ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Environment → Animals

Why octupus arms never get entangled

Tibi PuiubyTibi Puiu
May 16, 2014
in Animals, Biology, News
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit
octopus tentacle
Photo: c4dcafe.com

Roboticists and mechanical engineers hold octopuses to great respect and admiration because of their many skills, like great water propulsion, camouflage and independent limbs. Each octopus tentacle is equipped with numerous suckers that allows it to easily cling to most surfaces, no matter how smooth they may be. Whether the octopus needs to attach itself to a surface or run away quickly, its arms are always there to help, but what’s startling about all this is that the arms have a mind of their own: the brain doesn’t know where its arms are since there aren’t any nerve endings that communicate this information. With all this in mind, how in the world does an octopus manage not to get its arms stuck together in the first place?

These ‘shoelaces’ never tie together

Guy Levy, a neuroscientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, along with colleagues decided to investigate this intriguing phenomenon and devised a series of experiments to find the answer. Mostly, the researchers threw amputated octopus arms (an amputated octopus limb is still lively an hour after it was cut from the body) in batches around water basins. When two amputated arms came close to each other, the arms were unable to grasp each other despite being separated from the body.

The researchers initially thought the octopus arms manage to avoid each other through an electrical mechanism, however the amputated arm immediately clanged to some other skinned  amputated arm. This means that there’s something in or on the octopus skin that prevents its arms from coming together.

In another experiment, the researchers proved that the mechanism wasn’t texture either, after amputated arms couldn’t grab “reconstructed skin” that had been broken down to its constituent molecules and embedded in a gel. The only possible explanation that remains is a chemical mechanism.

“Everybody knew the lack of knowledge in octopus arms, but nobody wanted to investigate this,” says Guy Levy, a neuroscientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a co-author of the study. “Now we know that they have a built-in mechanism that prevents them from grabbing octopus skin.”

Sticky fingers

This chemical mechanism is a lot more subtle that anyone might have thought. For instance, the octopus has an off-switch that blocks the molecule  that normally causes the octopus arms to repel any other surface lined with octopus skin. This is how the animals manage to ‘hug’ and grasp one another. Otherwise, there couldn’t have been any mating. Still, there is much the researchers don’t know.

“We do not know which molecules are involved,” Levy says, “but we do know that molecules in the skin are sensed in the suckers and this inhibits the attachment behavior.”

Future efforts will concentrate on identifying the molecule or group of molecules that cause the arms’ suckers to avert octopus skin, as well assessing whether other  species of octopuses and cephalopods use the same mechanism. If they can find out how the octopus does this, Levy and robotician colleagues might be able to create some very interesting devices and robots. For instance, Levy is already working with a soft-robotics group called  STIFF-FLOP with whom he wants to create special surgical tools that preferentially and automatically avoid grasping certain objects.

“We are aiming at building a surgical soft-manipulator that might be able to scroll inside the human body while avoiding interactions between arms and parts of the human environment that aren’t involved in its tasks — like intestinal walls.”

The work appeared in the journal Current Biology.

RelatedPosts

“I wanted to take a picture of an octopus… but the octopus took pictures of me”
The star(fish) destroying robot is yellow and deadly
MIT designs robot to be a good pedestrian and not bump into you on the sidewalk
How would you respond to being touched by a robotic nurse ?
Tags: moleculeoctopusrobot

ShareTweetShare
Tibi Puiu

Tibi Puiu

Tibi is a science journalist and co-founder of ZME Science. He writes mainly about emerging tech, physics, climate, and space. In his spare time, Tibi likes to make weird music on his computer and groom felines. He has a B.Sc in mechanical engineering and an M.Sc in renewable energy systems.

Related Posts

Health

AI-Powered Surgical Robot Performed a Full Operation With Zero Help From Humans

byTudor Tarita
4 days ago
octopus sleeping
Animals

Octopuses use microbes to “taste” their surroundings with their arms

byMihai Andrei
3 weeks ago
Health

In the UK, robotic surgery will become the default for small surgeries

byMihai Andrei
1 month ago
Animals

These Male Octopuses Paralyze Mates During Sex to Avoid Being Eaten Alive

byTudor Tarita
3 months ago

Recent news

A Simple Heat Hack Could Revolutionize How We Produce Yogurt

July 18, 2025

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

July 18, 2025

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

July 18, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • How we review products
  • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Science News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Space
  • Future
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Physics
      • Matter and Energy
      • Quantum Mechanics
      • Thermodynamics
    • Chemistry
      • Periodic Table
      • Applied Chemistry
      • Materials
      • Physical Chemistry
    • Biology
      • Anatomy
      • Biochemistry
      • Ecology
      • Genetics
      • Microbiology
      • Plants and Fungi
    • Geology and Paleontology
      • Planet Earth
      • Earth Dynamics
      • Rocks and Minerals
      • Volcanoes
      • Dinosaurs
      • Fossils
    • Animals
      • Mammals
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Amphibians
      • Reptiles
      • Invertebrates
      • Pets
      • Conservation
      • Animal facts
    • Climate and Weather
      • Climate change
      • Weather and atmosphere
    • Health
      • Drugs
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Human Body
      • Mind and Brain
      • Food and Nutrition
      • Wellness
    • History and Humanities
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • History
      • Economics
      • People
      • Sociology
    • Space & Astronomy
      • The Solar System
      • Sun
      • The Moon
      • Planets
      • Asteroids, meteors & comets
      • Astronomy
      • Astrophysics
      • Cosmology
      • Exoplanets & Alien Life
      • Spaceflight and Exploration
    • Technology
      • Computer Science & IT
      • Engineering
      • Inventions
      • Sustainability
      • Renewable Energy
      • Green Living
    • Culture
    • Resources
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Editorial policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.