
Octopus genome holds clues to uncanny intelligence - fitzwatermellow
http://www.nature.com/news/octopus-genome-holds-clues-to-uncanny-intelligence-1.18177
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Calcite
I've seen a few octopus while scuba diving in tropical waters. They are the
most interesting species underwater. You can look at them for five minutes and
it's absolutely fascinating. The way their skin changes texture and color is
mesmerizing. It really feels like an alien life form because nothing else
looks or behaves like that.

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fit2rule
Indeed! I've had a few similar experiences out diving too, and you reminded me
of the time I was out in shallow water with just a snorkel, and saw a little
octopus darting around .. it seemed as interested in me as I was in it! I lost
track of it and swam around a bit more, and eventually went back to the beach
to get my tank on .. as I pulled the straps up, I thought there was something
not quite right and reached around on my back to see what it was - it was the
little octopus! It had hitched a ride on my back, which I didn't feel because
of my wetsuit, and had managed to get up on the beach with me .. wow, that was
great! Took it gently off my back, put it in the water, it scurried away ..
but for the rest of the day as I explored the reef I couldn't help but feel it
was still following me.. delightful creatures, and one of the beautiful things
you should always try to see in person, in the ocean one day ..

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shostack
And just think...that little guy will always remember the day he left his
universe for the strange Dry Lands on the back of the giant he rode. Quite a
story to tell his friends.

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bitwize
His friends are going to ink themselves when they hear it!

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bro-stick
And the ladies will allow his tentacular "exploration" a bit more than usual.
Unless he was a she, or one of the Kardashians.

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fit2rule
I am a huge fan of octopuses. I recall many a day spent in my youth on
Australian beaches, looking through crack and crevice for these delightful -
and sometimes dangerous - creatures. (Blue Ring Octopus: delightful, and
deadly.)

I've seen them doing all sorts of things, and learned a few tricks for how to
deal with them. One very important thing for an octopus lover to understand is
that they are absolutely entranced by the bright and shiny - I have yet to
meet an Australian octopus I couldn't entice out of its shelter with the flash
of a gold coin .. just get the sun angle right, shine the coin in the hole,
and out they come .. be prepared to leave the reef poor, because once that
coin gets grabbed, its all over! Somewhere in the holes of Yanchep, there's a
small pile of coins .. I'm quite sure. (At least $5.)

I've seen octopus fishing! That is to say I've seen them using tools! I once
spent hours watching a small reef specimen sitting in its little hole, one
long tentacle stretched out, the carcass of a crayfish held lazily at the end,
swaying in the current gently, tempting those stupid whitefish to come just a
little closer for .. one last little feed on the crayfish before .. WHAM ..
out comes another tentacle like light, to drag the stupid whitefish in .. a
few minutes later, back comes the crayfish shell, and on it goes. I spent
almost a whole day watching this process, it was fascinating .. and I dare say
the little octopus even knew I was there and put on an extra special show for
me - it really felt like it. (Okay, I'm projecting, but .. wow. A fishing
octopus, using a lure!)

I hope one day we get a chance to understand these awesome creatures better -
and it certainly seems like we're closer now than ever to understanding just
how intelligent they can be.

There's an octopus I visit regularly at the local aquarium, here in middle-
Europe .. it looks so sad. I like to talk to it when I visit, and I've gotten
a response a few times .. out it comes, swimming from its little spot, to
saunter all over the glass of its tank, looking me right in the eye. That is a
delight, as sad as it is to see. I know how it feels, so far from the ocean,
so that's why I like to tell it nice things.

Definitely my favourite creature. Anyone got octopus tales to tell? I'd love
to hear them. I'd also love to hear from anyone who has managed to keep one in
captivity - much as I understand it to be a cruel exercise, the idea of having
a pet octopus appeals to me greatly. I'd never do it though - to take such a
delightful being from its ocean is beyond my means.

~~~
TheOtherHobbes
They're fascinatingly smart.

If they weren't aggressively solitary and if they lived for more than a couple
of years they'd rule the oceans.

If they lived on land as well we'd have serious competition.

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yareally
I was listening to a story on the local NPR station about Octopuses the other
week. The guest was a biologist and she had studied them for the past few
years.

One (of many) interesting comments she made was that Octopuses can live quite
a few years long if they're "fixed" (even right after reproducing). It does
something to normalize their physiology so whatever makes them want to die
after reproduction is nullified.

I was a great interview though if you're interesting in animal intelligence.

[http://radio.wosu.org/post/consciousness-and-intelligence-
oc...](http://radio.wosu.org/post/consciousness-and-intelligence-octopus-0)

~~~
fit2rule
Thanks for that! I'll be listening to it today ..

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dluan
Link to actual paper:
[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v524/n7564/full/nature1...](http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v524/n7564/full/nature14668.html)

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matwood
Funny and informative video about the octopus.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st8-EY71K84](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st8-EY71K84)

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jcr
recent:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10050582](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10050582)

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ArtDev
I may be pescatarian but still I don't eat octopus. They are really smart!

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gurkendoktor
I thought I was the only one :)

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DonHopkins
What's almost as amazing as the octopus in that video are the fish swimming
backwards at 1:58. That must be some kind of defensive behavior they've
evolved to confuse the octopus.

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progers7
It looks like the video is just reversed.

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DonHopkins
That octopus looked pretty confused to me!

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andrewchambers
If humans didn't evolve to be the dominant species on earth, perhaps the
octopus would have taken things over given a million more years of evolution.

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bro-stick
There's nothing but anthropocentrism to imply we're it. Another technological
species may emerge at any time, especially if we nuke ourselves or are
overtaken by antibiotic-immune pandemic/s. It would likely happen gradually as
a species diverges from one of the social apex predators. There would probably
be several overlapping species competing and interbreeding.

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eru
I share your scepticism about anthropocentrism.

> [...] or are overtaken by antibiotic-immune pandemic/s [...]

Unlikely. Even without any antibiotics, pandemics might kill in the order of
50% of the population (see black death in Europe for example), but as long as
a few thousand immune people survive they can rebuild.

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bro-stick
That makes a big assumption that all pandemics are not 100%. A total
extinction event could be something else: long-lived radiation beam or large
impact. Furthermore, some event need not kill all humans but only enough to
allow another species room to master its environment and begin to develop
technologies.

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curiousjorge
I always get hungry when I see squid or octopus, they sure are intelligent,
and tasty too

