An Arm That Can Taste

Reach out and touch something, and you feel its shape and texture. An octopus reaching out does something stranger: it tastes what it touches, instantly, through hundreds of suckers lining each arm.

Nyoosha mkono uguse kitu, nawe utahisi umbo na mguso wake. Pweza anaponyoosha mkono hufanya jambo la ajabu zaidi: huonja kile anachokigusa, papo hapo, kupitia mamia ya vikombe vilivyopangwa katika kila mkono.

Scientists recently discovered that octopus suckers contain special receptors unlike anything found in other animals, built to sense chemicals that do not dissolve in water. This lets an octopus slide an arm into a dark crack in the rocks and immediately know what is hiding there, food, danger, or nothing at all, without needing to see it or pull it out first.

Wanasayansi hivi karibuni waligundua kwamba vikombe vya pweza vina vipokezi maalum visivyofanana na chochote kilichopatikana kwa wanyama wengine, vilivyoumbwa kutambua kemikali zisizoyeyuka majini. Hili humwezesha pweza kuingiza mkono ndani ya ufa wa giza miambani na kujua mara moja kilichojificha humo, chakula, hatari, au hakuna kitu kabisa, bila kuhitaji kukiona au kukitoa nje kwanza.

It is a completely different way of experiencing the world, touch and taste combined into a single sense, spread across eight independent arms. For an octopus hunting in total darkness, that combination might be more useful than eyes ever could be.

Ni njia tofauti kabisa ya kuuhisi ulimwengu, mguso na ladha vikiunganishwa kuwa hisia moja, vikitawanywa katika mikono minane inayojitegemea. Kwa pweza anayewinda katika giza totoro, mchanganyiko huo waweza kuwa wa manufaa zaidi kuliko macho yangeweza kuwa.