Octopus arm flexibility facilitates complex behaviors in diverse natural environments.

ABSTRACT: Octopus arms are among the most flexible of biological structures, yet the full range of arm flexibility has not been investigated in detail, for example in varied benthic marine habitats where structural complexity far exceeds that of lab trials. This field study quantified arm flexibility with a hierarchical analysis of octopus behaviors, arm actions, and arm deformations used throughout diverse natural habitats. Twenty-five videos of naturally behaving octopuses were analyzed from 5 Caribbean sites and 1 site in Spain. Octopus behaviors were delineated into 12 arm actions, consisting of 4 possible arm deformations (shorten, elongate, bend, or torsion). Overall, 3,907 arm action occurrences demonstrated that all arms could execute each action. Anterior arms performed more actions than po

SUBMITTER: Bennice CO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12426218 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature