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True to its name, the North Pacific giant octopus is the largest of all octopus species.

The animals, which stand head and multiple shoulders above other invertebrates in terms of intelligence, grow to 45 kilograms and typically measure around 4 metres from arm tip to tip. Yet they only live for a maximum of five years.

This remarkable image comes from Sea, a collection of photographs that is published this month by Abrams. In it the fantastic and unusual marine creatures have been treated as still life objects by American photographer Mark Laita.

Underwater photography often gives animals a blue-green tint, because of absorption in the red part of the light spectrum. To show colours as they actually are, Laita photographed the creatures in tanks using studio strobe lighting.

By using tanks, both in his studio in Los Angeles and at public aquariums, he could create images which capture the ethereal and otherworldly nature of marine life.

As the common name suggests, this species of octopus - Enteroctopus dofleini - is found in the North Pacific Ocean, along the continental shelf from the Aleutian Islands west of Alaska to Baja California in Mexico and north-eastern Japan.

They feed on bivalves, crabs and lobsters and will often take their prey back to their den, a crevice or gap big enough to accommodate an individual's beak, the only hard part of an octopus.

When it has finished its meal, the octopus pushes the remains out of the den's opening, creating an "octopus garden", or midden, of empty shells. http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/10/studio-por
trait-of-big-brainy-1.html

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All species of cephalopods are known to have incredible intellectual ability. The octopus is considered the smartest invertebrate alive. In experimental conditions these animals have displayed both short and long term memory. They have incredible observational learning and problem solving ability. Octopuses have an extremely large nervous system, but only a portion is found in their brain. Around two-thirds of an octopus’ neurons are found in cords around and in its arms. There arms have a remarkably large autonomy. They are masters of mimicry and camouflage. They are professional escape artists and can often be found in the hull of crabbing boats, feeding on the catch. These animals have incredibly keen eyesight, sense of touch, and are very fast. There are reports of a North Pacific Giant Octopus reaching 600 pounds, with an arm span of 30 feet. They don’t make great pets or zoo attractions. In one recent story, an octopus flooded the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium by turning a valve and allowing hundreds of gallons of water to overflow the tank. http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-smartest-animals.php#ixzz1axhDrPHJ

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These spiders have demonstrated learning abilities in laboratory tests and have been labeled the smartest bugs in the world. They perform astoundingly well on numerous problem solving tasks. One of their principle skills is luring other spiders from their webs for food. To do this they will pluck out rhythms at the corner of a web to mimic a trapped bug or insect intruder. If the Portia has encountered this type of spider before, then it will remember what rhythm pattern to use in order to achieve success. The Portia labiata has great eye sight and has been seen using incredible instinctive behavior. The spider uses a planned trial-and-error approach to hunting and shows a strong cognitive base. As the prey comes and goes, the spider will sit and wait for hours until it has a perfect moment to strike. Subsequently, plotting ahead and understanding that the meal will eventually return. These spiders have also shown signs of selective attention by identifying specific objects and prey over others.

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I have bundled these two together because they are both members of the corvidae family of birds. This family is widely considered the most intelligent of all birds. Crows top the avian IQ scale, which is a scientific test to determine bird intelligence. They can count, distinguish complex shapes, and perform observational learning tasks. Crows are extremely social creatures and will engage in mid-air jousting to establish pecking order. Wild hooded crows in Israel have learned to use bread crumbs as fish bait, thinking in advance and anticipating the catch. The New Caledonian Crow has been intensely studied because of its ability to use tools in its every day search for food. This includes creating knives which are cut from leaves and stalks of grass. They also use advanced plucking, smoothing, and bending of twigs and grass stems to produce a variety of food substances. Ravens are similar to crows, but larger in size. Both species are black in color and the main difference is in their vocalizations. Ravens perform many of the same behaviors as crows, but they have been recognized for their ability to drop nuts, clams, muscles, and shells on to the highway, wait for a car to run them over, and then gather the prize.

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