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Octopus insularis (Octopodidae), evidences of a specialized predator and a time-minimizing hunter

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Abstract

Shallow-water octopuses have been reported as major predators of motile species in benthonic marine communities, capturing their prey by different foraging techniques. This study assessed for the first time the feeding ecology, foraging behavior, and defensive strategy during foraging, including the use of body patterns, to construct a general octopus foraging strategy in a shallow water-reef system. Octopus insularis was studied in situ using visual observations and video recordings. The diet included at least 55 species of crustaceans (70%), bivalves (17.5%), and gastropods (12.5%); however, only four species accounted for half of the occurrences: the small crabs Pitho sp. (26.8%) and Mithrax forceps (23.9%), the bivalve Lima lima (5.3%), and the gastropod Pisania pusio (4.9%). Poke and crawl were most frequent foraging behaviors observed in the video recordings. The foraging behaviors were associated with environmental variables and octopus body size. The sequences of foraging behavior showed characteristics of a tactile saltatory searching predator, as well as a visual opportunist. Body patterns showed a relationship with foraging behavior, habitat variables, and octopus body size. Mottle was the most frequent pattern, especially during poke and crawl, in shallower depths. Dorsal light–ventral blue green was more frequent during swimming at mid-water, and Blotch was the normal pattern during web-over by large animals. The large proportion of two species of small crabs in den remains, the intense search for food during short hunting trips, and the intense use of cryptic body patterns during foraging trips, suggest that this species is a ‘time-minimizing’ forager instead of a ‘rate-maximizer’.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Administration of Fernando de Noronha and the Ministries of Environment (MMA/IBAMA) for their logistic support and the volunteers of UFRN and FURG who cooperated with the field samples. This study was supported by the Foundation Boticário for Environmental Protection; the Graduate School in Biological Oceanography at the Fundação Universidade Federal de Rio Grande (FURG), Dept. of Oceanography, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; and grants from the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq) (TL and MH).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Oceanografia e Limnologia, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Via Costeira sn, Mãe Luiza, Natal, Brazil

    Tatiana Silva Leite

  2. Departamento de Oceanografia, Laboratório de Recursos Demersais e Cefalópodes (FURG), Rio Grande, Brazil

    Manuel Haimovici

  3. Psychology Department, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, AB, Canada

    Jennifer Mather

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  1. Tatiana Silva Leite
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  2. Manuel Haimovici
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  3. Jennifer Mather
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Correspondence to Tatiana Silva Leite.

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Communicated by X. Irigoien.

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Leite, T.S., Haimovici, M. & Mather, J. Octopus insularis (Octopodidae), evidences of a specialized predator and a time-minimizing hunter. Mar Biol 156, 2355–2367 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-009-1264-4

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