Can an Octopus See Color? Exciting Results!

The science community has been going back and forth on whether or not octopuses are able to see color. Some say the fact that their eyes contain a single type of light receptor means they're color blind. Others claim that their oddly shaped pupils allow them to see color.
In this experiment, we used two cups. One pink, the other yellow.
When viewed in black and white, the two cups are identical.
We placed food under the yellow cup and presented it to our octopus multiple times. He reached under, and each time he found a tasty treat. We then spent some time giving him the pink cup. The pink cup was given to him each time without a snack.
We repeated this several times.
Our team then presented both cups to our octopus to see whether or not he would be able to find the fish under the yellow cup. We also ran a few tests without a snack to make sure he wasn't picking up on the smell.
The fact that these two cups are identical in black and white would mean a color blind animal would not be able to tell them apart. During the experiment, our octopus ignored the pink cup, and each time went for the yellow cup.
We were very excited to see that Arnold, the octopus in this video, showed incredible preference towards the yellow cup.
We will surely be running many more color tests in the near future including some requests from you, our loyal viewers.

[@riphopfer5816]

I love how he looks so pissed off when you trick him, and give him the yellow cup with no food. Rather than just going back to his barrel, he just has to stop by the front of the tank to give you the stink-eye and swear under his breath.

[@GenderWoman666]

That was cute XD

[@cindycook2555]

Oh yeah! There was stink eye going on!

[@atokata]

Truly brilliant. And funny smart.

[@littlemrpinkness295]

That's what that look was!

[@katemaxwell2804]

Noticed Arnold has perfected the testing bitch (octo) face

[@scruffyscrubs5468]

It makes sense that they can see colors. They need to blend in, hide in their surroundings in the ocean.

[@timapple6586]

I'm not suggesting that you're wrong, but... if what you suggest is true, then it would kinda be like a human being able to corn-row their own hair without using their hands [i.e. hair follicle = chromatophore, in terms of conscious individual control]. Again: i'm not doubting you. These critters are all kinds of impressive.

[@scruffyscrubs5468]

@@timapple6586 from what I understand octopus are shy, they like to hide. Their surroundings in which they hide in is important, I would assume. I also wonder about HOW much they know about different colored fish and which ones they can go after.

[@VeryEvilGM]

I've actually seen footage of test where they're able to mimic shapes and colours despite being in complete darkness, so it's gotta be something else than vision.

[@scruffyscrubs5468]

@@VeryEvilGM like a cameleon?

[@anti-ethniccleansing465]

Scruffy Scrubs Not all species of octopus can see color. It’s a shame that this channel can easily mislead people into thinking that all octopuses see color. From Wikipedia’s page regarding octopuses... “Colour vision appears to vary from species to species, for example being present in O. aegina but absent in O. vulgaris.[50] Researchers believe that opsins in the skin can sense different wavelengths of light and help the creatures choose a coloration that camouflages them, in addition to light input from the eyes.[51] Other researchers hypothesise that cephalopod eyes in species which only have a single photoreceptor protein may use chromatic aberration to turn monochromatic vision into colour vision, though this sacrifices image quality.[52] This would explain pupils shaped like the letter U, the letter W, or a dumbbell, as well as explaining the need for colourful mating displays.[53]” And this Wiki quote on the same page is regarding this channel’s earlier test about their hearing... “Attached to the brain are two special organs called statocysts (sac-like structures containing a mineralised mass and sensitive hairs), that allow the octopus to sense the orientation of its body. They provide information on the position of the body relative to gravity and can detect angular acceleration. An autonomic response keeps the octopus's eyes oriented so that the pupil is always horizontal.[22] Octopuses may also use the statocyst to hear sound. The common octopus can hear sounds between 400 Hz and 1000 Hz, and hears best at 600 Hz.[54]”

[@littlemrpinkness295]

Pink: barely even touches it Yellow: MY FRIEND!!!

[@oa4895]

God, imagine the sense of betrayal when he looked under the yellow cup and didn't get a treat. That's cold, guys.

[@pglen6042]

My thought, too.

[@adriennemacdonell7928]

Would have been interesting to see if he would have expected a treat in each cup if both were yellow...or ignore two pink cups...

[@billmclaughlin8438]

I think a better test would be one where a solid colored container had a screw on lid thus eliminating the possibility of the octopus from “smelling” or tasting the food with the very tips of his tentacles. In the video I see the tips go into the cups notches. Make sure the octopus has learned to unscrew the lid for his snack first. Then run the test. Also run it with pastel red, green and blue as well.

