A preliminary investigation of the response of Octopus vulgaris to experimental stimuli in the wild

Abstract

ABSTRACT We tested the feasibility of conducting three standard behavioural tests modified from laboratory experiments with Octopus vulgaris in its natural habitat. Twenty wild octopuses from around the island of Capri (Mediterranean Sea) were filmed as two novel objects (a piece of white plastic and an identical piece of black plastic), an artificial prey item (a realistic rubber crab lure) and a conspecific (simulated by reflection in a mirror) were presented by experimenters on SCUBA. All of the objects elicited responses from at least 20% of the octopuses, particularly the artificial crab (50% made contact). This rate of engagement with objects (≤50%) is much lower than seen in analogous laboratory experiments (>78%). However, among those that did respond to an object, latencies to touch were in the same range as those observed in the laboratory. This demonstrates the feasibility of conducting simple behavioural assays with O. vulgaris in the field, opening the door to a more systematic approach to behavioural study of octopuses in the wild. Such studies will, however, require larger sample sizes than laboratory experiments in order to compensate for lower engagement rates.