Ethical and welfare considerations when using cephalopods as experimental animals

Abstract

When using cephalopods as experimental animals, a number of factors, including morality, quality of information derived from experiments, and public perception, drives the motivation to consider welfare issues. Refinement of methods and techniques is a major step in ensuring protection of cephalopod welfare in both laboratory and field studies. To this end, existing literature that provides details of methods used in the collection, handling, maintenance, and culture of a range of cephalopods is a useful starting point when refining and justifying decisions about animal welfare. This review collates recent literature in which authors have used cephalopods as experimental animals, revealing the extent of use and diversity of cephalopod species and techniques. It also highlights several major issues when considering cephalopod welfare; how little is known about disease in cephalopods and its relationship to senescence and also how to define objective endpoints when animals are stressed or dying as a result of the experiment.

Cytological ontogeny of the digestive gland in post-hatching Octopus maya, and cytological background of digestion in juveniles

“…Before the octopuses were fixed and the digestive glands were dissected, all octopuses were sedated to induce a total loss of pain sensation by immersing them in seawater at 5°C for 3 min (Roper & Sweeney 1983) with appropriate consideration to ethics (Mather & Anderson 2007) and welfare during handling (Moltschaniwskyj et al 2007).…”

Eye-independent, light-activated chromatophore expansion (LACE) and expression of phototransduction genes in the skin of Octopus bimaculoides

“…The hatchlings we used for these experiments were between 0 and 4 months old. To kill animals, we first anesthetized them in a seawater solution containing 5% ethanol and 7.5% isotonic MgCl 2 until the chromatophores no longer responded to gentle poking and ventilation slowed, followed by quick decerebration (Moltschaniwskyj et al, 2007;Andrews et al, 2013).…”

Timing of digestion, absorption and assimilation in octopus species from tropical (Octopus maya) and subtropical-temperate (O. mimus) ecosystems

“…As an ethical consideration (Mather & Anderson 2007) and to ensure the welfare of octopuses during manipulation (Moltschaniwskyj et al 2007), each animal was immersed in seawater at 15°C (for O. maya) and at 4°C (for O. mimus) for 3 min to reduce their metabolism (anesthesia) before dissection. Octopuses were covered with a clean piece of cloth, the arms of the animal were positioned at rest and the mantle exposed for surgery.…”