Handedness in Octopus Vulgaris

Taken f rom "Animal behaviour" PROGRAM ABSTRACT Since handedness so far has only been studied in vertebrates, this study will examine arm preference in octopuses. As all eight arms of an octopus are capable of fulfilling the same tasks, there is not only a discrimination of behavioral asymmetries between left and right arms but also between frontal and hind arms. 8 octopuses were tested using a T-maze that allowed the insertion of only one arm at a time. The arm at the first contact and the first and second choice arm inside the T-maze were recorded. Over all animals a highly significant preference for frontal arms at the first contact and choice, but not for the second arm after the choice was found. There were two different approaches to fulfill the task. 5 octopuses significantly used their frontal arms throughout a trial, while 3 first touched the T-maze with their frontal arms, but then used their hind arms to reach into it. A strong correlation was found between the direction of approach to the maze and the arms used at first contact. 3 animals were found having a significant lateral preference of arm use throughout the trials. 2 of them were left-'handed' and one right-'handed'. Media Friendly Abstract" "Ruth A. Byrne*, Michael J. Kuba, Daniela V. Meisel & Ulrike Griebel Konrad Lorenz Institute, Austria. "