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Science 25 March 2005:
Vol. 307. no. 5717, p. 1927
DOI: 10.1126/science.1109616
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Brevia

Underwater Bipedal Locomotion by Octopuses in Disguise

Christine L. Huffard,1* Farnis Boneka,2 Robert J. Full1

Here we report bipedal movement with a hydrostatic skeleton. Two species of octopus walk on two alternating arms using a rolling gait and appear to use the remaining six arms for camouflage. Octopus marginatus resembles a coconut, and Octopus (Abdopus) aculeatus, a clump of floating algae. Using underwater video, we analyzed the kinematics of their strides. Each arm was on the sand for more than half of the stride, qualifying this behavior as a form of walking.

1 Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720–3140, USA.
2 Department of Fisheries and Marine Science, Universitas Sam Ratulangi, Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: chuffard{at}berkeley.edu

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