[@Kathy61954]

Arnold is not only graceful ... he's smart,too .

[@ildikokiraly9412]

Arnold looking forward to go to school tank to solve problems

[@ARCHIVED9610]

He’s also very beautiful! ✨

[@BobT36]

Aww I love how he got to keep the tiles from the previous experiment.Are Octopus sentimental creatures? As in do they keep trinkets and lil possessions like magpies do.

[@willjones6234]

I've heard that they collect shiny pebbles and pieces of metal and glass to decorate thier dens

[@littlemrpinkness295]

I saw the tiles piled up in hus barrel. Does he use them to block the doorway of his barrel?

[@willjones6234]

@@littlemrpinkness295 maybe, idk

[@santamonicahelpassistant418]

Lol how it physically moves away from the pink cup @4:31 XD

[@JamesMichael333]

Octopus always amaze me every time i watch them. Just to see them move is amazing. The way they can instantly change their entire skin to camouflage themselves perfectly with their background is beyond incredible when you think about it.

[@user-vn7ce5ig1z]

We are constantly learning fascinating things about them. In the past few years alone, we've learned numerous astounding things that blew our minds. They're definitely one of the best creatures on Earth. 👍

[@GenderWoman666]

I totally agree with you :)

[@whiteboynse]

Not only does he favor the yellow one he completely avoids the pink one like it's hot to the touch.then you can tell he felt deceived when there was no snack..

[@samhaines8228]

I suspect he was disappointed when you ran the double cup without a snack. I would love to know more about the chromatophore camouflage system, specifically how cephalopods sense the colors of their surroundings and then respond to match it.

[@anondecepticon]

This is the first video of yours that I’ve watched, so please forgive me if this is a stupid suggestion, or you’ve already done something similar. Could he do an interactive color matching experiment, or does he seem not to care what the humans are doing outside his tank? I think it would be interesting to see if you could “show” him which of 3-5 colored cups in his tank contains a treat by holding up the corresponding color cup from an identical set placed outside his tank. (Or if you think he can smell it, put a treat under two of the colored cups and give him a bonus treat reward if he picks the color you held up - something better/tastier that he’d prefer over simply eating the treats under both cups.)

[@OrbitFallenAngel]

That would be a amazing experiment especially if Arnold, the octopus shown here was doing it...🐙💙🐙💙🐙 You should watch all of the Octolab videos!! 🥰

[@tehstormie]

Yes! Great idea! Octolab?

[@Marie-zz1el]

Now I wanna see this! Lol

[@trindalas]

I would keep the treats outside the tank and just drop it in for it if it picks right.

[@browneyedbitch62]

This octopus is smarter than some people I know

[@Vidchemy]

Do the pink and yellow cups look identical under infrared or ultraviolet light? It would also be interesting to see how finely octos can distinguish color. For example, between pink and orange. Also, would it have problems distingishing between colors not typically seen in their environment?

[@mattrogers5188]

Some animals that we call color blind are seeing more than black, gray, and white. They can see a limited range of colors, such as from yellow through green to blue. The octopus could be seeing the color of at least one cup, even if we would consider her color blind.

[@CairnOwl]

What astounding intelligence and personality.

[@alexandersmith4796]

I'd be lovely to see the octopuses mess with some sort of dynamic tool, like legos.

[@lesliesylvan]

Keeping yellow close by in case a midnight snack appears! . . . Would love to see this and similar experiments duplicated by others, w/different subjects.

[@owenmerrick2377]

It's interesting to watch Arnold feel around under the cup first, with one tentacle; is there a way to tell if this is the one he uses a lot? It would almost indicate a 'handed'-ness. Interesting to watch; I wonder if you filtered the tank light, would it be the same.

[@riphopfer5816]

How did you cleanse the cup to ensure he couldn’t still smell food on it? The way to remove food smell as a variable is actually to make sure they BOTH smell of food, but only one ever contains food.

[@user-vn7ce5ig1z]

True, but it's underwater, the residue wouldn't stick to the container much and would permeate throughout the tank, including to the other cup.

[@riphopfer5816]

You don’t think an octopus is sufficiently sensitive to detect the differential in concentration of food particles? They manage to do it in THE OCEAN, where the water is in constant motion, bringing new flavours with each new current, and life forms are also constantly moving around, altering the intensity of an octopus’s prey’s chemical trail... yet they STILL track down their prey in pitch darkness, simply by feeling and tasting with their suckers.

