium, never. The probability is too low.

It has happened a lot, the scaping into another tank thing hasn't happened everywhere but when you consider that captive animals are usually encased in exhibits/enclosures close to each other and how adept the Octopus is at escaping due to its intelligence and lack of a skeletal structure (the beak is the only hard part on the body) it makes for a perfect scenario for this to have happened repeatedly.

Octopus are definitely escape artists, i've SEEN it happen. The thing is that Octopus aren't just smart, but they get bored easily in a captive environment and not unlike a dog a bored Octopus will start making mischief. You won't hear about this sort of situation very much anymore because aquarists the world over have learned the trick to keeping an Octopus contained. Now if you go to an aquarium that displays Octopus you will find some kind of artificial turf lining the outside of their tank. The feel of the turf repels the Octopusm they don't like touching it at all.

Also a lot of stories talk about a video of the event or a security cam taping the culprit. So again for that to happen and the video not making it to youtube is again such a low probabiliy that it is almost non-existant.

A lot of stories took place before the INVENTION of youtube.

I bet that if you check it out at your local aquarium it would be the same as with most UL, well it was this coworker, this friend of a friend, it happened before my time, etc.

For me it was quite often first hand information, but then again i've had the pleasure of working alongside many aquarists and for a time I worked with octopus myself.

Lets not forget that sometimes these stories make it into the news.

[Terralthra]

Octopi is plural. Octopus is singular. The way you're using these terms suggests that you think.

Octopus is singular. Octopi isn't anything, as octopus isn't a Latin-derived word at all, and -i is only the proper plural for a subset of Latin nouns. Use "octopuses," to match up with English pluralization rules, or if you're going to go to the source language for the plural declension, use "octopodes," the proper Greek plural.

[salm]

Octopi is plural. Octopus is singular. The way you're using these terms suggests that you think.

Octopus is singular. Octopi isn't anything, as octopus isn't a Latin-derived word at all, and -i is only the proper plural for a subset of Latin nouns. Use "octopuses," to match up with English pluralization rules, or if you're going to go to the source language for the plural declension, use "octopodes," the proper Greek plural.

Webster says that ocotpi as well as octopuses is correct:

Link to Webster

[[R_H]]

How are octopuses able to survive out of the water? And why don't they like astroturf?

[Terralthra]

Octopi is plural. Octopus is singular. The way you're using these terms suggests that you think.

Octopus is singular. Octopi isn't anything, as octopus isn't a Latin-derived word at all, and -i is only the proper plural for a subset of Latin nouns. Use "octopuses," to match up with English pluralization rules, or if you're going to go to the source language for the plural declension, use "octopodes," the proper Greek plural.

Webster says that ocotpi as well as octopuses is correct:

Link to Webster

There used to be a usage note there recommending against "octopi" as a misforeignism, but I see it's no longer there for one reason or another. Odd.

[Spoonist]

Now mind you octopus are escape artists and really like their night time munchies. But for the same thing to happen over and over at almost every aquarium, never. The probability is too low.

It has happened a lot, the scaping into another tank thing hasn't happened everywhere but when you consider that captive animals are usually encased in exhibits/enclosures close to each other and how adept the Octopus is at escaping due to its intelligence and lack of a skeletal structure (the beak is the only hard part on the body) it makes for a perfect scenario for this to have happened repeatedly.

Agreed as I said above. But the story given by Spectre_nz is so very unlikely to happen multiple times.
For octopus to escape, is very common, for them to escape to a food source is common. All true so far.
But in the Urban Legend that is being repeated you have these unlikely notions:

• The octopus goes back into its tank after the raid.
  Why not just stay at the food source? I mean you say you have first hand stories, I bet you get tons of "guess where we found the octopus today" because it is harder/not fun to get back again.
• Humans do not realise what has happened at first.
  Any modern aquarium would suspect the octopus right away, just because they are so sly. They also leave plenty of trails behind them. Especially when they have taken food.
• The octopus repeats the trick several times.
  For this to happen the humans must be silly and the octopus must be not just clever but also so different from its other fellows that we would have had several papers on that individual.
• In some even an extra tank is involved.

All so unlikely that the probability decrease to improbability. Its clearly an embellishment of things that could happen.

Also a lot of stories talk about a video of the event or a security cam taping the culprit. So again for that to happen and the video not making it to youtube is again such a low probabiliy that it is almost non-existant.

A lot of stories took place before the INVENTION of youtube.

That was a really bad argument. 99% of all material on youtube predates youtube.
But with that argument you just proved my next line. Again verbatim.

I bet that if you check it out at your local aquarium it would be the same as with most UL, well it was this coworker, this friend of a friend, it happened before my time, etc.

Lets not forget that sometimes these stories make it into the news.

Oh, you mean the link that was in my first post.... I even quoted from the article.


Please, Darth Fanboy, I know that octopuses are way cooler than we give them credit for. I know that they do mischief all the time. But your argument is selfcontradictory. We have plenty of cool videos. But never have this scenario been recorded. If it happens all the time so that these stories would all be true, it would be simple to get it on tape. So it is clearly an embellishment. I hope you are not seriuos about that specific story not being an UL.

[Oskuro]

And my love and admiration for Octopi is thus reinforced. Why can't I have tentacles too?

[Spoonist]

On a different note, does anyone remember a tv series about how the future might look like. Maybe BBC or somthing. Where octopuses descendants had taken over the world and was climbing in trees and doing all sorts of social stuff. Really fun series but oh my had those researches had fun...

And my love and admiration for Octopi is thus reinforced. Why can't I have tentacles too?

You can but you would have to fight spiderman all the time and he is quite the spoilsport.

[Spectre_nz]

On a different note, does anyone remember a tv series about how the future might look like. Maybe BBC or somthing. Where octopuses descendants had taken over the world and was climbing in trees and doing all sorts of social stuff. Really fun series but oh my had those researches had fun...

The future is wild. Girlfriend has the DVD’s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Th ... ld_species

There were several land dwelling cephalopods. The Swampus, elephant sized mega-squid, and the arboreal squibbon.

Octopi is plural. Octopus is singular. The way you're using these terms suggests that you think it's the reverse.

Eeep. So I have.

I agree that multiple accounts of the thief in the night Octopus fooling their human captors is more of a stretch than aquarium staff embellishing the truth for the entertainment of patrons, which is why I'm calling them anecdotes. But the fragments sound individually plausible to have had parts of the story happen in a lot of aquariums and then have the staff brain-bug them into a big ball that matched the frequently told tale.

[Spoonist]

On a different note, does anyone remember a tv series about how the future might look like. Maybe BBC or somthing. Where octopuses descendants had taken over the world and was climbing in trees and doing all sorts of social stuff. Really fun series but oh my had those researches had fun...

The future is wild. Girlfriend has the DVD’s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Th ... ld_species

There were several land dwelling cephalopods. The Swampus, elephant sized mega-squid, and the arboreal squibbon.

Sweet, thanks. Gotta see them again.... the squibbon

I agree that multiple accounts of the thief in the night Octopus fooling their human captors is more of a stretch than aquarium staff embellishing the truth for the entertainment of patrons, which is why I'm calling them anecdotes. But the fragments sound individually plausible to have had parts of the story happen in a lot of aquariums and then have the staff brain-bug them into a big ball that matched the frequently told tale.

I completely agree. It is based in truth but with some flavoring of the fantastic on top. Its a great UL story that catches the imagination in so many ways.