Science & Tech · Science & Environment · 5 hrs ago
Study maps how octopuses squeeze through holes narrower than their bodies
Researchers at the National University of Singapore and colleagues filmed three common octopuses squeezing through small holes at an aquarium in Vienna.
The team tracked 30 successful attempts, mapping a process that had not previously been broken down step by step.
Each octopus sent one arm through first, then followed with several more until they nearly filled the opening.
The arms on the far side used their suckers to grip the wall and pull the rest of the animal through.
When the hole was narrower than the distance between an octopus’s eyes, all its arms went through before its head and body.
Octopuses have no bones, and squeezing through tight gaps can help them escape predators or catch prey in the wild.
Researchers filmed octopuses squeezing through holes narrower than their bodies and mapped the movements step by step.
Common octopuses first sent one arm through, then followed with several more.
At wider openings, arms on the far side pushed against the wall to pull the head and body through.
At narrower openings, the common octopuses sent all their arms through before the head and body.
The study also tested Mexican four-eyed octopuses, which did not try the smaller openings.
- Who
- A research team led by Wenci Xin of the National University of Singapore.
- What
- The team studied how octopuses squeeze through openings narrower than their bodies.
- When
- The sources report the study on November 5, 2026; they do not state when the experiments took place.
- Where
- Experiments were conducted in boxes or tanks with adjustable openings. Earth.com says the common octopuses were filmed at a public aquarium in Vienna.
- Why
- To document how octopuses pass through narrow openings; Xin said the findings could help inform soft-robot design.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The team filmed octopuses attempting to pass through openings in their enclosures.
A common octopus put one arm through the opening and then sent several more after it.
Arms on the far side pushed against the wall, drawing the head and body through.
Common octopuses sent all their arms through before the head and body.
- Common octopuses tested
- 3, according to Earth.com
- Mexican four-eyed octopuses tested
- 4, according to Handelsblatt
- Common octopus attempts recorded
- 33 attempts; 3 failed after the animals damaged the apparatus, according to Earth.com
- Eye-distance range
- 15 to 35 millimeters, according to Handelsblatt
- Study leader
- Wenci Xin, National University of Singapore
3 sources
What people are saying
Octopuses can change their body shape to squeeze through tiny holes—almost as if water were flowing through a gap—so their size does not always determine where they can get.
Failed attempts suggest that octopuses may not be able to precisely judge whether they can fit through an opening.