Tag: octopus
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13,000 feet below, the Dumbo octopus drifts where nothing else dares
Not a cartoon. Not an alien. Just a survivor of the abyss. The Dumbo octopus isn’t your average eight-legged cephalopod. It’s a finned drifter from the deepest parts of the ocean, belonging to a primitive, mysterious branch of the octopus family tree. First discovered in 1883, and still baffling scientists well into 2025, it thrives…
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Octopuses fall for fake arm trick, hinting at a sense of self
Most people don’t expect octopuses to fall for one of psychology’s oldest illusions. But new research shows that these famously clever invertebrates are just as susceptible to the “rubber hand illusion” as humans are. In people, the illusion happens when a fake hand is stroked in sync with a person’s hidden real hand, tricking the…
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The octopus that can stop your heart—and might fix it
Perched in tide pools and reefs from Japan to Australia, the blue-ringed octopus is as beautiful as it is deadly. Barely the size of a golf ball, this unassuming creature carries a toxin strong enough to paralyze a human within minutes. But beneath its lethal reputation lies a paradox: its venom, tetrodotoxin, could also help…
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The flamboyant cuttlefish
The cuttlefish (Sepia latimanus) is a real master of color change. The bioluminescent fish can modify their appearance and shape using flashing LCD-like bands to hypnotize prey before snatching it up. That’s right — these fish use their strobing disco lights to psyche-out crabs and small fish! Like the octopus, the cuttlefish have pigmented chromatophores in…