Unique nerve cells found in the animal’s suckers can detect prey’s defense chemicals
Octopus arms have minds of their own.Each of these eight supple yet powerful limbs can explore the seafloor in search of prey, snatching crabs from hiding spots without direction from the octopus’ brain. But how each arm can tell what it’s grasping has remained a mystery.
This may help an arm quickly distinguish food from rocks or poisonous prey, Harvard University molecular biologist Nicholas Bellono and his colleagues report online October 29 in Cell.
The findings provide another clue about the unique evolutionary path octopuses have taken toward intelligence.