[@craigmooring2091]

Next step: a wider variety of hues and subtler differences (teal vs. aqua, e.g.). What I found most interesting this time (because I didn't doubt his ability to differentiate colors) was how he ascertained the presence of the snack and how he took it. He never exposed the snack to view but felt inside the cup and then engulfed the cup before tilting it to bring the snack to his beak. We land predators would prefer to see what the snack (even if we could smell that it was there) rather than risking a wound to (or loss of part of) an appendage. And we can't really individually surround a prey to prevent escape. These creatures are so fascinating because they have a degree of intelligence matched or exceeded by only a few genera of mammals and birds, yet they are invertebrates with an entirely different body plan and inhabit a radically different environment (even the cetaceans breathe air and don't dwell on the seafloor).

[@iruns1246]

Yeah, just using the two colors makes the experiment unreliable. Maybe those two colors have different lightness values when viewed by the octopus. If their one monochromatic photoreceptor type is more attuned to the blue hue, the yellow cup would simply look darker.

[@helgafalckenberg6635]

If they would be colorblind, for whom would they change the color, if they are angry or have other moods? Hm?

[@muskokamike127]

I'm blue green colour blind and can still see patterns and shades...probably better at shades than normal vision people.....

[@timapple6586]

+Helga Instagram..?

[@VeryEvilGM]

I've actually seen footage of test where they're able to mimic shapes and colours despite being in complete darkness, so it's gotta be something else than vision.

[@anti-ethniccleansing465]

Not all species of octopus can see color. It’s a shame that this channel can easily mislead people into thinking that all octopuses see color. From Wikipedia’s page regarding octopuses... “Colour vision appears to vary from species to species, for example being present in O. aegina but absent in O. vulgaris.[50] Researchers believe that opsins in the skin can sense different wavelengths of light and help the creatures choose a coloration that camouflages them, in addition to light input from the eyes.[51] Other researchers hypothesise that cephalopod eyes in species which only have a single photoreceptor protein may use chromatic aberration to turn monochromatic vision into colour vision, though this sacrifices image quality.[52] This would explain pupils shaped like the letter U, the letter W, or a dumbbell, as well as explaining the need for colourful mating displays.[53]” And this Wiki quote on the same page is regarding this channel’s earlier test about their hearing... “Attached to the brain are two special organs called statocysts (sac-like structures containing a mineralised mass and sensitive hairs), that allow the octopus to sense the orientation of its body. They provide information on the position of the body relative to gravity and can detect angular acceleration. An autonomic response keeps the octopus's eyes oriented so that the pupil is always horizontal.[22] Octopuses may also use the statocyst to hear sound. The common octopus can hear sounds between 400 Hz and 1000 Hz, and hears best at 600 Hz.[54]”

[@ildikokiraly9412]

Exactly..why would they change pattern and colors

[@angelitabecerra]

Need to do it with other octopuses too. And I'd make sure to have two *separate* yellow cups; one that was *always* used with the food and one that was always used *without* food. Unless y'all thoroughly washed that yellow cup for the dry runs (no food runs) he'd still smell residual food scent on it. Also, I'd throw in a lot more dry runs next time. I'd condition another octopus to go for the pink cup. And then eventually do a side by side experiment with both octopuses (similar how y'all did the music test) and see how they react. If they can see color one should go for the yellow and the other for the pink. Additionally I'd like to see this experiment with the two conditioned octopuses with nothing but dry runs. We all know they have excellent memory. This way we can see if they truly can see in color by remembering which one had food previously.

[@evac.705]

Was the food snack alive? If so could they feel vibrations? Then hone into the correct color??

[@yoonmikim5663]

The 5:17 says no food in either cup... so clearly chose the yellow one anyway.

[@timapple6586]

@@yoonmikim5663 I'm guessing by that point, the octopus knew the deal and was actually looking for a weapon?

[@averywatts2391]

They also had mentioned multiple runs without food in the cup to control for the octopus being able to smell or otherwise sense the food.

[@flanneryred1939]

I KNEW that was wrong! Who ever said they were color blind in the first place?! I've even always wondered, since the have brains in their legs, maybe they sort of assess colors in a completely different way that's not known to us????

