The octopus can use any of their tentacles to perform tasks, but they tend to use one or more specifically when it comes to specific missions, for example the strikers to explore and the rear to move.
That is the conclusion of a study published by Science Reports with the observation of 25 octopos in its natural habitat in five places in the Caribbean and one from Spain with diverse seabed, from smooth to sandy or complex coral reefs.
The octopus arms are one of the most flexible structures that are known in the biological world and their agility is so extraordinary that researchers in robotics want to learn the secrets that hide behind their movements with the hope of applying some of the same principles.
The team headed by the Atlantic University of Florida (EU) had already analyzed the movements of the octopus in laboratory tanks and expanded it to their natural habitat to make a detailed study in relation to behaviors such as the search for food and locomotion.
For the study they analyzed 25 recordings made in the natural environment of common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) or closely related species, such as Octopus insularis or octopus Americanus, and cataloged 12 types of tentacles movements.
The arms of these animals are complex structures formed by four separate muscle groups (transverse, longitudinal, oblique and circular) around a central nerve, which allows them to deform in many different ways.
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Capable of making a wide range of movements
The investigation indicates that, although all parts of the tentacle are capable of making a wide range of movements, some occur more in one part of the arm than in another.
The authors recorded which arms were used every time the octopuses made one of fifteen different behaviors (such as crawling, hunting or escaping)
They also analyzed what combination of twelve actions other than tentacles (such as curving) took place during the behavior and what combination of four different deformations (such as lengthening) occurred to perform each arm action.
All octopus could deform the eight arms in four ways and perform all the actions with each arm, but the four strikers are used much more frequently than the rear (64% compared to 36%).
Front tentacles are used more to explore the environment, while the rear is used more to move.
The rear, for example, are used more to roll. The tentacle moves below the animal along the seabed in a similar way to a conveyor belt and, to rise, extending the arm to lift the body.
With EFE information
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