Amphioctopus marginatus
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A small Amphioctopus marginatus uses half a coconut shell and a clam as a refuge. |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Amphioctopus marginatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Taki , 1964) |
Amphioctopus marginatus (English coconut octopus or veined octopus, therefore also called vein octopus in the press) is a medium-sized cephalopod from the genus Amphioctopus . It inhabits tropical waters in the western Pacific Ocean . Its main diet consists of prawns , crabs and clams .
features
The average coat length is 8 centimeters. The tentacles are about six inches long. This type of octopus shows a typical color pattern with dark branched, vein-like lines and a yellowish sipho . The arms are dark with contrasting white suction cups. A light, trapezoidal area can often be seen immediately below the eye.
Habitat and way of life
Amphioctopus marginatus is found on sandy bottoms in bays or lagoons . He often digs himself in the sand, so that only the eyes look out.
In March 2005, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley , stated in an article in the journal Science that this species is one of two cephalopods that exhibit bipedal behavior. The other type is abdopus aculeatus . According to this article, this behavior was observed in the Celebes Sea in Indonesia , where the sandy bottom was littered with coconut shells. With the bipede movement, a floating coconut is apparently imitated. Employees at the Melbourne Museum in Australia were also able to prove that Amphioctopus marginatus uses coconut shells to build a protective shelter. This behavior was observed in octopuses off the coasts of Bali and North Sulawesi between 1998 and 2008 and was described in the journal Current Biology in December 2009 . The researchers filmed a specimen of Amphioctopus marginatus that picked up discarded coconut shells from the ocean floor, carried them about 20 meters and created a spherical protective hiding place from them. Although octopuses often use alien objects as shelter, Amphioctopus marginatus ' sophisticated behavior in collecting, transporting, and assembling material is far more complex. The researchers interpreted this behavior as the use of tools, defining as a tool "an object that is carried for later use"; According to this definition, the behavior of Amphioctopus marginatus is the first documented case of tool use in invertebrates . When the octopuses were driven from their shelter, they wedged the coconut shells between their arms and stalked away with them.
literature
- Taki, I. (1964): On eleven new species of the Cephalopoda from Japan, including two new genera of the Octopodinae. In: Journal of the Faculty of Fisheries and Animal Husbandry, Hiroshima University, 5 (2). Pp. 297-343.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sanders, Robert: Octopuses occasionally stroll around on two arms, UC Berkeley biologists report, University of California, Berkeley, March 24, of 2005.
- ↑ Christine L. Huffard, Farnis Boneka, Robert J. Full: Underwater Bipedal Locomotion by Octopuses in Disguise, Science, March 25, 2005.
- ↑ Finn, Julian K .; Tregenza, Tom; Norman, Mark D. (2009): Defensive tool use in a coconut-carrying octopus . Current Biologie, Volume 19, No. 23, pp. 1069-1070 doi : 10.1016 / j.cub.2009.10.052
- ↑ a b c Gelineau, Kristen (December 15, 2009). Aussie scientists find coconut-carrying octopus . The Associated Press.
- ^ Harmon, Katherine (December 14, 2009). A tool-wielding octopus? This invertebrate builds armor from coconut halves . Scientific American.
