Why Don't Octopus Suckers Stick to Their Own Body?
21 Jun 2014
Nature is the perfect engineer. Just like it designed snakes so that they don't poison themselves with their own venom, it created octopuses such that they don't stick their four pairs of arms with their suction pumps to their own bodies. Now, researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have tried to uncover the physiognomy behind this engineering.
Circular suckers cover the octopus's arms, which enables them to cling to things, grasp prey, and other objects. But they can keep their arms from attaching on themselves. This not a conscious act as their brains don't control the movement of their arms but the action of a chemical produced by octopus skin that temporarily prevents their suckers from sucking.