Are Octopuses Too Smart to Be Farmed?

The following article is republished with the user’s permission The conversationonline publication covering the latest research.

We named him Squirt, not because he was the smallest of the 16 chips in the pool, but because anyone who dared to step into a tank to examine him would get soaked. Squirt had a very specific purpose.

As a comparative psychologistI am used to the attacks of my experimental subjects. I’ve been stung by bees, mauled by crabs and pecked by angry pigeons. But somehow it felt different with Squirt. As he looked at us his W-shaped pupilshe seemed to be clearly conspiring against us.

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Of course, I’m anthropomorphic. Science does not yet have the tools to confirm whether chips have emotional states or are capable of conscious experience, let alone sly plots. But there is definitely something special about cephalopods: a class of invertebrates that live in the oceans. cuttlefish, squid and octopus.

As researchers learn more about the cognitive skills of cephalopods, there are calls to treat them in a way that better matches their intelligence level. California and Washington state both adopted octopus farming bans in 2024. It’s Hawaii considering similar actionand the ban farming octopus or importing farmed octopus meat has been presented in Congress. A planned octopus farm in Spain’s Canary Islands is attractive the opposition of scientists and animal welfare supporters.

Critique’s offer many arguments against raising octopuses for foodincluding possible discharge of waste, antibiotics or pathogens from aquaculture facilities. But as a psychologist, I see intelligence as the most interesting part of the equation. How smart are cephalopods, really? After all, it is legal to raise chickens and cows. Is the octopus smarter than, say, the turkey?

A large, diverse group

They are a broad class of mollusks that includes cephalopods coleoids – cuttlefish, octopus and squid – as well chambered nautilus. Coleoids range in size mature squids that are a few millimeters long (idiosyncratic) to the largest living invertebrates, a giant squid (Architeuthis) and colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis) over 40 feet long and weighing over 1,000 pounds.

Only a few of these species live in the almost featureless darkness of the deep ocean; others live socially on active, sunny coral reefs. Many are skilled hunters, but some passively feed on floating debris. Because of this enormous diversity, the size and complexity of cephalopod brains and behaviors also varies dramatically.

Almost everything known about the knowledge of cephalopods comes from the intensive study of a few species. When considering the welfare of a captive octopus species, it is important to exercise caution when using data from a distant evolutionary relative.

Can we measure alien intelligence?

Intelligence is notoriously difficult to define and measure, even in humans. The challenge grows exponentially when studying animals with sensory, motivational, and problem-solving skills that are very different from our own.

Historically, researchers have tended to focus on whether animals think like humans, ignoring the abilities animals may possess that humans lack. To avoid this problem, scientists have tried to find more objective measures of cognitive abilities.

An option is a relative measure brain to body size. The best-studied octopus species, Common octopus, It has about 500 million neurons; that is quite large for its small body size and similar to a starling, rabbit or turkey.

More specific measures might be the size, neuron count, or surface area of ​​specific brain structures important for learning. While this is useful in mammals, an octopus’s nervous system is built completely differently.

More than half of the neurons are included Common octopusAbout 300 million, they are not in the brain at all, but distributed”mini-brains”, or ganglia, in the arms. Within the central brain, most of the remaining neurons are dedicated to visual processing, leaving less than a quarter of its neurons for other processes, such as learning and memory.

In other octopus species, the general structure is similar, but the complexity varies. The folds and folds in the brain increase its surface area and can improve neural connections and communication. Some octopus species, especially those living in reef habitats, they have a more wrinkled brain than those who live in the deep seasuggesting that these species may have a higher level of intelligence.

Holding on for a better bite

Because brain structure is not a measure of intelligence, behavioral tests may provide better evidence. One of the very complex behaviors displayed by many cephalopods is visual camouflage. They can open and close small sacs under the skin that contain colored pigments and reflectors, revealing specific colors. Common octopus It has up to 150,000 chromatophores or pigment sacs in a single square inch of skin.

Like many cephalopods, the common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) is believed to be color blind. But he can use his excellent vision to produce a dizzying array of models across his body as camouflage. The Australian giant cuttlefish, Sepia apamait uses its chromatophores to communicate, creating patterns that attract mates and warn off attackers. This ability can also come in handy for hunting; many cephalopods are ambush predators that blend into the background or even attract their prey.

The hallmark of intelligent behavior, however, is learning and memory, and there is ample evidence that some octopuses and cuttlefish learn in the same way as vertebrates. The common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis), as well common octopus (Common octopus) and octopus of the day (Blue octopus), can all form simple associations, such as learning which picture on a screen predicts which foods will appear.

Some cephalopods may be capable of more complicated forms of learning, e.g flipped learning– Learning to flexibly adjust behavior when rewarded by different stimuli. They may be able to inhibit impulsive responses. In a 2021 study, common cuttlefish chose a less desirable but immediate bite of crab and after a delay the preferred treatment of live shrimp, many cuttlefish the shrimp chose to wait.

A new frontier for animal welfare

Given what is known about their brain structures, sensory systems, and ability to learn, it appears that cephalopods as a group may have intelligence similar to that of vertebrates. Since many societies have animal welfare standards for mice, rats, chickens, and other vertebrates, logic would suggest that the same is true for regulations enforcing the humane treatment of cephalopods.

These rules generally specify that when a species is kept in captivity, its housing conditions must support the animal’s well-being and natural behavior. This approach has led some US states to outlaw it closed cages for laying eggs and boxes too narrow for pregnant women to turn around.

Regulations on animal welfare say little about invertebratesbut guidelines for the care and use of captive cephalopods have begun to appear in the last decade. In 2010, the European Union called for consideration of ethical issues using cephalopods for research. And in 2015, AAALAC Internationalthe international accreditation body for ethical animal research, and Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Societies has promoted the guidelines care and use of cephalopods in research. It is the US National Institutes of Health today, considering similar guidelines.

The “alien” intelligences of octopuses and their relatives are fascinating, not least because they provide a mirror through which more familiar forms of intelligence can be reflected. Deciding which species deserve moral consideration requires selecting criteria, such as the number of neurons or the ability to learn, to inform these choices.

Once these criteria are established, you might also consider how they apply to rodents, birds, and fish that play more familiar roles in our lives.

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