Octopuses can ‘see’ with their skin

April 1, 2019 9:58 AM

Octopus skin can detect light and respond to it — no eyes or brain required. "Tests of fresh skin samples from California two-spot octopuses (Octopus bimaculoides) show this ability clearly for the first time in any cephalopod. White or blue light prompts the pale skin’s tiny quick-change color organs, or chromatophores, to expand, creating waves of yellows and browns."
posted by dhruva (15 comments total)

This is amazing and wonderful! Lots of chemical reactions are light sensitive, so I can 'see' how this could happen.

Also, did they give them MDMA first?
posted by poe at 10:21 AM on April 1, 2019

Well this is gonna make parts of The Wind Waker a lot more difficult.
posted by Navelgazer at 10:23 AM on April 1, 2019

Humans-not necessarily the coolest kids on the block.
posted by Oyéah at 10:37 AM on April 1, 2019 [1 favorite]

Is there anything an octopus can't do? They can do math, high five each other, but they are loners.
posted by bluefly at 11:15 AM on April 1, 2019 [1 favorite]

Mostly aquatic so fire is out.
posted by Artw at 11:16 AM on April 1, 2019 [4 favorites]

Humans-not necessarily the coolest kids on the block.

This reminded me (previously discussed on MeFi) that humans appear to have a retinal-dependent pathway that increases pigmentation in response to UV light according to the abstract for this study: Ion Channel and Calcium Signaling in Ultraviolet Light Transduction in Human Skin. Maybe not as cool as octopus skin, but still pretty cool.
posted by Mister Cheese at 11:59 AM on April 1, 2019 [3 favorites]

If you want to fall in love (with an octopus) and have your heart broken (by an octopus) and learn a lot about octopuses, Sy Montgomery's The Soul of an Octopus is a lovely read.
posted by Emmy Rae at 1:40 PM on April 1, 2019 [3 favorites]

scramblers! run away!
posted by lalochezia at 2:20 PM on April 1, 2019

Is there anything an octopus can't do?

Live longer than 5 years.

If octopuses had human-style lifespans, we would be in trouble.
posted by Xyanthilous P. Harrierstick at 3:55 PM on April 1, 2019 [5 favorites]

No system of writing either.
posted by Artw at 4:05 PM on April 1, 2019 [1 favorite]

Lots of chemical reactions are light sensitive, so I can 'see' how this could happen.

Not sure about octopi, but cuttlefish color changes are electromechanical. Tiny spheres with different colors on different sides are spun around in sockets.
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:11 PM on April 1, 2019 [1 favorite]

We can all see with our skin. Heat is infrared light is light, which we can all feel with our skin to some degree. I've often thought about some kind of IR lenses that could increase the resolution of the heat sensing nerves in our skin.
posted by runcibleshaw at 5:51 PM on April 1, 2019 [3 favorites]

This 1-minute video of octopus camouflage is one of the most insane things I have ever seen. Apparently 'Finding Dory' is a documentary.
posted by selfmedicating at 6:13 PM on April 1, 2019 [1 favorite]

> We can all see with our skin.

Some of us can even change our skin color in response to light.
posted by Phssthpok at 6:42 PM on April 1, 2019 [2 favorites]

Well, a brain is just what happens when the nervous system is centralised.
posted by acb at 12:42 PM on April 2, 2019