Schneider, Uexküll and Kollman all testify that the Octopus possesses
at least a rudimentary intelligence. Romanes agrees with these
authorities in attributing to this Mollusk “unmistakable evidences of
consciousness and intelligence.”[10]
“That Loligo (Octopus) and related higher Cephalopods have an extreme
agility, resourcefulness, and caution is already fully recognized by
naturalists, though abundant observations and experiments are still
much needed,” says Prof. John Muirhead Macfarland, in his “The Course
and Causes of Evolution” (1917).
A young Octopus in the Naples aquarium was seen by Schneider to
attack a Hermit-crab living within a shell upon which were several
Sea-anemones. Upon approaching the Crab the Octopus was stung by the
Anemones and quickly retreated. Thereafter it avoided contact with the
Crab. It had learned by experience that Anemone-protected Hermit-crabs
are “good things to let alone.” In the course of time, however, Octopi
learn to extract the Crabs from their shells without being stung by the
nettling cells of the Anemones. They also learn to capture large Crabs
and Lobsters without getting pinched.