Selfie ... Cephie

These eight-armed cephalopods are quite the multitasker. No other animals are capable of such extreme arm flexibility and control. Octopuses are unique in that they have eight flexible appendages that can bend, shorten, elongate and twist (arm deformations) in all directions due to their extensive nervous system in each arm and the complex arrangement of their arm musculature (and lack of bones). The combination of these deformations creates different arm behaviors that can occur on the same arm and different arms simultaneously to achieve complex whole animal behaviors. Details from a recent study showed that all eight arms are capable of all arm behaviors; however, front arms were used more often for exploratory behaviors and back arms were used more often for behaviors involved in locomotion. Researchers were able to record and analyze a large octopus behavior catalog from 25 octopuses across six field sites. Scientific SCUBA divers held their cameras close as the octopus tried to take a selfie (cephie).