国家地理 章鱼逃命大法

Here in the Timor Sea off northern Australia, take a look at a creature that seems to have the soul of a riverboat gambler.

在远离北澳大利亚的帝汶海，来看一看一种拥有河船赌客般灵魂的生物。

It moves through turf dominated by large hungry predators¹, and it fights these predators in a way that will astound² you.

这种生物在巨大且饥饿的捕食者的领地上活动，它们对抗这些捕食者的方法将让大家感到震惊。

This is ameloctopus -- it's not a baby. It's one of the smallest octopi in the world, stretching only a tiny 10 inches from tentacle³ tip to tentacle tip.

这是无墨蛸—这不是什么章鱼宝宝。它是世界上最小的章鱼之一，从触手端测量到另一个触手端也仅有10英寸。

Ameloctopus scoots across the sea bottom, its limbs hunting almost blindly for small in vertebrates like miniscule crabs⁵ it can gobble with ease.

无墨蛸在海底穿梭，其四肢可以捕捉所有的脊椎科小生物，比如迷你蟹类，它们可以毫不费力的吃掉这种迷你蟹类。

Speaking of gobbling with ease, there are plenty of creatures down here who would love to wolf down this soft little guy.

说起狼吞虎咽的大吃，海底有很多生物喜欢吃这些小小的软软的家伙。

This blue crab⁴ is much more crustacean⁶ than any ameloctopus can handle.

这种蓝蟹比任何无墨蛸可以吃掉的生物更加坚硬。

The crab eyes its quarry⁷ then pounces⁸, going for all eight arms and the body. But the crafty⁹ ameloctopus scrams out of there.

这只蓝蟹盯着它的猎物然后猛扑过去，用上所有的八只脚和整个身体。但是狡猾的无墨蛸从中溜走了。

The crab seems to gloat over its big moment as a master hunter. And then it examines what it's got ---- an arm, one crummy arm, I mean, what the heck?

这只蓝蟹似乎还在为自己大师级的捕获而沾沾自喜。然后它检查自己的收获—一只触角，一只微不足道的触脚，搞什么鬼啊？

Ameloctopus can afford to gamble because of its ability to drop an arm when it gets in a jam. It won't be disabled for long. The arm will grow back.

无墨蛸有赌博的资本，因为当它们陷入困境时，可以放弃自己的一只触脚。失去触脚的无墨蛸残疾很久。它们的触脚会长回来的。

The crab gobbles down the arm while ameloctopus finds a convenient hiding hole to begin the regeneration process.

蓝蟹享受着这只触脚，而无墨蛸则发现了一个实用的隐藏洞穴开始再生过程。

If you scour¹⁰ the sea bottom where this critter lives, you may come upon a still squirming limb.

如果你彻查这个小生物居住的地方，你或许能够偶遇一只还在蠕动的触脚。

Throughout its life, ameloctopus will lose one limb after another, but will continue to survive.

在无墨蛸的一生中，它们会失去一只又一只的触脚，却还能继续生存。

1 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 astound   

v.使震惊，使大吃一惊

参考例句：

• His practical grasp of affairs and his energy still astound me.他对事物的实际掌握和他充沛的精力实在使我惊异。
• He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance.过去，他表现出来的惊人耐力常让朋友们大吃一惊。

3 tentacle   

n.触角，触须，触手

参考例句：

• Each tentacle is about two millimeters long.每一个触手大约两毫米长。
• It looked like a big eyeball with a long tentacle thing.它看上去像一个有着长触角的巨大眼球。

4 crab   

n.螃蟹，偏航，脾气乖戾的人，酸苹果；vi.捕蟹，偏航，发牢骚；vt.使偏航，发脾气

参考例句：

• I can't remember when I last had crab.我不记得上次吃蟹是什么时候了。
• The skin on my face felt as hard as a crab's back.我脸上的皮仿佛僵硬了，就象螃蟹的壳似的。

5 crabs   

n.蟹( crab的名词复数 )；阴虱寄生病；蟹肉v.捕蟹( crab的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• As we walked along the seashore we saw lots of tiny crabs. 我们在海岸上散步时看到很多小蟹。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fish and crabs scavenge for decaying tissue. 鱼和蟹搜寻腐烂的组织为食。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 crustacean   

n.甲壳动物；adj.甲壳纲的

参考例句：

• Seafood is a valuable lobster crustacean section.名贵海珍品龙虾属甲壳科。
• The illustrious Cuvier did not perceive that a barnacle was a crustacean.大名鼎鼎的居维叶也未看出藤壶是一种甲壳动物。

7 quarry   

n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找

参考例句：

• Michelangelo obtained his marble from a quarry.米开朗基罗从采石场获得他的大理石。
• This mountain was the site for a quarry.这座山曾经有一个采石场。

8 pounces   

v.突然袭击( pounce的第三人称单数 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击）

参考例句：

• The attacker thinks it's still part of the lizard and pounces on it. 攻击者认为那仍然是蜥蜴身体的一部分，向它猛扑过去。 来自互联网

9 crafty   

adj.狡猾的，诡诈的

参考例句：

• He admired the old man for his crafty plan.他敬佩老者的神机妙算。
• He was an accomplished politician and a crafty autocrat.他是个有造诣的政治家，也是个狡黠的独裁者。

10 scour   

v.搜索；擦，洗，腹泻，冲刷

参考例句：

• Mother made me scour the family silver.母亲让我擦洗家里的银器。
• We scoured the telephone directory for clues.我们仔细查阅电话簿以寻找线索。