New paper on octo behavior TONMO members PGS and Jugglematt

DWhatley

Kraken
Staff member
Moderator (Staff)
Joined
Sep 4, 2006
Messages
21,018
Location
Cape Coral, FL
TONMO PGS and Jugglematt (Peter Godfrey-Smith and Matt Lawrence) have published a paper, Long-term high-density occupation of a site by Octopus tetricus and possible site modification due to foraging behavior , about the observations they have been making at the Jervis Bay (AU) Scallop Beds jugglematt first reported on TONMO in November 2009. The full PDF is available through the link.

Videos that are supplemental t the paper cannot be directly viewed on TONMO but can be downloaded.

click here to download the videos associated with the paper

additional public footage referenced:

and Matty's leather jacket attack (one I should remember to link when I suggest NO FISH as tank mates)

Peter mentions it and the TONMO post in his latest blog entry, Octopolis.
 
I found this quite interesting, and it got me wondering ..... if they placed a cement block a little away from the existing bed of shell, would they use that as a new breeding den and start depositing "new" shells there or take them form the existing site?
 
Good question. You might make that comment on Peter's blog and see if they thought to try to determine that. I also wondered if the original den was a trash can of some kind that was full of shells and dumped, potentially from illegal poachers.
 
haggs;193515 said:
I found this quite interesting, and it got me wondering ..... if they placed a cement block a little away from the existing bed of shell, would they use that as a new breeding den and start depositing "new" shells there or take them form the existing site?


We think they bring shells in to eat, and then the shells left lying around provide den material. So our assumption is that the shells accumulating at the objects round the periphery of the shell bed are 'new' shells.

One of these sites – further away from the shell bed and not included in the site described in the paper – has quite a lot of shells now. There are photos of that site here:

8. Octopuses, When No One’s Looking » The Giant Cuttlefish
 
DWhatley;193517 said:
Good question. You might make that comment on Peter's blog and see if they thought to try to determine that. I also wondered if the original den was a trash can of some kind that was full of shells and dumped, potentially from illegal poachers.

The object at the center is a pretty thick and heavy block, probably too heavy to be a trash can. It looks a bit like a piece of machinery, but it is so encrusted that we can't really tell. I did wonder if it might have been from some sort of scallop dredge that was lost at the site. Looking at google images online I have not seen any scallop dredge machinery that looks similar.
 

Shop Amazon

Shop Amazon
Shop Amazon; support TONMO!
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Back
Top