Do you think Hank the Octopus has a unique "fetish"?

Hank is a new character in "Finding Nemo: Where's Dory?". During Dory's search for her family, Hank is not only Dory's good partner, but also her protector. He has descended from the sky many times to save Dolly in times of crisis. Under the brilliance of Hank, the father and son team of Nemo and Marlin seemed a bit eclipsed. So why is Hank able to do all this? Because its prototype is an octopus.

The octopus is a mollusk. It has eight arms and legs of different lengths with suction cups, and the wrists are connected by membranes, so it is also called "Octopus". But Hank, the octopus, only has seven tentacles. The film does not explain why Hank lost one of his tentacles, but judging from the octopus's innate ability to survive by breaking its arms, Hank's broken arm must have come from a thrilling encounter. This also explains why Hank always responds to crises.

In the eyes of keepers, octopus Hank is definitely the most troublesome guy. Hank can always escape from the keeper's nose. This is because the octopus has a strong camouflage ability. There are many chromatophores in the octopus, which contain liquids of different colors. There are expanders inside each pigment cell, which can change skin color by changing the size of the pigment cells. As a result, Hank is able to "integrate" into the environment subtly. If they really can't disguise themselves (see Hank and Dory's adventures in the visitor experience area), Hank can also use the ultimate trick - continuously spraying ink outwards, turning the surroundings into darkness.

In addition, Hank's secret weapon also includes a "radiatively symmetrical" body. Because the various parts of the octopus' body radiate outward from a central point, it is very difficult to figure out the orientation of its body. Octopuses have two positioning systems that can control the orientation and movement direction of their bodies respectively. In other words, there is absolutely no correlation between the direction they are facing and the direction they are moving, so it is difficult to judge the direction of movement of an octopus based on its orientation.

In "Finding Nemo 2: Where's Dory?", Hank can always take out various containers at critical moments and put Dory and other fish into the containers. . Is this the screenwriter's fantasy? In fact, this detail also has a certain scientific basis. This is mainly due to the unique hobbies of octopuses.

Octopuses are naturally eager to hide in hollow containers, so they have a "fetish"-like obsession with hollow containers. Divers once found many amphora and large water jars in an ancient Greek shipwreck. Surprisingly, almost every container contained an octopus. Given their penchant for digging into utensils, it seems logical that Hank in the film can always find all kinds of bottles and cans in time.

(Author: From the author of the August 2016 issue of "Knowledge is Power" magazine, Na Yan)

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