Any proud owner of a dog or cat will tell you that their pet can recognize them. This statement will not be new to the reader. In fact, many species of animals are able to recognize individual people. But how do we know this? And, stranger still: what if this animal is an octopus?
There are many anecdotal stories of keepers who feel that octopuses in aquariums recognize them and discriminate against other people (for example, approaching the keeper, even if he is in a group).
If this hypothesis is confirmed, it would mean that the octopus is capable of performing yet another complex task, since it would be able to discriminate, learn and remember!
The octopus has proved to be an extraordinary animal in many ways and many scholars of molluscs, and animal behavior in general, will not doubt this ability, as they are considered to be one of the most interesting animals on the planet. But, as always in science, clear evidence is needed.
And that's where the protagonists of this investigation come in: Roland C. Anderson, from the Seattle Aquarium (USA) and his collaborators.
Using the Pacific Giant Octopus as a study model (enteroctopus dofleini) tested whether or not it was true that octopuses recognize and discriminate individual human beings.
To do this, they set up a curious experiment: each newly captured octopus was observed twice a day by two different investigators dressed in the same outfit; one of the observers, in addition to taking notes on the animal's behavior, fed it; the other, took the same notes but “poked” the octopus with a stick (something harmless, but certainly irritating to the animal).
At the beginning of the study, octopuses generally eluded both unknown investigators.
But by the second week, it was already noticed that the octopuses were approaching the researchers who were feeding them, showing no signs of stress. On the contrary, they moved away from the other investigator (the “bad guy”), showing various signs of stress.
It was thus confirmed that the impression of many keepers was real and that octopuses also recognize people individually, in addition to other fantastic feats already demonstrated (personality expression, learning and memory skills, excellent visual and olfactory detection and camouflage " inventive”).
You won't look at the octopus with the same eyes again…and how will he see you?
Source: Anderson, RC et al. (2010) Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 13: 261 272
Author: Diana Barbosa
Science in the Regional Press – Ciência Viva
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