Aristotle had said that, “the octopus was a stupid creature.” I would beg to differ. There are around 300 species of octopi in the ocean and they can mimic other creatures, camouflage and squirt poison amongst other things.
Octopi are cephalopods, a class that ranges from the giant squid to shelled nautilus. Remarkably, all cephalopods have large brains, at least compared to the other invertebrates. Octopi have the remarkable ability to navigate through labyrinths and mazes and are even capable of solving problems and reusing those solutions. When I say octopi are smart, I’m describing intelligence as the ability to learn and use the knowledge learned. Scientists have observed that octopi will learn or figure out how to open a jar to get the crab that is inside or learn how to open shelled sea creatures like clams. They also make choices, for instance, they will pick the shell that’s easier to open, in this case, mussels over clams. But what makes them intelligent is that they will use their cartilaginous beak to pry open the clam, inject poison into the shell to weaken the clam and open the shell with ease.
As observed by biologists, most animals use the same hunting technique on different prey without adapting to the new prey defenses. Octopi more importantly choose their method and technique, depending on the species they are attacking. Another unique aspect of octopi is that they play. It has been documented that octopi will play with objects in their tanks like propelling an object by blowing a jet of water to another octopus that returns the object. Isn’t this rather reminiscent of us passing a ball to each other?
So if these creatures are in fact intelligent, do they have a brain? A unique aspect of their central nervous system is that they have two regions for their brain and memory storage. The brain has specific regions set aside for learning. About a third of the octopi neurons are in the brain and a huge portion is in its arms. In fact, there is a ganglion that controls each of the suckers on its arms giving it immense amounts of control, and the ability to grasp by folding the two sides of its suckers.
Researchers guess that the octopi have developed this higher level of intelligence due to the complex environment in which they live. The tropical coral reefs have variable situations, different types of prey and predators, and if you don’t have a shell to protect you, you definitely need your wit.
The writer is a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Genomics and is working on skin cancer at Novartis