Octopuses prefer certain arms when hunting and adjust tactics to prey
Published:25 Sep.2022 Source:ScienceDaily
Famous for their eight arms, octopuses leverage all of their appendages to move, jet through the water and capture prey. But their movements can look awkward and seemingly unplanned at times, more closely resembling aliens than earthly creatures.
For a new study in Current Biology, Wardill and colleagues investigated whether octopuses preferred certain arms over others when hunting, rather than using each arm equally. A better understanding of how they use their arms will aid efforts to develop next-generation highly manipulative soft robots.
The researchers found:Octopuses used arms on the same side as the eye viewing the prey.No matter what type of prey came by, each octopus attacked using the second arm from the middle.
Flavie Bidel, the lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in the lab, was shocked at how predictably octopuses began prey capture with the second arm. For creatures whose movement appears unpredictable, the hunting behavior was actually exceedingly repeatable. One of the next steps is to study how neurons facilitate the arm movements.