News Animals

Crabs can’t hide from an octopus with a mirror

Wild-caught cephalopods can learn to hunt for crabs using only their prey’s reflection

A yellow octopus is shown on a vertical mirror, with the reflection of its underside visible in the mirror

Octopuses initially approach a mirror to find reflected prey, but they eventually learn to move directly toward their target.

Mary Kieseler

By Nora Bradford

Mirrors are tricky. Even humans aren’t born with an intuitive understanding of them; we have to learn how they work. Now, scientists have discovered that the California two-spot octopus (Octopus bimaculoides) can also learn to use mirrors, researchers report June 3 in Current Biology.