homehome Home chatchat Notifications


Thought octopuses only live in water? Watch David Attenborough explain how the only land octopus hunts

If you thought octopuses were amazing, wait 'till you see this.

Tibi Puiu
July 28, 2017 @ 4:31 pm

share Share

octopus-land

Credit: Youtube / BBC Earth.

Octopuses are some of the most amazing creatures out there. They have three hearts, use tools, and they’re some of the most masterful camouflagers. Out of all octopus trivia, however, you most likely consider the fact that these animals live in water boring and not worth mentioning. But that’s not even entirely true. One particular species called Abdopus aculeatus is actually adapted to living on land and even walks using the hundreds of tiny sucklers that line its eight, venomous arms.

Abdopus aculeatus is an intertidal octopus described from the Philippines and common throughout Indonesia and northeastern Australia. This small species of octopus mainly forages for portunid and calappid crabs, sometimes crawling or swimming approximately 3–5 m to catch one. When tides are low, this octopus can become stranded in puddles. But that’s not much of a problem as A. aculeatus literally walks from puddle to puddle looking for a delicious crab morsel.

Ever resourceful, this amazing octopus’ behavior was caught on film by the BBC Earth crew which aired a brief documentary about it, with the one and only Sir David Attenborough narrating.

share Share

A Dutch 17-Year-Old Forgot His Native Language After Knee Surgery and Spoke Only English Even Though He Had Never Used It Outside School

He experienced foreign language syndrome for about 24 hours, and remembered every single detail of the incident even after recovery.

Your Brain Hits a Metabolic Cliff at 43. Here’s What That Means

This is when brain aging quietly kicks in.

Scientists Just Found a Hidden Battery Life Killer and the Fix Is Shockingly Simple

A simple tweak could dramatically improve the lifespan of Li-ion batteries.

Westerners cheat AI agents while Japanese treat them with respect

Japan’s robots are redefining work, care, and education — with lessons for the world.

Scientists Turn to Smelly Frogs to Fight Superbugs: How Their Slime Might Be the Key to Our Next Antibiotics

Researchers engineer synthetic antibiotics from frog slime that kill deadly bacteria without harming humans.

This Popular Zero-Calorie Sugar Substitute May Be Making You Hungrier, Not Slimmer

Zero-calorie sweeteners might confuse the brain, especially in people with obesity

Any Kind of Exercise, At Any Age, Boosts Your Brain

Even light physical activity can sharpen memory and boost mood across all ages.

A Brain Implant Just Turned a Woman’s Thoughts Into Speech in Near Real Time

This tech restores speech in real time for people who can’t talk, using only brain signals.

Using screens in bed increases insomnia risk by 59% — but social media isn’t the worst offender

Forget blue light, the real reason screens disrupt sleep may be simpler than experts thought.

We Should Start Worrying About Space Piracy. Here's Why This Could be A Big Deal

“We are arguing that it’s already started," say experts.