‘Home’ choice and modification by juvenile Octopus vulgaris (Mollusca: Cephalopoda): specialized intelligence and tool use?

Analysis of ‘homes’ occupied by juvenile Octopus vulgaris shows flexible behaviour which may indicate specialized intelligence and tool use. Octopuses occupied sheltered areas for a short time, average 10 days, but stayed longer in larger homes and in areas where preferred prey was available. They did not simply respond to perceptual characteristics of a site, but instead chose locations potentially suitable and modified them by removing rocks and sand and bringing in items partially to block the aperture.