I once saw a TV show in which an octopus was presented with a globular glass jar, stoppered by a cork, with a crab inside. First the octopus dived at the crab; but when it bounced off the glass, it wrapped three arms around the glass and two aroud the cork. In about three seconds it had twisted off the cork and was happily inside, eating the crab.
Not bad for an organism with no manufactured products, no tools, no hands, and no experience of glass! … and a relative of the lowly clam.
- Octopus links
- Enchanted Learning: Octopus
- Quick (wiki) on Octopus
- Giant Pacific Octopus
- octopus news online
- octopus eats shark (Google video)
- Cephpod, the cephalopod database
- Cuttlefish mystery
The link below is to vintage pulp magazines with covers featuring an octopus.
Tags: cephalopods, squid, octopus, shark, predation, octopus intelligence, molluscs, pulp magazines,
Saturday, 29 April 2006 at 17:16
Speaking of octopi, in the current Sports Illustrated Michael Farber writes:
“The first face-offs [of the Stanley Cup tournament] were in Ottawa and Detroit at 7:12 p.m., although the unofficial commencement occurred two minutes earlier when an octopus landed on the ice with a splat during ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ at the Wings’ Joe Louis Arena. Nothing screams ‘playoffs’ like a cephalopod. (The Red Wings’ tradition began in 1952 when two fishmongers realized that the number of tentacles on an octopus matched the number of wins then necessary to win the Stanley Cup.) Octopus-tossing is officially proscribed, but arena superintendent Al Sobotka tacitly encourages it by twirling octopuses over his head as he chugs off the ice after cleaning them up. In this year’s playoff innovation, some Oilers fans threw hunks of prime Alberta beef onto the ice in response.”
(Emphasis added.)