[@purpleghost106]

The assumption was actually based on the photoreceptors they physically possess, or rather the ones they don't since they don't have multiple types. They have a trick to seeing though, they apparently shift their pupil to allow light to bend in ways to let them see colour An artist/biologist did a video on it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipuzmYyLdr5lp6s

[@flanneryred1939]

@@purpleghost106 WOW!! Thanks for sharing that! Im gonna watch it NOW!!!

[@flanneryred1939]

@@purpleghost106 OMG!!! An EXTRA thanks! Because now Ive discovered an AWESOME new KZbin channel as well!! (AND for bonus points...I ADORE he voice and accent!)

[@great-grandmakirk8828]

These animals are marvelous creatures, they are fascinating to watch.

[@darebird3183]

What a fascinating creature! They surely have eyes containing only one type of light receptor, which means they see only black and white. According to a team of reserchers from the Universities of California, Berkeley, and Harvard, ''The unusual pupil of cephalopods allows light to enter the eyes through the lens from many directions, rather than just straight into the retina. So the cephalopods may actually be able to see color just differently from any other animal!'' Arnold the Octoking clearly prefers the yellow cup. Your videos are fun but most important they are educational! Keep up the good work octoteam!

[@Mister_Matthew]

I wish I could work with you guys, I love everything that you have done. I am so happy and excited that their is finally a full time octopus channel on KZbin and you guys should be recognized for trying all these things with octopuses

[@DasSpaceAce]

"You wanna know which one is usually food cup right? Dis. Dis is food cup."

[@cathebrooks63]

What happens if you give them a "lovee" like a stuffed animal. We know they cuddled the soft square, but would they recognize a shape or just enjoy the texture??

[@xifanie]

Could you test near-infrared and UV lights? Use blackened jars, impossible to see through. You could shine the light at a spot and it would indicate where the octopus' next meal is. Start the test with one jar with the light shining over it, then move on to 2+ jars with the others being empty.

[@IraLemon]

No way ......., an octopus is not colorblind ? OMG !!! This is very interesting ! 👍 TYVM for this experimentation. 🙏 I want to say, please hug the octopus for me. But then, maybe you don't hug an octopus. 😁

[@kerryrwalton7791]

Perhaps do the same experiment again in a few days using the pink cup. Thank you for the fascinating and wonderful videos!

[@dvoraj20]

@@kerryrwalton7791 There's a risk that the octopus will remember they got nothing in the pink bucket in the previous experiment. If that happens, you'll need a fresh set of octopuses.

[@anti-ethniccleansing465]

Ira Lemon Not all species can see colors. From wikipedia: Colour vision appears to vary from species to species, for example being present in O. aegina but absent in O. vulgaris.[50] Researchers believe that opsins in the skin can sense different wavelengths of light and help the creatures choose a coloration that camouflages them, in addition to light input from the eyes.[51] Other researchers hypothesise that cephalopod eyes in species which only have a single photoreceptor protein may use chromatic aberration to turn monochromatic vision into colour vision, though this sacrifices image quality.[52] This would explain pupils shaped like the letter U, the letter W, or a dumbbell, as well as explaining the need for colourful mating displays.[53] Attached to the brain are two special organs called statocysts (sac-like structures containing a mineralised mass and sensitive hairs), that allow the octopus to sense the orientation of its body. They provide information on the position of the body relative to gravity and can detect angular acceleration. An autonomic response keeps the octopus's eyes oriented so that the pupil is always horizontal.[22] Octopuses may also use the statocyst to hear sound. The common octopus can hear sounds between 400 Hz and 1000 Hz, and hears best at 600 Hz.[54]

[@thinkingformyself3280]

What if same containers but both have a treat but one is the favorite?

[@cassiekay8633]

great idea ! I hope they do this !

[@TiagoTiagoT]

Is it possible they can't see one of the colors, but it looks darker to them in spite of appearing to have the same brightness to us?

[@vexphoenix]

What a phenomenally special creature

[@rachelwebber3605]

This is very intriguing. Will there be a paper published to go along with these videos?

[@SimSim314]

It's a good start. You have proven that octopus can distinguish yellow from pink. Color perception is multidimensional for example the human eye can distinguish three channels red, green and blue. Octopus can have more or less color channels and different sensitivity in each channel, to subtle changes.

[@womanofsubstance8735]

Might he be responding to the frequency or intensity of the color? The yellow was much stronger in intensity, while the pink was a much less saturated color.

