Chemotaxis by Octopus maya Voss et Solis ( n = 20) to chemicals introduced at a distance (teloreception) was measured in a Y-maze. The trials ( n = 195) were conducted in a 40-1 Y-maze system with chemicals entering only one arm of the Y-maze. Octopuses were placed into the base compartment near the convergence of the Y-maze arms and allowed to acclimate to the Y-maze (10 min). A chemical was added to one of the Y-maze arms and octopus movements were recorded (10 min) on videotape. The videotape provided information on the arm first penetrated, the sequence of the penetrations, the number of penetrations into each arm, the duration of time spent in each arm and the base and the mean time spent in each arm per penetration. Eight chemicals (ATP, AMP, alanine, betaine, glutamic acid, glycine, proline and taurine), two crude extracts (crab and shrimp) and the control (no chemical) were introduced at random to only one arm of the Y-maze and each octopus was tested for all chemicals and the control. The final concentration of the chemicals was 10 −4 M except ATP at 10 −5 M and AMP at 10 −5 M, while the crude extracts were prepared by homogenizing crab or shrimp tissue to a final concentration of 5 × 10 −5 g · 1 −1. Control and chemically exposed octopuses were very active while in the Y-maze, penetrating each arm multiple times. Chemotaxis was demonstrated for octopuses exposed to proline, ATP and crab extract since these octopuses most often penetrated the arm receiving chemical first. Increases in the total amount of activity (number of penetrations into arms and total time spent in arms) were correlated to exposure to proline, alanine, ATP and crab extract; these chemicals functioned as excitants. Betaine and taurine were correlated with lower activity; these chemicals functioned as arrestants. Differences in the number of penetrations per arm and the total duration spent in each arm were affected by both the chemical used and individual octopuses. The sequence of penetrations was not affected by different chemicals. As a result, chemotaxis by octopuses was associated most strongly with first exposure to a chemical, causing initial movement by the octopus into the arm receiving the attractant; octopuses probably habituated to the presence of the chemicals thereafter.