Inky ...

Intelligence is everywhere. Spiders dream, crows tease and plants communicate via fungi, facts one and all showing man not to be the sole entity possessing smarts, a concept shown to be eminently true as seen by the antics of cephalopods of all stripes.

Cephalopods—the family of creatures which contains octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish—are one of nature’s most intriguing creations. They are all soft-­bodied, containing no skeleton, only a hardened beak. They are aquatic, although they can survive for some time in the air; some are even capable of short flight, propelled by the same jets of water that move them through the ocean. They do strange things with their limbs. And they are highly intelligent, easily the most intel­ligent of the invertebrates, by any measure.

Octopuses in particular seem to enjoy demonstrating their intelli­gence when we try to capture, detain, or study them. In zoos and aquariums they are notorious for their indefatigable and often suc­cessful attempts at escape. A New Zealand octopus named Inky made headlines around the world when he escaped from the National Aquarium in Napier by climbing through his tank’s overflow valve, scampering eight feet across the floor, and sliding down a narrow, 106-­foot drainpipe into the ocean. At another aquarium near Dun­edin, an octopus called Sid made so many escape attempts, including hiding in buckets, opening doors, and climbing stairs, that he was eventually released into the ocean. They’ve also been accused of flood­ing aquariums and stealing fish from other tanks: Such tales go back to some of the first octopuses kept in captivity in Britain in the 19th century and are still being repeated today.

ESCAPE ARTISTS: Inky the octopus objected to his captivity, and escaped through a narrow drainpipe one night. Here, he’s pictured in footage taken before his great escape. Video still courtesy of Inside Edition / YouTube.

 

A jumping spider (E arcuata) exhibits leg curling during an REM sleep-like state. 

Photograph: Daniela C Roessler/AP

The question is not “do you have nightmares about spiders?” but, do spiders dream? About juicy flies, about humans, about anything at all?