Editing Octopus (section)

===Locomotion===
[[File:Octopus3.jpg| thumb|right|Octopuses swim with their arms trailing behind.|alt=An octopus swimming with its round body to the front, its arms forming a streamlined tube behind]]
Octopuses mainly move about by relatively slow crawling with some swimming in a head-first position. [[Jet propulsion]] or backward swimming, is their fastest means of locomotion, while crawling is slowest.<ref name="biologists2006">{{cite journal |first=Christine L. |last=Huffard |title=Locomotion by ''Abdopus aculeatus'' (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae): walking the line between primary and secondary defenses |journal=Journal of Experimental Biology |year=2006 |volume=209 |issue=Pt 19 |pages=3697–3707 |doi=10.1242/jeb.02435 |pmid=16985187| doi-access=free |bibcode=2006JExpB.209.3697H }}</ref> While crawling, the suckers adhere and detach from the substrate as the animal hauls itself forward with its powerful arm muscles.<ref name=Crowfootcrawling/><ref name="biologists2006"/> In 2005, ''[[Abdopus|Adopus aculeatus]]'' and veined octopus (''[[Amphioctopus marginatus]]'') were found to walk on two arms, while at the same time mimicking plant matter.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.1109616 |title=Underwater Bipedal Locomotion by Octopuses in Disguise |year=2005 |last1=Huffard |first1=C. L. |journal=Science |volume=307 |issue=5717 |page=1927 |pmid=15790846 |last2=Boneka |first2=F. |last3=Full |first3=R. J. |s2cid=21030132 }}</ref> This form of locomotion allows these octopuses to move quickly away from a potential predator without being recognised.<ref name="biologists2006"/> Some species of octopus can crawl out of the water briefly, which they may do between tide pools.<ref name="Wood Anderson"/><ref name=Mather/>{{rp|183}} "Stilt walking" is used by the veined octopus when carrying stacked coconut shells. The octopus carries the shells underneath it with two arms, and progresses with an awkward gait supported by its remaining arms, which are stiffened.<ref name=Finn/>
[[File:Cirroteuthis muelleri NOAA.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5<!--width for low aspect ratio image-->|Movements of the finned species ''[[Cirroteuthis muelleri]]''|alt=Three images in sequence of a two-finned sea creature swimming with an eight-cornered web]]
Most octopuses swim by expelling a jet of water from the mantle through the siphon into the sea. The direction of travel depends on the orientation of the siphon. When swimming, the head is at the front and the siphon is pointed backward but, when jetting, the visceral hump leads, the siphon points at the head and the arms trail behind, with the animal presenting a [[Spindle (textiles)|fusiform]] appearance. In an alternative method of swimming, some species flatten themselves dorso-ventrally, and swim with the arms splayed; this may provide lift and be faster than normal swimming. Jetting is used to escape from danger, but is physiologically inefficient, requiring a mantle pressure so high as to stop the heart from beating, resulting in a progressive oxygen deficit.<ref name="biologists2006"/>

Cirrate octopuses cannot produce jet propulsion and swim using their fins. Their neutrally buoyant bodies float along while the fins are spread. They can also contract their arms and surrounding web to make sudden moves known as "take-offs". Another form of locomotion is "pumping", which involves symmetrical contractions of muscles in their webs producing [[peristalsis|peristaltic waves]], moving them slowly.<ref name="marinebio"/>