An octopus who lives in a beer bottle

Science blogger Mike Lisieski found this video of an octopus who's turned trash into treasure. It's a tight squeeze to get out of the bottle, but the ability to maneuver through tiny spaces is one of those skills octopuses evolved both to defend themselves against predators, and catch their own prey. Basically, an octopus can go anywhere that it can fit its hard beak through—the rest of its body is squishy and malleable. In fact, in aquariums, octopuses are often given mazes with narrow passageways and hidden food "prizes." The games help keep the octopus' awesome brain entertained in captivity.

Bonus: There's a great color-change moment right as the octopus pops out of the bottleneck.

Maggie Koerth-Baker is the science editor at BoingBoing.net. She writes a monthly column for The New York Times Magazine and is the author of Before the Lights Go Out, a book about electricity, infrastructure, and the future of energy. You can find Maggie on Twitter and Facebook.

Maggie goes places and talks to people. Find out where she'll be speaking next.

MORE: Science

More at Boing Boing

Ants and Stars: Bruce Sterling and Jasmina Tesanovic visit the Sardinia Radio Telescope in Italy

The Snowden Principle

dainel

Can they squeeze and deform their brain as well?
Donald Petersen

Christ, I’m never drinking out of colored bottles again.
drukqs

The gods must be crazy.
Ito Kagehisa

I bet each of those strategic, mantle-pulsing pauses is to equalize the pressure differential by letting water back into the bottle.
forgeweld

Lived in a really lovely champagne bottle until the recession hit.
Anonymous

“Just look at it.”
notavegan

And for all those still contemplating the correct plural, it is — obviously — octopiggle.

Lovely footage.

I do hope that the young men out there are not too squeamish. :}
devophill

This video goes well with Coil’s unreleased theme for Hellraiser as its soundtrack.
James

I grew up in living on the water in a harbor, and there were lots of sunken beer/soda cans that could be seen at low tide from our dock, or from a little rowboat. It seemed as though every third can held an octopus. Putting a stick inside would often draw an octopus out, while providing a lesson in how small things can be quite strong (and incredibly, screamingly, and thrillingly “ooogly”).

So one day I pulled up a can and could feel an octopus in there, but it would not come out, even if I let the water run out for a few seconds(!). Weird. So, being 8 years old, I put it in a bucket of sea water and left it overnight. The next morning, I had a bucket filled with a brave-yet-eager-to-leave mommy octopus and hundreds of teeny-tiny baby octopuses, each 4-5 mm, swimming like crazy all over the bucket. So delightfully cute! I let them go and hope their descendants are still hiding all over that harbor.

I learned a lot growing up, but perhaps no more than I did playing with sea life off the side of our dock.
- Talia
  
  That is one of the coolest comments I’ve yet to see on BB. Bucket o’ octopus. Awesome!
erg79

I’m reminded of Karl Pilkington’s comments on octopi.
Anonymous

Testing phase for a new product by Carlton United Breweries?
Anonymous

and they say housing market is getting better.
Anonymous

under the sea…Bob Bottle Glasspants!
Anonymous

A biologist friend of mine tells a story of a colleague who found some valuable fish had been stolen from the aquarium in his office. After losing a fish on two consecutive nights, even though the office was locked, he decided to sit in the dark in his office to catch the perp in the act. And he did.

Turned out the octopus in the next tank had lifted the glass lid on its own aquarium, climbed out, opened the lid on the fish tank, helped itself to a sleeping fish, and then crawled back home.
- Talia
  
  You know I’ve heard that same story, except it was taking place in an actual aquarium. Makes me wonder if its just an urban legend.
  
  *does some googling*
  
  decide for yourself I guess
  - Anonymous
    
    I heard it from a guy who heard it from a guy, the very hallmark of the urban legend. Thanks!
  - Anonymous
    
    It’s probably happened more than once. I it definitely occurred at Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka, AK in the Sage Building that housed the fisheries department. Lots of trout were going missing so one night some students sat in the dark and saw the octopus crawl out of one tank into another for dinner.
weatherman

Reminds me of me.
Anonymous

Octopi should get genetically engineered to live longer.

I, for one, would welcome our octopodean overlords.
Nash Rambler

“Look man, I’m trying to blend in here. Do you mind?”
Anonymous

Wow. I never would have thought the octopus could fit in there! You’d think he’d want to stretch out his legs, but I guess he don’t care. :o)

Rhyme Me a Smile
ferrohorse

Notice that the cool color change (camouflage) happens just as the octopus’ eye pops out of the bottle, when it can more clearly see the environment it needs to blend into!
- jimkirk
  
  And before the eyes pop out it’s the color you might see looking through an amber beer bottle.
Anonymous

When do you reckon he’s going to realise he needs a bigger front door.
You wouldn’t want to play with octopus in cans here, you’d quickly find they’re likely to have lots of iridescent blue rings on them.
heydemann3

Love the curled tentacle walking trick. I keep thinking octopodes must prefer to swim about.
And for a bonus, the folks who get to make the rules about such things just decided that all three of the common plurals for octopus is/are correct.
GEM

Weirdly enough I wonder why it pops its head out first and not a tentacle. Maybe it had to follow a first in; last out process because of the tight fit within the bottle.
- Trent Hawkins
  
  I’m guessing it’s easier to push itself out rather then pull itself out by grabbing the neck ring.
  - GEM
    
    Hmmm, the few videos I can find of octopi leaving bottles/tanks etc show them leaving by pushing out their tentacles first and then their head. I think this octopus had to leave head first because it didn’t have a choice. (I’m no scientist — just curious)
Anonymous

Cool! You can see it imitate a crab when it gets out.
alllie

Loved seeing that but I think it’s wrong to scare the octopus that way.