io9: octopus

Octopus Uses Coconut Shells as Portable Armor

Lauren Davis — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:44:37 PST

Tools aren't just for vertebrates anymore. The veined octopus has been spotted lugging around coconut shells to serve as mobile shelters, the first time scientists have observed tool use in an invertebrate species.

Humans living on the Indonesian coast frequently discard halved coconut shells in the ocean, and it turns out that their eight-legged neighbors have been making use of them. Researchers have filmed veined octopi, Amphioctopus marginatus, moving the shell halves by placing their bodies inside the hollowed-out portion, draping their legs over the edges, and bringing the shells along for the ride. When the coconut-carrying octopus feels threatened, it will pull the half shell over its body (or sometimes pulls two halves of a whole coconut over itself), and wait inside their armored home until the threat passes.

Veined octopi have been seen hiding out inside coconut shells before, but researchers hadn't realized that the creatures were deliberately carting the shells around for this purpose. Marine biologist Julian Finn of Melbourne's Museum Victoria caught a lucky glimpse of a veined octopus carrying and using the shells, and has since filmed four octopi doing the same thing.

Finn and other researchers argue that this is the first reported use of tools by an invertebrate species, as this is a sophisticated, costly behavior in which an animal manipulates an object for future plans. While others argue that it does not fit the standard definition of tool use, since the octopus isn't using the object to act on another object, it may still require a sophisticated level of cognition, and we should investigate what makes such foresight possible.

Octopuses use coconut shells as portable shelters [New Scientist]

Cephalopods of Mass Destruction Stalk the Seas

Lauren Davis — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:00:00 PST

Giant jellyfish and cephalopods are fearsome enough on their own, but wait until they get their tentacles on man-made weapons. Keith Noordzy's Man-Made Disaster series pairs natural monsters with technological menaces.

Man-Made Disasters is currently on display at the San Francisco arm of Gallery 1988 as part of the Paper Pushers show.

Paper Pushers 2009 [via NOTCOT]

Giant Green Tentacles Attack Buildings from the Inside

Lauren Davis — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:30:00 PDT

In artist FilthyLuker's street installations, giant inflatable tentacles emerge from buildings and vehicles, creating the sense that a monstrous kraken or Lovecraftian horror is trapped inside.

FilthyLuker creates whimsical sculptures and installations, with pieces that include anthropomorphized trashcans and easy chairs, adding eyeballs to bushes and trees, and giant banana peels placed in the middle of the road. His "Octo" installations are perhaps the most inspired, offering all the fun of a B-movie with none of the property damage.

FilthyLuker's DeviantArt [via WebUrbanist via Neatorama]

Octopied Building

B-Movie in the Sun
Octo Street
Tragic Bus
Octo
Mutate Britain

Become A Post-Human Tentacle Monster Today!

Kevin Kelly — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 16:00:17 PST

When the mutants rise up and start culling the inferior humans from the population, you'll need some protective coloration to survive. So now is a perfect time to prepare, by shoving disc-shaped silicone implants under your skin to look like a half-octopus mutant. A post-human fashion statement is just a short trip to Sao Paulo, Brazil away. Save up your dough and visit Dark Freak at the Luck All bodymod parlor, and you'll be looking like a half-breed sushi victim in no time at all. Although it's best not to think too much about what keeps them from sliming around under the skin. That's when the real seasickness starts. [Ectoplasmosis]