[@Zekiran]

How much of any given experiment seems to 'carry' from one to the next? Do they remember 'hey I got something nice from this yellow bucket' but now it's in a different experiment? (and how do you keep track of all the ways that you do these without getting confused yourselves?)

[@lesliesylvan]

Zekiran: Good point . . . retry test w/same barometers, in three or four months, perhaps.

[@timapple6586]

SUPER good point!! So now i'm wondering, what with all this discussion about visual stimuli, is there any role played by persistent pheromone signatures?

[@NewMessage]

Pretty conclusive that he can tell the difference between the two... but we can't know for sure it's color. There may be a difference *we* are unaware of, but he is. Like the exact tone of grey, for instance.. which we see as the same, but he might see a subtle difference in... or the smell/taste of the pigment in the paint.

[@sternamc919sterna3]

They probably will not see colours the same way we do. The structure and cells in their eyes are different from ours. You may have a point there. The yellow cup, though not having treats inside may have retained the "smell", small molecules of treats that the octopus is able to detect. I would do one experiment with same colour but one of the cups never contained treats, and never handled by hands that touched treats.

[@fuldk]

You can see how smart it is by the way it turns the cup towards itself to reduce the chance of the bait getting away.

[@lucienneketelaars1060]

Maybe he rememberd that there was food in the yellow one or there is a smell of it

[@Grug_Crood]

Humans:This Is A Bucket. Octopus: *Dear God*

[@Jen39x]

So I’m thinking I may have been one that questioned last time if Arnold was truly reacting to color or to something else we couldn’t perceive. I’m a believer now. Arnold does understand color.

[@MauriceTarantulas]

Can't they taste/smell food underwater?

[@lesliesylvan]

Still went to yellow when both were empty, toward the end of the experiment, which would indicate a strong likelihood of no taste/smell, per say; or it could be curiosity, wondering why it had food the first time/what's going on? Test needs to be duplicated again.

[@DeactivatedAlmonds]

@@lesliesylvan He still recognised it as the yellow one haha

[@nic12344]

Octopi actually have better eyes than us! They can see the polarization of the light much better than we do. They also don't have a blind spot and their nerves are behind the retina, unlike us. They have only one type of cones, but the shape of their pupil scatters light like a prism. By using chromatic aberration, they can distinguish every color wavelengths, unlike only 3 like we do. This also give them a better low light vision, since their cones are sensitive to a wide light spectrum.

[@andrewbesso4257]

"Humans understand color! I'll transmit that to the collective intelligence."

[@cindot2520]

Well you answered my question I had yesterday. After watching how they reacted to different color cloths, it made me wonder. Thanks guys!

[@tupecktherappingparrot4345]

Awe Arnold, Fly Honey the cockatoo seems to really like your videos! Which we did not expect (we never know which animals she’s gonna like or dislike... found out the hard way she’s terrified of bunnies & Matt Damon... we dunno what Matt ever did to her!😂🤷🏼‍♀️). She seemed to like fish a lot like some parrots have shown, so we stumbled across this & went “YES!!!” Cuz we are big octopus fans over here... marine life in general too. Turns out she is quite fascinated by it. She’s big on graceful dancers (she’s studying ballet in our performing flock, & quite talented, can do a full arabesque now!) so we think she likes the graceful ways an octopus moves cuz she is cooing when she’s what she thinks is particularly good octopus choreography. Lol. Observing her observing the octopus has kept us content all morning. So we subbed you. Cuz now our humans are invested in this octopus intelligence study of Arnold here, & Fly Honey thinks she’s found her only possible Pas De Deux partner worthy of her talent. Come by & say hi & check out the awesome stuff we are learning about parrot intelligence over on our channel where our birds actively help run it, choose content, & work towards achieving their ambitions as performers (honestly its been the best enrichment for a bird that smart! We want everybirdie using these methods cuz these animals are that smart that they may have ambitions and goals too! Which means they think forward to the future & that’s exciting to be learning). Tell Arnold Fly Honey says hi & gives a graceful ballerina wave.

[@jeannsammons5833]

This just keeps getting better and better, love it !!!!!

[@DaveBenhamMusic]

A better test would be the same food in both cups, but in pink cup it should be within an inner compartment that is inaccessible, but still allows scent to pass through, and in yellow cup the food should be in a similar inner compartment, but one that is accessible.

