Veined octopus uses tool: a coconut

12/21/2009

The veined octopus uses two coconut shell halves as shelter - the first documented "tool use" in an invertebrate/ Credit Roger Steene

When Jane Goodall discovered that chimpanzees made and used tools, something formerly assigned only to humans, she famously said that we had to rethink the definition of what it means to be human.  Recently, Australian scientist Julian Finn said he was “gobsmacked” when he observed – and filmed – the veined octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus) using two coconut halves to create shelter for itself, making it the first invertebrate scientists observed using a tool (Gobsmacked is a awesome word isn’t it?!)

Many creatures, including invertebrates, use various objects as shelter but these octopi actually select two shell halves, clean them out, and them assemble them together to create a shelter in which it hides. Other scientists define tool use differently, so debate is out on whether other scientists will ultimately concede tool use to these cephalopods, but Finn and his colleague Mark Norman, both from Melbourne’s Museum Victoria, argue in the affirmative. They observed several of these octopi engaging in this cool behavior while scuba diving in Indonesia – including Bali and North Sulawesi – between 1998 and 2008.