The haemolymph parameters for Octopus vulgaris and the condition index at molecular level were analysed using RNA/DNA and RNA/protein ratios on animals reared in floating cage systems and naturally infected by the coccidian Aggregata octopiana. Statistical analysis showed that as A. octopiana infection increased, there was a decrease in most inorganic elements and/or in haemocyte concentrations...

The genetic variability of the COI gene was studied in the common octopus, Octopus vulgaris Cuvier, 1797. A total of 222 individuals from 7 sampling sites were analysed with the aim of elucidating patterns of genetic variation along the coasts of Sardinia (Western Mediterranean). A total of 17 different haplotypes were identified with four principal haplotypes recorded in all locations. The pai...

Yekutieli Y, Mitelman R, Hochner B, Flash T. Analyzing octopus movements using three-dimensional reconstruction. J Neurophysiol 98: 1775–1790, 2007. First published July 11, 2007; doi:10.1152/jn.00739.2006. Octopus arms, as well as other muscular hydrostats, are characterized by a very large number of degrees of freedom and a rich motion repertoire. Over the years, several attempts have been ma...

Acetylcholine, the first neurotransmitter to be identified in the vertebrate frog, is widely distributed among the animal kingdom. The presence of a large amount of acetylcholine in the nervous system of cephalopods is well known from several biochemical and physiological studies. However, little is known about the precise distribution of cholinergic structures due to a lack of a suitable histo...

To cope with the exceptional computational complexity that is involved in the control of its hyper-redundant arms [1], the octopus has adopted unique motor control strategies in which the central brain activates rather autonomous motor programs in the elaborated peripheral nervous system of the arms [2, 3]. How octopuses coordinate their eight long and flexible arms in locomotion is still unkno...

The common octopus, Octopus vulgaris, is the first invertebrate species that was shown to possess two oxytocin/vasopressin (OT/VP) superfamily peptides, octopressin (OP) and cephalotocin (CT). Previously, we cloned a GPCR (G-protein-coupled receptor) specific to CT [CTR1 (CT receptor 1)]. In the present study, we have identified an additional CTR, CTR2, and a novel OP receptor, OPR. Both CTR2 a...

This study exposed 8 Enteroctopus dofleini separately to 2 unfamiliar individual humans over a 2-week period under differing circumstances. One person consistently fed the octopuses and the other touched them with a bristly stick. Each human recorded octopus body patterns, behaviors, and respiration rates directly after each treatment. At the end of 2 weeks, a body pattern (a dark Eyebar) and 2...

The DNA barcoding proposes the use of a particular sequence from a single genomic region as the base for an identifying system capable to determine all animal species. This methodology comprises the analysis of a 655 base-pair region from the mithocondrial cytochrome C oxidase gene (COI). Its application in the species identification of fishery products has been very promising. However, in the ...

In this study, we investigate the morphology and mechanical features of Octopus vulgaris suckers, which may serve as a model for the creation of a new generation of attachment devices. Octopus suckers attach to a wide range of substrates in wet conditions, including rough surfaces. This amazing feature is made possible by the sucker's tissues, which are pliable to the substrate profile. Previou...

The Octopus method packages a rich set of mostly graphical object-oriented (OO) modeling techniques that facilitate the creation of abstract, well-structured models of structure and behavior along a variety of modeling perspectives. The techniques provide good tools for managing the complexity in reactive, embedded systems. On the other hand, the lack of precise semantics for the modeling notat...