What Do Sharks Eat?
The body of an octopus is remarkable enough. The common octopus, O. vulgaris, has eight armlike appendages, three hearts pumping blue blood, an ink-based defense mechanism, and highly developed jet propulsion. An octopus can change size, shape, texture, and color at will, and all at the same time if necessary.
Anil Seth • Being You: A New Science of Consciousness
And while smell can be put to complex uses—navigating the open oceans, finding prey, and coordinating herds or colonies—taste is almost always used to make binary decisions about food. Yes or no? Good or bad? Consume or spit?
Ed Yong • An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us
Adult oysters or mussels are sessile, meaning that their mobile larvae settle into one place and live stuck there for the rest of their lives. The choices afforded to these animals are few. Their nerves are centralized but not to the extent of full brains. They probably have fewer total neurons than, say, an ant. And a hearty mussel or oyster is... See more