Posted on 03/25/2005 8:32:30 AM PST by kiriath_jearim
Octopuses seen walking from predators
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID Associated Press Writer
March 25, 2005, 9:50 AM EST
WASHINGTON -- Octopuses, known for using camouflage to avoid predators, have been observed apparently trying to sneak away by walking on two arms while pretending to be a bunch of algae. Two kinds of octopus were seen to use different ways of walking along the sea floor, researchers were reporting in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
The movements were discovered by Christine L. Huffard of the University of California, Berkeley, who was studying underwater video camera tapes of the animals.
Berkeley professor Robert J. Full said Huffard was studying octopus movement as part of a robotics project. He said the researchers use examples from nature in designing robots; one project is to build a soft robot.
Octopuses trying to avoid being eaten usually hold still to camouflage themselves. But by walking on two arms, these two types were able to move quickly while using their other arms to disguise themselves.
Two individuals of O. marginatus from Indonesia wrapped six arms around themselves, looking like a coconut on the sea floor. They then used the two rear arms to move backward.
In Australia, O. aculeatus was seen raising two arms above its head before lifting four more and moving backward on the two remaining arms. The researchers described it as looking like "a clump of algae tiptoeing away."
The researchers believe the octopuses were trying to flee from predators, though they cannot be sure until they have seen more examples of the behavior.
The research was funded by the American Malacological Society and the National Science Foundation.
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Whoda thought that a thread about octopus would turn out to be the most hilarious one on FR since the John Kerry photo threads last year.
The other one that gets me is when people try to sound more intelligent by pronouncing the "-es" at the end of a pluralized word as "-eez", no matter what the word is.
In fact, the only time it's supposed to be pronounced that way is when the singular ends in "-ex", such as "index" becoming "indices".
"Holy Hand Grenade! "
Arthur: "1....2......5!!!"
KnightL: "3, sir"
Arthur: "3!"
KABOOM!
She is? I thought she likes (bearded) clams.
Time to change your armour, sir Blzbba!
You can tell their sex at a glance, too. The female octo pi wear an algae bra.
Insalata con sepia (Octopus salad.)
You had me going up until this point. Then I noticed your screenname.
Now I'm suspicious.
Exactly.
I think they were pretending to be surgical gloves.
octopus
• noun (pl. octopuses) a mollusc with eight sucker-bearing arms, a soft body, beak-like jaws, and no internal shell.
— DERIVATIVES octopoid adjective.
— USAGE The standard plural in English of octopus is octopuses. However, since the word comes from Greek, the Greek plural form octopodes is still occasionally used. The plural form octopi, formed according to rules for Latin plurals, is incorrect.
— ORIGIN Greek, from okto ‘eight’ + pous ‘foot’.
It doesn't change the etymology of the word, since that is what I was replying to -- the statement that it is derived from Latin not Greek -- and the OED has more resources devoted to the etymology of words than any other organization, British or American.
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