Coconut-carrying octopus

S

SuperTrap

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Veteran XX
Stupid octopus should have found a lesser creature to carry it for him



SYDNEY (AP) - 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.

Julian Finn and Mark Norman of Museum Victoria in Melbourne observed the odd activity in four of the creatures during a series of dive trips to North Sulawesi and Bali in Indonesia between 1998 and 2008. Their findings were published Tuesday in the journal Current Biology.

"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."

Octopuses often use foreign objects as shelter. But the scientists found the veined octopus going a step further by preparing the shells, carrying them long distances and reassembling them as shelter elsewhere.

That's an example of tool use, which has never been recorded in invertebrates before, Finn said.

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My Way News - Aussie scientists find coconut-carrying octopus
 
yea its been known for a long time taht they are intelligent.

Octopuss are one of the cooler creatures in the ocean IMO.
 
Pretty funny the way it walks with the coconut. Doesn't really seem like a very good form of protection, although if there's nothing but sand around, guess it's better than nothing.

Watching the suction cups stick onto the camera lens was cool too.
 
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