An octopus starts by testing an opening with one or two arms before squeezing through. Credit: Michael Kuba

Octopuses are famous for navigating their way through a tight squeeze . Even among invertebrates, their ability to compress themselves into seemingly impossibly tiny passageways is an impressive sight. But for years, marine biologists have remained perplexed by how these cephalopods routinely manage their maneuvers.

“There is no information about how octopuses squeeze through an opening far smaller than [their] body diameter,” Wenci Xin , a marine biologist at the National University of Singapore, said in a statement .

Xin and her colleagues recently provided Mayan octopuses ( Octopus maya ) and young common octopuses ( Octopus vulgaris ) with a chance to show off their skills.…