Octopuses prefer to use different arms for different tasks, scientists find

For each clip, the researchers classified the behaviour of the octopus, such as fetching an object or walking, then classified the arm actions involved. Photograph: blickwinkel/Alamy

While some humans find they have two left feet on the dancefloor, octopuses manage to coordinate eight highly flexible arms across a host of behaviours, from foraging to den-building, or moving around the seafloor.

Now researchers say they have completed the most comprehensive study of its kind, not only identifying the actions and small motions involved in different types of movements, but revealing that – like primates, rodents and fish – the cephalopods prefer to use particular limbs for certain tasks.