During a recent study, lead author Guy Levy, a post-doctoral researcher of neurobiology currently associated with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, discovered that octopuses have simple movement, but no discernible rhythm, according to The Hoops News.
The researchers watched video of octopuses' movements frame-by-frame to detect what mechanisms are in play. Levy and his team found that octopuses don't have to turn their bodies to move in a certain direction. When humans walk, we turn our bodies to face the direction in which we want to move. The octopus doesn't have to.
Scientists also noted that octopuses are bilateral symmetric - meaning the left and right sides are mirror images of each other. The other interesting finding is that despite appearing to have a million joints, which would allow for fluidity of movement, an octopus doesn't bend its tentacles to propel itself. The octopus elongates and shortens its "arms" as needed.
