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Aussie Scientists Find Coconut-Carrying Octopus

Posted by timothy on from the concealed-carry-in-australian-waters dept.

An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from an AP report: "Australian scientists have discovered an octopus in Indonesia that collects coconut shells for shelter — unusually sophisticated behavior that the researchers believe is the first evidence of tool use in an invertebrate animal. The scientists filmed the veined octopus, Amphioctopus marginatus, selecting halved coconut shells from the sea floor, emptying them out, carrying them under their bodies up to 65 feet (20 meters), and assembling two shells together to make a spherical hiding spot. ... 'I was gobsmacked,' said Finn, a research biologist at the museum who specializes in cephalopods. 'I mean, I've seen a lot of octopuses hiding in shells, but I've never seen one that grabs it up and jogs across the sea floor. I was trying hard not to laugh.'"

7 of 205 comments (clear)

  1. Video by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Informative

    From the BBC.

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    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:Video by PenguinX · · Score: 2, Informative

      There are apparently more videos on youtube

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DoWdHOtlrk&feature=player_embedded#

    2. Re:Video by pjt33 · · Score: 2, Informative

      They may have the first video evidence, but I'm sure I've heard about octopodes using tools before, and Google turns up one reference almost three years ago about a very similar case, and a 2008 paper (PDF) which reports observation of octopus tool use and references a 1984 paper as describing certain octopus behaviour as probably tool use. I'm not sure from the Google Scholar description of this 1999 paper whether it refers to mention of octopus tool use in 1940 or in Roman times:

      ...
      Historia, Liber IX, 48; Plinius Secundus, 1940) reported a description of tool-using behaviour ...

      Perhaps someone with a subscription can check it out.

    3. Re:Video by ChameleonDave · · Score: 3, Informative

      I'm not sure from the Google Scholar description of this 1999 paper whether it refers to mention of octopus tool use in 1940 or in Roman times:

      ... Historia, Liber IX, 48; Plinius Secundus, 1940) reported a description of tool-using behaviour ...

      Perhaps someone with a subscription can check it out.

      No need. Pliny's Natural History was published at some point around AD 78. However, when you cite your sources as a scholar, you put the date of the edition you have in your hands. Hence, this person put "1940".

  2. Re:Intelligent by NoYob · · Score: 5, Informative

    I once had a pet octopus. It was small about the size of a fist all curled up. It was always moving things around the tank and rebuilding his or her stone "house".

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    It's NOT me! It's the meds! I'm on 1000mg of Fukitol.
  3. Not suprising by burtosis · · Score: 2, Informative
    On a trip to Florida, I found a neat clump of shells in shallow water. I picked it up and put it in a bucket along with some other shells thinking it was interesting. A few moments later I had a pile of shells and an octopus looking up at me angrily. So if it's smart enough to roll itself in shells, using it's suckers to keep them on, it’s not too surprising to me that these ones decided to use coconuts.

    Funny thing is that split coconuts probably aren't too common unless people or animals split them.

  4. Re:Octopus & the Goldfish by Ksevio · · Score: 3, Informative

    There was one aquarium where the octopus was eating the sharks at night before they finally noticed. There's a video on youtube of the octopus attacking that's pretty cool.