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OCTOPUSES AND THEIR RELATIVES ARE A NEW ANIMAL WELFARE FRONTIER  
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Rachel Blaser
December 20, 2024
The Conversation
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_ Here’s what scientists know about consciousness in these unique
creatures _

Octopus cyanea or Day Octopus near Kona, Big Island, Hawaii, Stuart
Westmorland

 

We named him Squirt – not because he was the smallest of the 16
cuttlefish in the pool, but because anyone with the audacity to scoop
him into a separate tank to study him was likely to get soaked. Squirt
had notoriously accurate aim.

As a comparative psychologist
[[link removed]], I’m
used to assaults from my experimental subjects. I’ve been stung by
bees, pinched by crayfish and battered by indignant pigeons. But,
somehow, with Squirt it felt different. As he eyed us with his
W-shaped pupils
[[link removed](Sepia_officinalis),_Parque_natural_de_la_Arr%C3%A1bida,_Portugal,_2020-07-21,_DD_62.jpg],
he seemed clearly to be plotting against us.

[A brown and white invertebrate swims over rocks and seaweed.]
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A common cuttlefish (_Sepia officinalis_) in Portugal’s Arrábida
Natural Park. Diego Delso/Wikipedia
[[link removed](Sepia_officinalis),_Parque_natural_de_la_Arr%C3%A1bida,_Portugal,_2020-07-21,_DD_62.jpg],
CC BY-SA [[link removed]]

Of course, I’m being anthropomorphic. Science does not yet have the
tools to confirm whether cuttlefish have emotional states, or whether
they are capable of conscious experience, much less sinister plots.
But there’s undeniably something special about cephalopods – the
class of ocean-dwelling invertebrates that includes cuttlefish, squid
and octopus [[link removed]].

As researchers learn more about cehpalopods’ cognitive skills, there
are calls to treat them in ways better aligned with their level of
intelligence. California and Washington state both approved bans on
octopus farming in 2024
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Hawaii is considering similar action
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octopus or importing farmed octopus meat
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has been introduced in Congress. A planned octopus farm in Spain’s
Canary Islands is attracting opposition from scientists
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welfare advocates
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Critics offer many arguments against raising octopuses for food
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possible releases of waste, antibiotics or pathogens from aquaculture
facilities. But as a psychologist, I see intelligence as the most
intriguing part of the equation. Just how smart are cephalopods,
really? After all, it’s legal to farm chickens and cows. Is an
octopus smarter than, say, a turkey?

[A bright orange octopus attached to the arm of an underwater research
vehicle.]
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A deepwater octopus investigates the port manipulator arm of the ALVIN
submersible research vessel. NOAA [[link removed]], CC BY
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A big, diverse group

Cephalopods are a broad class of mollusks that includes the coleoids
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and squid – as well as the chambered nautilus
[[link removed]]. Coleoids
range in size from adult squid only a few millimeters long
[[link removed]] (_Idiosepius_) to
the largest living invertebrates, the giant squid
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(_Architeuthis_) and colossal squid
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(_Mesonychoteuthis_) which can grow to over 40 feet in length and
weigh over 1,000 pounds.

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

Almost everything that’s known about cephalopod cognition comes from
intensive study of just a few species. When considering the welfare of
a designated species of captive octopus, it’s important to be
careful about using data collected from a distant evolutionary
relative.

Can we even measure alien intelligence?

Intelligence is fiendishly hard to define and measure, even in humans.
The challenge grows exponentially in studying animals with sensory,
motivational and problem-solving skills that differ profoundly from
ours.

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

One option is a relative measure of brain to body size
[[link removed]]. The
best-studied species of octopus, _Octopus vulgaris_, has about 500
million neurons [[link removed]];
that’s relatively large for its small body size and similar to a
starling, rabbit or turkey.

More accurate measures may include the size, neuron count or surface
area of specific brain structures thought to be important for
learning. While this is useful in mammals, the nervous system of an
octopus is built completely differently.

Over half of the neurons in _Octopus vulgaris_, about 300 million, are
not in the brain at all, but distributed in “mini-brains,” or
ganglia, in the arms [[link removed]].
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 species of octopus, the general structure is similar, but
complexity varies. Wrinkles and folds in the brain increase its
surface area and may enhance neural connections and communication.
Some species of octopus, notably those living in reef habitats, have
more wrinkled brains than those living in the deep sea
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these species may possess a higher degree of intelligence.

Holding out for a better snack

Because brain structure is not a foolproof measure of intelligence,
behavioral tests may provide better evidence. One of the highly
complex behaviors that many cephalopods show is visual camouflage.
They can open and close tiny sacs just below their skin that contain
colored pigments and reflectors, revealing specific colors. _Octopus
vulgaris_ 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
thought to be colorblind. But it can use its excellent vision to
produce a dizzying array of patterns
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camouflage. The Australian giant cuttlefish
[[link removed]], _Sepia apama_, uses its
chromatophores to communicate, creating patterns that attract mates
and warn off aggressors. This ability can also come in handy for
hunting; many cephalopods are ambush predators
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background or even lure their prey.

The hallmark of intelligent behavior, however, is learning and memory
– and there is plenty of evidence that some octopuses and cuttlefish
learn in a way that is comparable to learning in vertebrates. The
common cuttlefish [[link removed]] (_Sepia
officinalis_), as well as the common octopus
[[link removed]] (_Octopus vulgaris_) and
the day octopus
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(_Octopus cyanea_), can all form simple associations, such as learning
which image on a screen predicts that food will appear.

Some cephalopods may be capable of more complicated forms of learning,
such as reversal learning [[link removed]]
– learning to flexibly adjust behavior when different stimuli signal
reward. They may also be able to inhibit impulsive responses. In a
2021 study that gave common cuttlefish a choice between a less
desirable but immediate snack of crab and a preferred treat of live
shrimp after a delay, many of the cuttlefish chose to wait for the
shrimp [[link removed]].

A new frontier for animal welfare

Considering what’s known about their brain structures, sensory
systems and learning capacity, it appears that cephalopods as a group
may be similar in intelligence to vertebrates as a group. Since many
societies have animal welfare standards for mice, rats, chickens and
other vertebrates, logic would suggest that there’s an equal case
for regulations enforcing humane treatment of cephalopods.

Such rules generally specify that when a species is held in captivity,
its housing conditions should support the animal’s welfare and
natural behavior. This view has led some U.S. states to outlaw
confined cages for egg-laying hens
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and crates too narrow for pregnant sows to turn around
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Animal welfare regulations say little about invertebrates
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but guidelines for the care and use of captive cephalopods have
started to appear over the past decade. In 2010, the European Union
required considering ethical issues when using cephalopods for
research [[link removed]]. And in 2015,
AAALAC International [[link removed]], an international
accreditation organization for ethical animal research, and the
Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations
[[link removed]] promoted guidelines for the care and use of
cephalopods in research [[link removed]].
The U.S. National Institutes of Health is currently considering
similar guidelines
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The “alien” minds of octopuses and their relatives are
fascinating, not the least because they provide a mirror through which
we can reflect on more familiar forms of intelligence. Deciding which
species deserve moral consideration requires selecting criteria, such
as neuron count or learning capacity, to inform those choices.

Once these criteria are set, it may be well to also consider how they
apply to the rodents, birds and fish that occupy more familiar roles
in our lives.

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* Octopus; Cephalopods; Marine Biology; Animal Intelligence;
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