AN octopus has stunned his handlers by learning to unscrew jars to get at the food inside.

Workers at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Tynemouth, Tyneside have nicknamed the ingenious creature Einstein, who they say has shown signs of intelligence since he was rescued from a local rockpool where he was stranded.

The half-metre long curled octopus tried to wrestle a thermometer out of the hands of aquarium worker Matt Owen while he checked the display's water temperature.

He said yesterday: "Einstein seemed to think it was some sort of tug-of-war contest and simply wouldn't let go.

"He wasn't being aggressive, it was almost as if he wanted to play, so I decided to try a little experiment."

Mr Owen had heard about an American octopus learning to unscrew a jar, so he tried it out himself.

After a few attempts, Einstein had successfully got his tentacles around the lid and opened the jar to get at the food inside.

Mr Owen added: "Octopuses are reputed to have the intelligence of a dog, but we think Einstein's cleverer than that, so we're introducing other tests and puzzles into his display to see how smart he really is.

"We've already put in a little football to celebrate England's qualification in the World Cup and he's playing with that."

Despite belonging to the same family of animals as slugs and snails, octopuses have a highly-developed nervous system and the largest, most advanced brain of any invertebrate.