Cami knows that I have a shrimp for her. Sometimes I just drop the shrimp into the tank by her rock for her to get, but today I wanted to have her come to the top so I could see her. Here she is trying to find the shrimp, not using her vision at all. She is hiding out in the cave to the left, but eventually emerged (from under rock where her arms are) and came up to get it. I missed filming the shrimp capture, but I thought this was pretty funny looking! (like some weird sea star)
Cheating a Little!
Updated: Aug 27, 2020
Interesting about the brain and taste sensors in the arms. Makes sense seeing those arms searching around. Well, tiny steps. Someday, Cami's big sociable personality may bloom (with a lot of treats)!!
She is not very sociable- food is a good motivator so I can see her. Her associating me with food is the main training. Every octopus has its own personality, and some are very sociable.
Each arm has taste sensors and its own brain and can independently search for food.
I love all those little arms searching around for the goodie. I know Octopi (Octopuses?) are shy. Do they ever relax and become trained to be more outgoing and friendly? They are so smart - it seems like they would be trainable. Also, do they "smell" or somehow sense molecules of food with their arms like other animals "smell" with feelers or feet?