Feb 9, 2021 11:16 PM
https://nautil.us/issue/95/escape/octopu...ng-buddies
EXCERPT: . . . Bayley’s own specialty is coral reef ecology, and his curiosity is piqued by what the cooperation represents. Though scientists have studied the Chagos Archipelago for decades, he said, no record exists of octopuses and fish hunting together there. He suspects it’s a recent adaptation. In the last several years, climate change-induced coral die-offs have radically disrupted the reefs’ animal populations and changed their very topography. There is much less prey than before; fields of rubble are not ideal for ambush-style hunting tactics that once worked so well.
“This could be driving this novel interaction where both fish and octopus are searching for food, but their individual hunting strategies are not best for this flattened environment that’s losing a lot of its structure,” Bayley explained. Partnerships with gold-saddle goatfish are also notable in that they are adapted to find prey buried in sediment. “It’s another skill set to bring in. It’s almost like the octopus is assembling a team with specialist skills,” said Bayley.
Another fascinating question, he said, is how knowledge spreads of hunting strategies and mutually understood signals. Perhaps each participating octopus and fish works it out for themselves, through trial and error—or perhaps, following an initial breakthrough, knowledge spreads by observation or even active teaching. That would make it a cultural adaptation, a matter of accumulating knowledge passed between generations, an example of species surviving in a fast-changing world not because of some fortunate genetic mutation but because they are learning. This also suggests a potentially key role for grouper. Unlike day octopuses, who reach a ripe old age at 15 months, brown-marbled and peacock grouper can easily live 40 years or longer. They may be a living library for their short-lived partners.
That the Chagos Archipelago is so remote and well-protected—commercial fishing is banned there—may also help these underwater cultures evolve and proliferate, Bayley said. Individuals who would otherwise spread their knowledge don’t end up on a dinner plate. Brown agreed, noting an emerging scientific literature on the importance of animal culture to conservation and also the hypothesis that a loss of culture has hindered the recovery of some populations from overfishing. “One of the explanations is that we’ve basically fished out the cultural information about where to forage, where to migrate, where the best breeding grounds are,” he said. “If you’re consistently removing the biggest, the oldest and wisest, from the population, then that information is lost.” (MORE)
Octupus hunting with fish
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/m7Ql6CPiGPw
EXCERPT: . . . Bayley’s own specialty is coral reef ecology, and his curiosity is piqued by what the cooperation represents. Though scientists have studied the Chagos Archipelago for decades, he said, no record exists of octopuses and fish hunting together there. He suspects it’s a recent adaptation. In the last several years, climate change-induced coral die-offs have radically disrupted the reefs’ animal populations and changed their very topography. There is much less prey than before; fields of rubble are not ideal for ambush-style hunting tactics that once worked so well.
“This could be driving this novel interaction where both fish and octopus are searching for food, but their individual hunting strategies are not best for this flattened environment that’s losing a lot of its structure,” Bayley explained. Partnerships with gold-saddle goatfish are also notable in that they are adapted to find prey buried in sediment. “It’s another skill set to bring in. It’s almost like the octopus is assembling a team with specialist skills,” said Bayley.
Another fascinating question, he said, is how knowledge spreads of hunting strategies and mutually understood signals. Perhaps each participating octopus and fish works it out for themselves, through trial and error—or perhaps, following an initial breakthrough, knowledge spreads by observation or even active teaching. That would make it a cultural adaptation, a matter of accumulating knowledge passed between generations, an example of species surviving in a fast-changing world not because of some fortunate genetic mutation but because they are learning. This also suggests a potentially key role for grouper. Unlike day octopuses, who reach a ripe old age at 15 months, brown-marbled and peacock grouper can easily live 40 years or longer. They may be a living library for their short-lived partners.
That the Chagos Archipelago is so remote and well-protected—commercial fishing is banned there—may also help these underwater cultures evolve and proliferate, Bayley said. Individuals who would otherwise spread their knowledge don’t end up on a dinner plate. Brown agreed, noting an emerging scientific literature on the importance of animal culture to conservation and also the hypothesis that a loss of culture has hindered the recovery of some populations from overfishing. “One of the explanations is that we’ve basically fished out the cultural information about where to forage, where to migrate, where the best breeding grounds are,” he said. “If you’re consistently removing the biggest, the oldest and wisest, from the population, then that information is lost.” (MORE)
Octupus hunting with fish