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 Simple Heat Hack Could Revolutionize How We Produce Yogurt

In principle, the method could be deployed tomorrow, researchers say.

Scientists Create a ‘Smart Sponge’ That Knows When to Heal and When to Fight Inflammation

This hydrogel could help millions of people lead a better life.

The Race to the Bottom: Japan Is Set to Start Testing Deep-Sea Mining

There's a big hidden cost to this practice.

Japan Just Smashed the Internet Speed World Record and It's Much Faster Than You Think

Researchers transmitted 127,500 GB every second — over the distance from Chicago to Dallas.

Can You Tell Which Knot Is Strongest? Most People Fail This Surprisingly Tough Challenge

Knots are a test of physical intuition and most of us are failing hard.

Scientists Call for a Global Pause on Creating “Mirror Life” Before It’s Too Late: “The threat we’re talking about is unprecedented”

Creating synthetic lifeforms is almost here, and the consequences could be devastating.

For the First Time Ever We Can See Planets Starting to Form Around a Star

JWST and ALMA peered through a natural opening in the star’s surrounding cloud to catch the action up close.

There might be an anti-aging secret hiding in magic mushrooms

Psilocybin extends cell life, and preserves aging DNA structures.

Not Just Hunters: Wooden Tools Unearth the Sophisticated, Plant-Eating World of Early Humans

What if the Stone Age wasn't really about stone?

This is How Exercise Supercharges the Immune System Against Cancer

Exercise reshapes gut bacteria to supercharge immune response against tumors.