Octopuses Are Looking Smarter

[Robert Zwilling]

Octopus sometimes use fish to find food.
It can be a group of fish, and the ones don't that look for food can be persuaded to leave the group.
The captured meal isn't shared, whoever finds it, fish or octopus, gets to eat it.

They were studied in their natural environment not in a lab.

Although typically viewed as solitary animals, it was found that octopuses sometimes work with fish to entrap prey. It is thought this represented a type of social interaction between different species which can be a sign of intelligence.

“If the group is very still and everyone is around the octopus, it starts punching, but if the group is moving along the habitat, this means that they’re looking for prey, so the octopus is happy. It doesn’t punch anyone,” Sampaio said.

 

[Harpo]

 

[Peppa]

Octopuses are very smart indeed! There is a very interesting book about smart octopuses called Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea and the Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godfrey-Smith. It is about octopuses and their minds.
I particularly liked the story about the author observing a lone octopus swimming in the ocean and shimmering with different colours. It seemed to shimmer with colours just for its own pleasure, like humans do when they sing.

 

[BAYLOR]

Imagine how much smart they would become if they lived longer then 3 years.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

The important word here is "seemed."

 

[Parson]

I'm still not clear how the octopus uses the fish. Do they lead others within range? Do they "point out" prey? And why would the other fish cooperate like this if the "octopus is the decider?"

 

[Robert Zwilling]

They use the fish to locate something to eat, same way we use a pack of dogs to track down prey. The punching keeps them looking or drives away the ones who are just hanging out.

I think they're pretty smart, exhibiting the same solutions to problems that people use, getting other people to work for you for by having them use their own resources, and a good punch in the nose to solve simple disputes.

They live in all different environments. Around 300 species have been identified. Which probably means we haven't seen them all. Before humans invaded the oceans, everything in the oceans lived a lot longer than they do now. Maybe their life span got shortened as well. Or the smartest ones are staying far away from prying eyes.

Octopus that live in very cold environments, like the Giant Pacific Octopus, can live up to 5 years. Another species, the Deep Sea Octopus, one was found to be guarding her eggs for 4-1/2 years. Its thought that brooding takes up a quarter of their life span which could mean the Deep Sea Octopus, living in a part of the ocean we know very little about, could have a life span of 16-18 years.

 

[Foxbat]

A couple of years ago there was a documentary on the BBC called Octopus In My House. It explored the level of octopus intelligence but the programme is no longer available. I did find an excerpt from it on YouTube

 

[mosaix]

Octopuses are very smart indeed! There is a very interesting book about smart octopuses called Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea and the Deep Origins of Consciousness by Peter Godfrey-Smith. It is about octopuses and their minds.
I particularly liked the story about the author observing a lone octopus swimming in the ocean and shimmering with different colours. It seemed to shimmer with colours just for its own pleasure, like humans do when they sing.

I'm reading this book currently.

One thing that struck me is that, in evolutionary terms, the octopus branched away from our line before nervous systems and brains developed, so the octopus brain is on an evolutionary line separate from ours.

To paraphrase Godfrey-Smith "When you're looking at an octopus you're face to face with an alien."

 

[Peppa]

I'm reading this book currently.

One thing that struck me is that, in evolutionary terms, the octopus branched away from our line before nervous systems and brains developed, so the octopus brain is on an evolutionary line separate from ours.

To paraphrase Godfrey-Smith "When you're looking at an octopus you're face to face with an alien."

Exactly. It turns out that octopuses are real aliens. It also proves that well-developed brains and nervous systems can evolve independently in very different creatures.

 

[BAYLOR]

Fascinating stuff.

 

[BAYLOR]

I'm reading this book currently.

One thing that struck me is that, in evolutionary terms, the octopus branched away from our line before nervous systems and brains developed, so the octopus brain is on an evolutionary line separate from ours.

To paraphrase Godfrey-Smith "When you're looking at an octopus you're face to face with an alien."

Exactly. It turns out that octopuses are real aliens. It also proves that well-developed brains and nervous systems can evolve independently in very different creatures.

Over 20 years ago there the tv The Future is Wild a miniseries speculative nature show projected what present day animals might evolve into in the distant future long after man has departed the scene . One of the projection i made was that Octopuses might evolve into land dwelling creatures and very possibly become the dominant intelligence on planet Earth ,