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How octopuses taste with their arms

Ultra-specialized proteins enable octopuses and squids to taste surfaces with their suckers — and these proteins are tailored to each animal’s way of life.
  1. Sara Reardon

    1. Sara Reardon is a freelance journalist based in Bozeman, Montana.

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Octopuses and squids both use the suckers on their limbs to grapple with their prey and to taste their quarry at the same time. Now, a pair of studies describes how these animals ‘taste by touching’ — and how evolution has equipped them with the perfect sensory ability for their lifestyles1,2. The papers were published in Nature on 12 April.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01010-3

References

  1. Allard, C. A. H. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05822-1 (2023).

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  2. Kang, G. et al. Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05808-z (2023).

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  3. Gutnick, T., Zullo, L., Hochner, B. & Kuba, M. J. Curr. Biol. 30, 4322–4327 (2020).

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  4. Graziadei, P. P. C. & Gagne, H. T. J. Morphol. 150, 639–679 (1976).

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