Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis: Cephalopoda) hunting behavior and associative learning

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Animal Cognition Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Because most learning studies in cephalopods have been performed on octopods, it remains unclear whether such abilities are specific to octopus, or whether they correlate with having a larger and more centrally organized brain. To investigate associative learning in a different cephalopod, six sexually mature cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) participated in a counterbalanced, within-subjects, appetitive, classical conditioning procedure. Two plastic spheres (conditioned stimuli, CSs), differing in brightness, were presented sequentially. Presentation of the CS+ was followed 5 s later by a live feeder fish (unconditioned stimulus, US). Cuttlefish began to attack the CS+ with the same type of food-acquisition seizures used to capture the feeder fish. After seven blocks of training (42 presentations of each CS) the difference in seizure probability between CS+ and CS− trials more than doubled; and was found to be significantly higher in late versus early blocks. These results indicate that cuttlefish exhibit autoshaping under some conditions. The possible ecological significance of this type of learning is briefly discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Boal J (1996a) A review of simultaneous visual discrimination as a method of training octopuses. Biol Rev 71:157–190

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Boal J (1996b) Absence of social recognition in laboratory-reared cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) L. (Mollusca: Cephalopoda). Anim Behav 52:529–537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boal J, Wittenberg K, Hanlon R (2000) Observational learning does not explain improvement in predation tactics by cuttlefish (Mollusca: Cephalopoda). Behav Process 52:141–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown P, Jenkins H (1968) Auto-shaping the pigeon’s key peck. J Exp Anal Behav 11:1–8

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Budelmann B (1995) The cephalopod nervous system: what evolution has made of the molluscan design. In: Breidbach O, Kutsch W (eds) The nervous system of invertebrates: an evolutionary and comparative approach. Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel, pp 115–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Dickel L, Boal J, Budelmann B (2000) The effect of early experience on learning and memory in cuttlefish. Dev Psychobiol 36:101–110

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fiorito G, Scotto P (1992) Observational learning in Octopus vulgaris. Science 256:545–547

    Google Scholar 

  • Hearst E, Jenkins HM (1974) Sign-tracking: the stimulus-reinforcer relation and directed action. Psychonomic Society, Austin

    Google Scholar 

  • Karson M, Boal J, Hanlon R (2003) Experimental evidence for spatial learning in cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis). J Comp Psychol 117:149–155

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mather J (1995) Cognition in cephalopods. Adv Study Behav 24:317–353

    Google Scholar 

  • Messenger J (1968) The visual attack of the cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis. Anim Behav 16:342–357

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Messenger J (1973) Learning in the cuttlefish, Sepia. Anim Behav 21:801–826

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore BR (2004) The evolution of learning. Biol Rev 79:301–335

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Purdy J, Roberts A, Garcia C (1999) Sign tracking in cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis). J Comp Psychol 113:443–449

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Teichert C (1988) Main features of cephalopod evolution. In: Clark M, Trueman E (eds) The Mollusca: paleontology and neonatology of cephalopods. Academic, San Diego, pp 215–288

    Google Scholar 

  • Terrace H, Gibbon J, Farrell L, Baldock M (1975) Temporal factors influencing the acquisition of an autoshaped keypeck. Anim Learn Behav 3:53–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomie A, Brooks W, Zito B (1989) Sign-tracking: the search for reward. In: Klein S, Mowrer R (eds) Contemporary learning theories: Pavlovian conditioning and the status of traditional learning theory. Erlbaum, Hillsdale, pp 191–223

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) to S.A. Adamo. This study was approved by the Dalhousie University Animal Care Committee.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Patricia D. Cole & Shelley A. Adamo

Authors
  1. Patricia D. Cole
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shelley A. Adamo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shelley A. Adamo.

Supplementary video material

S1 This video shows a CS- trial followed by a CS+ trial from block 7 for Cuttlefish #7. 7 During the CS- trial the cuttlefish initially moves away, eventually orients to, but does 8 not approach the CS. During the CS+ trial, the cuttlefish’s first strike is directed towards 9 the CS, and the second strike captures the fish (US).

mpg (30 MB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cole, P.D., Adamo, S.A. Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis: Cephalopoda) hunting behavior and associative learning. Anim Cogn 8, 27–30 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-004-0228-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-004-0228-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation