# Scientists Discover How Octopuses Navigate Tight Spaces

- Published: 2026-11-06 21:29 UTC
- Section: Machines & Making › Robots
- Tags: octopus, robot design, tight spaces, fluid-based structure, compression behavior
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-e139e30e5b4cf49af00c2fd8_scientists_discover_how/

**Researchers reveal the movement strategies of octopuses, which could inform the design of robots for confined spaces.**

![Scientists Discover How Octopuses Navigate Tight Spaces](https://cdn.eremnews.com/media/61969362-8c3f-438a-af99-9b0890f522e4_v3)
*eremnews.com*

Scientists have uncovered the mechanisms that allow octopuses to navigate through seemingly impossible openings, according to eremnews.com. This research highlights the octopus's ability to organize its eight arms and soft body into a dynamic sequence of movements that adapts as the opening narrows, potentially offering lessons for designing robots capable of entering tight spaces.

Unlike humans and other animals with rigid skeletons, octopuses possess a highly flexible body that relies on what scientists call a "fluid-based muscular structure for support and movement." This system of muscles provides both support and motion without bones.

The eight highly flexible arms of the octopus can bend and stretch, while the central part of its body, known as the mantle, can change shape. The octopus's circulatory system is also adapted for twisting and compressing, with major blood vessels containing muscular pumping systems that help maintain blood flow even when part of the body is compressed.

Wensi Chen, a researcher at the Soft Robotics Lab at the National University of Singapore, stated, "In nature, octopuses have the ability to pass through spaces smaller than their bodies, a capability known as compression behavior... We explored whether there is a general pattern in how this creature executes this behavior that could be applied to robots in the future."

Chen is one of the authors of the study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology. Researchers filmed three juvenile common octopuses as they squeezed their bodies to pass through an adjustable opening. They identified two main strategies: a three-step process for wider openings and a four-step process for narrower ones.

In the three-step maneuver, the octopus first explores the opening with one arm, then passes several other arms through, using the inserted arms to push against the barrier to pull the remaining arms, head, and mantle through the opening. When the opening is narrower, the octopus adds a step of pulling the remaining arms through before squeezing the head and mantle individually.

It remains unclear what determines the narrowest gap an octopus can compress its body to pass through. For a long time, the animal's beak, which serves as its jaws and is the only hard part of its body, was considered the limiting factor. However, Chen noted that experiments suggest the limiting factor may instead be the size of the arms close to the body.

For octopuses, compression to enter tight spaces can provide a means of escape and access to prey that other marine creatures cannot easily reach. Michael Kuba, a biologist at the University of Naples Federico II and co-author of the study, mentioned, "The idea is that the octopus uses the sense of touch in its arms to explore the opening."

Kuba added that different octopus species may not handle tight spaces in the same way. The common octopus is a generalist predator in coastal waters, particularly around rocky shores where there are many holes it can compress to pass through.

Kuba explained that species living in sandy seabeds or those with significantly different body shapes and arm lengths may employ different strategies to navigate openings. Researchers hope that understanding how octopuses solve this problem will assist engineers in designing more versatile robots to navigate similar tight spaces.

Chen noted that search and rescue robots designed to move through debris are often long and slender because they need a small cross-section to pass through tight gaps. An octopus-inspired robot could potentially carry more equipment through flexible arms equipped with various sensors, tools, or communication devices.

However, Chen acknowledged that manufacturing such a robot presents an engineering challenge, as its arms must be soft enough to compress through tight openings while also being dexterous enough to bend, twist, and stretch while pulling the rest of the body through the opening. Traditional actuators needed to control such complex movements often add rigid components, making the robot stiffer.

For Kuba, the study also highlights how much we still have to learn about this marine creature itself. He remarked, "Humans are drawn to the octopus as the intelligent soft-bodied creature in the ocean... but we know very little about how the octopus lives its daily life."

## Sources

1. [eremnews.com](https://www.eremnews.com/environment/7fyozpg)

---

Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-e139e30e5b4cf49af00c2fd8_scientists_discover_how/