QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by WELLS, M. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by WELLS, M. J.

Journal of Experimental Biology 40,187-193 (1963)
Published by Company of Biologists 1963

Taste by Touch: Some Experiments with Octopus

M. J. WELLS ¹

¹ Department of Zoology, Cambridge

1. A method of teaching Octopus chemotactile discriminations is described.

2. The animals can be shown to be capable of distinguishing by touch between porous objects soaked in plain sea water and sea water with hydrochloric acid, sucrose or quinine sulphate added.

3. They can detect these substances in concentrations at least 100 times as dilute as the human tongue is capable of detecting them in distilled water.

4. They can be trained to distinguish between equimolar (0.2 mM) solutions of hydrochloric acid, sucrose and quinine.

5. They can also be trained to distinguish between sea water and fresh water or half-strength sea water or sea water with twice the usual quantity of salt.

6. The function of the ‘olfactory organ’ is discussed.

7. Chemotactile learning is discussed in relation to the means by which Octopus finds its way about the territory around its ‘home’

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. I. Glendinning How Do Predators Cope With Chemically Defended Foods? Biol. Bull., December 1, 2007; 213(3): 252 - 266. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]