Octopi

There are a lot of really fine articles about octopi on the National Geographic site.

Here we learn that the nerve bundles in the tentacles of octopi may be capable of some low-level processing without the central brain.

Here we learn of an octopus species that not only changes its colour and texture, but has a wide array of tricks at its disposal to mimic predators like lionfish and sea snakes, and may tailor its mimicry to the species of the potential threat it is trying to fend off. Clever creatures, these octopi.

And here is an octopus species so sexually dimorphic that the female is up to 40,000 times heavier than the male. They mate by exchanging severed tentacles filled with sperm, which the female squirts as from a turkey baster over her eggs.

And here, via YAWL, is a snail plated with iron.

Go octopi!

Posted by aloysius at November 15, 2003 06:35 PM | TrackBack |