The octopus are exceptional animals, equipped with a higher intelligence and “superpowers” of all kinds, from the ability to change color and shape to that of get the missing limbs recrease. And precisely this last feature intrigues scientists for a long time: how do octopus regenerate tentacles, and how do they use their new arts?
The opportunity to study this phenomenon came thanks to the discovery of a nine tentacles octopuswhose story is told in a study published on Animals.
The octopus with nine tentacles. This octopus, belonging to the species Octopus vulgaristhe common octopus, widespread in all the seas and oceans of the world, has been discovered in Spain, to be precise along the coasts of Ibiza. Survived the attack of an unidentified predator, the octopus However, he lost three of his eight tentaclesregretted over the following months. Two of these tentacles shone “normally”, while the third divided into two, bringing the total of the animal to nine.
The team of the Institute de Investigacións Mariñas in Vigo, Spain, then made a series of dives between December 2021 and May 2022, observing the behavior of the octopus, studying in particular how it used its limbs, both the “original” and the new ones, and dividing the behaviors into two categories: sure, when the octopus kept the tentacles near the body, and risky, when when he swam in the presence of potential predators.
pain memory. The observations have first revealed that the octopus does not seem to have suffered any permanent damage, in the sense that his behaviors were “normal” and his nine tentacles all fully functional. Really, One of the two “extra” tentacles (which are found on the right side of the animal) It turned out to be the most used limb together with its consideration on the left side.
Not only that: the team discovered that the two tentacles of too much, cataloged such as R1A and R1b, were used much less during certain operations, among which to get food and explore. This according to the authors suggests that the octopus has a sort of “pain memory”, which leads it to be more prudent in the use of the already damaged limbs previously. Finally, it must be said that over time the octopus began to use “special” tentacles more and more often, every now and then also to carry out risky operations: a sign of adaptability, according to the authors.
