Improving Keeping for Octopuses by Testing Different Escape-Proof Designs on Tanks for “Big Blue Octopus” (<i>Octopus cyanea</i>)
<i>Octopus cyanea</i> has a wide range of natural distribution and is interesting for scientific research. However, unlike <i>Octopus vulgaris</i>, the species is poorly studied, and few data exist on best practices for keeping them. One of the most common reasons for losing...
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MDPI AG
2021-09-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/18/8547 |
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| author | Keishu Asada Ryuta Nakajima Takahiro Nishibayashi Fabienne Ziadi-Künzli Zdeněk Lajbner Jonathan Miller Tamar Gutnick Michael J. Kuba |
| author_facet | Keishu Asada Ryuta Nakajima Takahiro Nishibayashi Fabienne Ziadi-Künzli Zdeněk Lajbner Jonathan Miller Tamar Gutnick Michael J. Kuba |
| author_sort | Keishu Asada |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Octopus cyanea</i> has a wide range of natural distribution and is interesting for scientific research. However, unlike <i>Octopus vulgaris</i>, the species is poorly studied, and few data exist on best practices for keeping them. One of the most common reasons for losing octopuses in human care is their ability to escape from holding tanks. Adult <i>Octopus cyanea</i> (<i>n</i> = 33) were locally collected in Okinawa throughout the year. All animals were housed at the laboratory facilities at the Marine Station of the Okinawa institute of Science and Technology. Animals were kept in a flow-through saltwater system in three different types of holding tanks ranging from 550 L to 600 L tanks or in 2000 L tanks, all with an environment enriched with clay pots or natural rocks as dens. They were fed a daily diet of dead fish or live or dead crustaceans ad libitum. To characterize the effectiveness of different keeping conditions, we compared escape attempts and non-natural deaths during the animals’ time under human care. We found that two types of tanks, the 600 L transparent acrylic glass tanks with weighted lids and the 2000 L tanks with synthetic grass lined walls, had significantly fewer escapes than the 550 L tanks. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:55:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d15cb6b6341b48e38c6082d599053288 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T07:55:31Z |
| publishDate | 2021-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-d15cb6b6341b48e38c6082d5990532882023-11-22T11:54:30ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172021-09-011118854710.3390/app11188547Improving Keeping for Octopuses by Testing Different Escape-Proof Designs on Tanks for “Big Blue Octopus” (<i>Octopus cyanea</i>)Keishu Asada0Ryuta Nakajima1Takahiro Nishibayashi2Fabienne Ziadi-Künzli3Zdeněk Lajbner4Jonathan Miller5Tamar Gutnick6Michael J. Kuba7Physics and Biology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0945, JapanDepartment of Art and Design, University of Minnesota Duluth, 1201 Ordean Ct., Duluth, MN 55812, USAPhysics and Biology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0945, JapanPhysics and Biology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0945, JapanPhysics and Biology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0945, JapanPhysics and Biology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0945, JapanPhysics and Biology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0945, JapanPhysics and Biology Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (OIST), 1919-1 Tancha, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0945, Japan<i>Octopus cyanea</i> has a wide range of natural distribution and is interesting for scientific research. However, unlike <i>Octopus vulgaris</i>, the species is poorly studied, and few data exist on best practices for keeping them. One of the most common reasons for losing octopuses in human care is their ability to escape from holding tanks. Adult <i>Octopus cyanea</i> (<i>n</i> = 33) were locally collected in Okinawa throughout the year. All animals were housed at the laboratory facilities at the Marine Station of the Okinawa institute of Science and Technology. Animals were kept in a flow-through saltwater system in three different types of holding tanks ranging from 550 L to 600 L tanks or in 2000 L tanks, all with an environment enriched with clay pots or natural rocks as dens. They were fed a daily diet of dead fish or live or dead crustaceans ad libitum. To characterize the effectiveness of different keeping conditions, we compared escape attempts and non-natural deaths during the animals’ time under human care. We found that two types of tanks, the 600 L transparent acrylic glass tanks with weighted lids and the 2000 L tanks with synthetic grass lined walls, had significantly fewer escapes than the 550 L tanks.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/18/8547octopus keepingoctopus escapeoctopus laboratory |
| spellingShingle | Keishu Asada Ryuta Nakajima Takahiro Nishibayashi Fabienne Ziadi-Künzli Zdeněk Lajbner Jonathan Miller Tamar Gutnick Michael J. Kuba Improving Keeping for Octopuses by Testing Different Escape-Proof Designs on Tanks for “Big Blue Octopus” (<i>Octopus cyanea</i>) Applied Sciences octopus keeping octopus escape octopus laboratory |
| title | Improving Keeping for Octopuses by Testing Different Escape-Proof Designs on Tanks for “Big Blue Octopus” (<i>Octopus cyanea</i>) |
| title_full | Improving Keeping for Octopuses by Testing Different Escape-Proof Designs on Tanks for “Big Blue Octopus” (<i>Octopus cyanea</i>) |
| title_fullStr | Improving Keeping for Octopuses by Testing Different Escape-Proof Designs on Tanks for “Big Blue Octopus” (<i>Octopus cyanea</i>) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improving Keeping for Octopuses by Testing Different Escape-Proof Designs on Tanks for “Big Blue Octopus” (<i>Octopus cyanea</i>) |
| title_short | Improving Keeping for Octopuses by Testing Different Escape-Proof Designs on Tanks for “Big Blue Octopus” (<i>Octopus cyanea</i>) |
| title_sort | improving keeping for octopuses by testing different escape proof designs on tanks for big blue octopus i octopus cyanea i |
| topic | octopus keeping octopus escape octopus laboratory |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/18/8547 |
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