Cephalopods

[corvus_corax]

I love spiders
I love monotremes
But I really really love cephalopods!!

So here's a thread (inspired by the "Spiders" thread) dedicated to cephalopods.

First up, the "Blanket Octopus"

​

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpME-jNSC2U

And here (although this one may be a member of the Family, not the Genus, but still cool as heck)-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-VAZGtNgsk


ETA- Forgot to mention that these Australian natives are so macho-tough that they rip off the stinging tentacles from Portuguese Man O' War jellyfish and use them as defensive weapons!!!
When Bruce Willis pulls that off in a movie, THEN I might think that he's a tough as nails action hero

 

[jayem]

Just the name of this guy is cool, Vampyroteuthis infernalis--the vampire squid from hell. He's a little dude, only the size of a football. He's a deep sea resident, so he has huge eyes--supposedly the largest eye in relation to body size of any animal. And he has cool fins on his mantle and webbed tentacles with photophores at the tips. So his arms glow in the blackness.

 

[corvus_corax]

...and webbed tentacles with photophores at the tips. So his arms glow in the blackness.

And here's a fairly good shot of that (from the Planet Earth series)

Not to mention the apparent "hooks" on their tentacles-

​

 

[troodon]

Second only to dinosaurs, cephalopods are my favorite thing in the world.

 

[Naraoia]

These threads are wonderful.

I thought the colour-changing glowing squid was quite cool. As it moves up and down the water column, it adjusts the colour of its bioluminescence to match the wavelengths that penetrate to particular depths. Countersha... I mean, counterillumination on a professional level.

They are also quite pretty. (Images from tolweb)

 

[corvus_corax]

Second only to dinosaurs, cephalopods are my favorite thing in the world.

See? I knew there was a reason I like you

 

[corvus_corax]

These threads are wonderful.

I thought the colour-changing glowing squid was quite cool. As it moves up and down the water column, it adjusts the colour of its bioluminescence to match the wavelengths that penetrate to particular depths. Countersha... I mean, counterillumination on a professional level.

They are also quite pretty. (Images from tolweb)

Love that! Never read that explanation before. Thankee

And yes they are quite pretty

 

[laconicstudent]

If you like cephalopods I have a great paper for you

Control of Octopus Arm Extension by a Peripheral Motor Program German Sumbre, et al. Science 293, 1845 (2001);
DOI: 10.1126/science.1060976

For goal-directed arm movements, the nervous system generates a sequence of motor commands that bring the arm toward the target. Control of the octopus arm is especially complex because the arm can be moved in any direction, with a virtually infinite number of degrees of freedom. Here we show that arm extensions can be evoked mechanically or electrically in arms whose connection with the brain has been severed. These extensions show kinematic features that are almost identical to normal behavior, suggesting that the basic motor program for voluntary movement is embedded within the neural circuitry of the arm itself. Such peripheral motor programs represent considerable simplification in the motor control of this highly redundant appendage.

 

[Tinker Grey]

Did you see the this?

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

 

[laconicstudent]

Did you see the this?

YouTube - Coconut-carrying octopus

It makes you want to do all sorts of lovely experiments to explores their cognitive abilities, doesn't it?

And yes I've seen it. Its awesome

*fingers twitch*



*BSpsychmajorgoescrazy*

I want to play with their brains.

 

[firechild_82]

Tinker,

Thise guys are awesome. I was on an Australia Geographic research trip a few years ago and my dive buddy and I collected a specimen of what was believed to be a new species of Amphioctopus (the genus of the one in the video). I don't think it ended up being classified as such but it was still cool to find something that got the experts excited.

I don't think you can beat the flambouyant cuttlefish. They are such interesting creatures.

 

[USincognito]

Don't go swimming in a school of feeding Humbolt Squid.

 

[Psudopod]

Octopus brains are toroid shaped and located around their stomach. So if they eat too much they risk brain damage.

I don't know any of the details of this story such as where it was located, or even if it's true, but it's a good story:

A zoo was wondering why fish from various tanks seemed to be disappearing. They weren't dying, as there were no bodies, and the tanks didn't contain any carnivourous or canabilistic fish. So they set up cameras. Next day they came and watched footage of their octopus unscrewing the lid to it's tank, gettting out, unscrewing the lid of a fish tank, eating it's fill, then screwing the lid of the fish tank and its own tank back on so no one noticed it had been out.

 

[Naraoia]

I wonder if octopuses have theory of mind.

 

[laconicstudent]

I wonder if octopuses have theory of mind.

Possible. Last I heard they are considered the most intelligent invertebrate animal class.

 

[Spacewyrm]

Octopus brains are toroid shaped and located around their stomach. So if they eat too much they risk brain damage.

I don't know any of the details of this story such as where it was located, or even if it's true, but it's a good story:

A zoo was wondering why fish from various tanks seemed to be disappearing. They weren't dying, as there were no bodies, and the tanks didn't contain any carnivourous or canabilistic fish. So they set up cameras. Next day they came and watched footage of their octopus unscrewing the lid to it's tank, gettting out, unscrewing the lid of a fish tank, eating it's fill, then screwing the lid of the fish tank and its own tank back on so no one noticed it had been out.

That's awesome! I hope it really is true.

I always liked seeing videos of octopi squeezing through narrow gaps. It's just really neat to look at.

 

[Naraoia]

Possible. Last I heard they are considered the most intelligent invertebrate animal class.

I know, but how smart is "smartest"?

Someone needs to start teaching octopuses language and giving them false belief tasks

 

[Naraoia]

I always liked seeing videos of octopi squeezing through narrow gaps. It's just really neat to look at.

They are like cats without the bones

 

[firechild_82]

Octopus brains are toroid shaped and located around their stomach. So if they eat too much they risk brain damage.

I don't know any of the details of this story such as where it was located, or even if it's true, but it's a good story:

A zoo was wondering why fish from various tanks seemed to be disappearing. They weren't dying, as there were no bodies, and the tanks didn't contain any carnivourous or canabilistic fish. So they set up cameras. Next day they came and watched footage of their octopus unscrewing the lid to it's tank, gettting out, unscrewing the lid of a fish tank, eating it's fill, then screwing the lid of the fish tank and its own tank back on so no one noticed it had been out.

I have actually seen this video. Although it isn't great quality since it all happens at night so light is not fantastic it is amazing to watch. It was actually a tank of crabs ( favourite food of many octopuses) and the crab tank was actually not in a great viewing position from the octopus tank so the fact that the octopus even knew they were there, let alone how to get to them was incredible.

 

[Spacewyrm]

I have actually seen this video. Although it isn't great quality since it all happens at night so light is not fantastic it is amazing to watch. It was actually a tank of crabs ( favourite food of many octopuses) and the crab tank was actually not in a great viewing position from the octopus tank so the fact that the octopus even knew they were there, let alone how to get to them was incredible.

Do you have a link to the video or to a site talking about the incident? Where did this take place?