Behavioral dynamics provide insight into resource exploitation and habitat coexistence of two octopus species in a shallow Florida lagoon

Octospy: What Octopus insularis do in their dens

“…The use of remote photography and videography rather than sole reliance on direct observations by snorkel or SCUBA, or on acoustic tracking, contrasts with most other in situ studies that have been conducted with octopus. Remote videography has only been used in a few recent studies of octopus behavior (e.g., Bennice et al, 2021; Godfrey‐Smith et al, 2022; Scheel et al, 2014), which is surprising given its use since the 1990s in monitoring wildlife for scientific research (Kays & Slauson, 2008), its efficacy as a less intrusive and less labor‐intensive data collection method and its obvious potential to increase knowledge about the natural habits of octopods that reside in stationary dens. We urge greater use of this technique to study the behavior of benthic octopods in their natural habitats.…”

“…This is the first study demonstrating that O. insularis is diurnal in its natural environment. This trait distinguishes O. insularis from O. vulgaris sensu stricto and other members of the O. vulgaris complex, such as the geographically co‐occurring O. americanus , both of which are nocturnal in the field (Altman, 1966; Bennice et al, 2021; Kayes, 1973; Lane, 1960; Woods, 1965). Indeed, despite overlapping geographic ranges (Avendaño, Hernández‐Flores, et al, 2020; Avendaño, Roura, et al, 2020; O'Brien, Bennice, & Leite, 2021) and their similar size and appearance, the diurnal behavior observed in this study further reinforces the idea that O. insularis and O. americanus occupy distinct ecological niches: O. insularis is adapted to warmer (23°C–29°C), generally shallower (0.5–40 m) water, and is active mostly during the day (Leite, Haimovici, & Mather, 2009; Leite et al, 2008; Rosas‐Luis et al, 2019; present study), while O. americanus prefers colder (18°C–25°C), usually deeper (up to 200 m) water and is active at night (Amado et al, 2015; Bastos, 2018; Lima et al, 2017).…”

“…As with Macrotritopus cf. defilippi and O. americanus (referred to as O. vulgaris ) at Blue Heron Bridge in Florida (Bennice et al, 2019, 2021), these differences likely facilitate resource partitioning between O. insularis and O. americanus in areas of geographic overlap, reducing competition over prey and habitat and direct confrontations between the two species.…”

“…This is the first study demonstrating that O. insularis is diurnal in its natural environment. This trait distinguishes O. insularis from O. vulgaris sensu stricto and other members of the O. vulgaris complex, such as the geographically co-occurring O. americanus, both of which are nocturnal in the field (Altman, 1966;Bennice et al, 2021;Kayes, 1973;Lane, 1960;Woods, 1965). Indeed, despite overlapping geographic ranges (Avendaño, Hernández-Flores, et al, 2020;Avendaño, Roura, et al, 2020 There were three potential sources of bias inherent to our observation methods.…”

Seahorse Predation by Octopuses in the Caribbean and the West Pacific

“…Octopuses as seahorse predators have so far only been reported from Portugal [7] and New South Wales, Australia [8]. These cephalopods are well known to be voracious predators, especially of molluscs and crustaceans [14,15], but also of slow-moving fishes such as scorpionfish and lionfish, which use venom as a defence weapon [16][17][18]. Owing to their upright position and use of camouflage, seahorses are also not expected to rely much on swimming as a means to escape from predation.…”