[@luiscavalcanti3431]

I love how beautiful he looks like as he opened up all his entire body to move from one place to another. How gorgeous this creature is

[@anirudhwodeyar9835]

Depends on the receptor, what if the single receptor can see blue/yellow, is pink still the same as yellow in that color space?

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

When you showed the cups in greyscale, the yellow one (on my screen anyway) looked a lot shinier than the pink one. Can you be certain that he's seeing the colours and not the depth of shine? My bet is he can see colour, but I couldn't say for sure.

[@sternamc919sterna3]

You may have great vision😉

[@debbiedunn4477]

He seems to prefer the brighter color. He even wanted to take it home!

[@lauriedmills7581]

Looks like he's keeping that yellow cup lol

[@maranscandy9350]

How many types of cones do octopus eyes have?

[@vir042]

One :P

[@VideofilmOne]

The design in the cups allow smell to come out and allow his tentacles to probe inside.

[@fishfootface]

Not surprised he can see colour. Would need to, to survive, surely. Love watching him move. Addictive. 💜

[@gojiberry7201]

I am so happy I found your channel! :) :) :)

[@red_dulge]

Exciting, yet you should try to experiment if he can actually smell the food or not, like putting food in the pink cup while none in the yellow cup, that would be interesting.

[@stuartandrews4344]

Most intresting,wonder whether the octopus could tell the difference between a plain yellow pot & yellow pot, say with strips or spots.

[@artboxfashion4042]

He looks angry because he wants food under the cup.

[@pseudorca101]

Arnold is too smart to be fooled around. What if they can sense different colours by not “seeing” them but recognizing the differences of length waves of colours? Thanks and keep up the great jobs. :-)

[@lesliesylvan]

pseudo: Interesting way of interpreting spectrum . . . In a sense, aren't they the same thing? Or not?? Framing the query from a different perspective 👏🏼👏🏼

[@jansultan4850]

colors are different frequencies of light. they may not see color was we do, but as different vibrations.

[@RoadRunnerLaser]

I'm not sure that your question makes sense. "Colour" is what we perceive based upon how different wavelengths of light stimulate the receptors in our eyes. When we perceive red, the receptors in our eyes which are sensitive to long wavelengths (around 600-700nm) are being stimulated. When we see violet or blue, the receptors sensitive to shorter wavelengths (between around 400-480nm) are being stimulated. Receptors which are sensitive to wavelengths between those two extremes enable us to perceive green things. "Seeing" is what we call being able to sense light with our eyes. Being able to recognise the differences of wavelengths of light with our eyes is the definition of being able to see colour.

[@lesliesylvan]

@@RoadRunnerLaser Agreed. I was not clear. You expressed it far better; thanks. Was appreciative of Pseudo thinking outside the box; necessary when trying to understand a being that is as odd as one we could find on another planet! lol

[@pseudorca101]

@RoadRunnerLaser Thanks for your explanation on how seeing colour works. I guess I wasn’t clear before. My assumption is Arnold as an octopus could “sense” or “know” the difference by means of something beyond what we know about colour detecting. There are so many myths about non-human life that we don’t understand because we are not them. I think that’s the point. We are so often trying to see others via anthropocentric approach which leads to many biased conclusions about them. We tend to rely on “science” to understand them. But they don’t care. For me, the most amazing truth about them is how they react with their surroundings which make them what they are. :-)

[@lindajohnson7838]

Love the way he rocks himself in his barrel 😊

[@covidhoax7646]

You had any doubt that octopus can see color before this? Lol. Just observe it in nature!

[@tylerjames1716]

You should give Arnold a non toxic underwater marker of some sort and a canvas to see if he could figure out if it can draw lines

[@fen7662]

They tried this, like, a century ago on cats to see if they see color. Cats, in spite of their intelligence, are chaotic and don't give a crap, so they ended up incorrectly concluding that cats are colorblind. 😂

[@user-ls7ju2ld4h]

So glad your putting this on KZbin for us to see.

[@arterickson9809]

Hi uncle had a crab line off the West Coast of Vancouver Island near Tofino. We found an octopus in the crab trap one day and he was mad and fire engine red. When we released him he dropped to the bottom of the harbour and immediately became mottled green with fronds that looked like the surrounding weeds. It was virtually indistinguishable from the weed covered rocks below the water. I would expect that any creature who can change their colour and texture to match their surroundings would have to be capable of distinguishing colors.

