Humans may be right-handed or left-handed. It turns out octopuses don't have a dominant arm, but they do tend to perform some tasks more often with their front arms, new research shows. Scientists studied a series of short videos of wild octopuses crawling, swimming, standing, fetching, and groping—among other common activities—to analyze how each of the eight arms were moving. Octopus limbs aren't specialized as many mammal limbs are. However, the three octopus species in the study showed a clear preference for using their four front arms, which they did about 60% of the time. The back arms were used more frequently for stilting and rolling that help move the octopus forward.
Researchers analyzed video clips taken between 2007 and 2015 in the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. It was the first large study to examine precise limb actions in the wild. Unlike previous research of octopus behavior in a laboratory setting, the new work showed that octopuses did not show a preference for right or left arms in their natural environment. Results were published Thursday in Scientific Reports.
"I'm in awe that the researchers managed to do this," said Janet Voight, an octopus biologist at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, who had no role in the study. Here's why: Octopuses are shy and elusive creatures. The species studied spend most of their time hidden in dens—meaning that filming them required patience and perseverance over many years, per the AP.
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