[@GenderWoman666]

Ofc, they see colors. If colors are elements of their communication, it's quite obvious. But in this experiment we can watch, how octopi *learn* and how they use it :D

[@richiejohnson]

I am fascinated by them of course. But I can't help but remember the Hannibal Lecter line, "I'd like to eat you with some fava beans and a nice Chianti" yes I've had a couple of pops

[@ungovernableevilmonger4660]

No snack under yellow cup. Soundtrack changes to "betrayal" by spoony.

[@mikedtw]

I love learning more and more about these fascinating beings, so first of all Thanks! Just gotta say, its happened other vids too - intently watching the octopus on screen when out of nowhere comes the scene-stealing shrimp, I think it is, scampering across the screen (1:10). I had to laugh out loud!

[@donnaflowers3775]

IDK... I keep seeing him check the pink cup low key, all the way to the end. Octopuses are intelligent, he probably thinks of the cups like shells and there's a possibility of food every time.

[@politicallycorrectredskin796]

This is just the weirdest animal I can think of. I seriously think that if octopuses had not existed and you had found this on an alien planet, you would have had to spend months convincing people that it was a real creature and not a hoax.

[@elipkau]

No doubts about that yummy yellow!!!

[@trindalas]

Each time there’s no food I’m just like 🥺 poor octo… But I do understand the need for control. I woulda given it a snack if it picked right though. And maybe added a couple extra colors. Pretty cool though.

[@thecognitivedissonant5206]

You've make me into an octopus lover! They are so smart and interesting, although freaky lol ❤❤

[@markgearing]

To test for octopus colour vision, can’t you just dissect an octopus eye?

[@Daverotherham]

You need a pretty good awareness of colour to be as good at camouflage as octopuses.

[@personadeincognito]

I love him. Such a cutie❤️

[@johannagumundsdottir2914]

the cup might still have smell from the food even if its empty.

[@SpergleberryFarm]

Now, how about same colors, but different shaped object to see if he generalizes the color as a signal for potential food. So, this time you'd provide square objects of the same shape, but one of each color.

[@user-vn7ce5ig1z]

Well that was a pretty clear-cut result. 👍

[@victoriachatterbox8492]

Have you ever tested with a light dimmer to see what level of light they prefer

[@aesthetic_rex]

"Hm yes, is there snack maybe? Mm yes, there's snack."

[@billphoenix7727]

what if he chooses yellow not because he can tell it is yellow, but because its is a different shade of gray/white than the pink one

[@CopalFreak]

Very cool results!

[@jmmjjmmj8994]

They are probably more sensitive to differences of gray tone than we are.

[@offthewall9988]

do they also have 360+ vision too? i had a nightmare once where i dreamt i was an octopus with brilliant colour vision could see predator from miles away, knew i couldn't out swim them or fool them with ink, tried to hide in coral found it to be a fatal error, trapped, torn to pieces, eaten alive. woke up screaming. GOD! life must be absolutely terrifying in the ocean for such an intelligent creature with the fishy words 'fresh meat' stamped on it! horrifying!

[@parker2969]

did the cup get cleaned after first step with treat?

[@rosem6604]

"I used to love my yellow cup... pout"

[@bonniehowell6604]

Yep, he can see colors & isn’t pleased to get no treat! Gives ou the stink eye overit.

[@pokestep]

This does not really mean they can see colors but rather is able to distinguish yellow from pink. Can they see all three colors (red, green, blue)? Or more? Or different? Remember that dogs can also distinguish certain colors yet they only see green and blue, not red.

[@ratnamaryama3360]

Turns out octopus very smart.. they even check up on it... Amazing 😍😍😍 @Octolab TV

[@dianeclarke3763]

WTG! Arnold... these beautiful creatures are so fascinating to watch... I 💕 🐙

[@richardlynch5632]

Would an octopus keep eating if food was constantly available, or do they feel full at a certain point? What is a full meal for an octopus of this size?

[@sternamc919sterna3]

I can tell you that they can choose from different types of food and leave intact the ones they don't prefer. Also some individuals in aquaria will only accept food from one handler and reject food from other handlers, even not touching it at all.

[@sternamc919sterna3]

The size of the meal they will take depends on their age and activity. As they mature and reach reproduction phase the amount of food ingested decreases.

[@TwixyNo]

They also turn colors when they get frisky. If they were colorblind what would be the purpose of that?