The Octopus -- alien, food or friend?
Decisions of the Apex Predator
Squid, cuttlefish, octopus and nautilus are cephalopods, in the class Cephalopoda. (As a zoology degree holder, I would be remiss to omit this introduction.) It literally means head-foot, a description of the head’s connection to the feet of these animals. While mollusks in this class have shells, the octopus does not have a shell, but it is still classified together.
Recently, the genome of the two-spotted octopus of California was sequenced which led to headlines like, "the octopus is an alien”. 1,2 This headline was perpetuated by the conclusion that they had a different evolutionary trajectory, but not one that was out of this world. It has more genes that humans, but so do tomatoes. In addition, the octopus has copper-based blood rather than iron-based blood for binding oxygen, so the blood is blue3 — something we might expect of an alien. Yet they are clearly of this world.
The behavior of the octopus has led researchers to find it is prescient, can learn, feel pain and experience some emotion like attachment and mate selection.
From a morphological standpoint, its nervous system would point to a high degree of learning capability and being unusually smart. As a hunter, evolution tends to select for the better hunters that are smart and clever at hunting. But the DNA of the octopus suggests it is exceptional good at adapting for temperature, using its nervous system. To do this, it has a high degree of transposon activity. That is, a Lego block of genes can move around from place to place on the chromosome, changing the result of the performance of the nervous system. The octopus has a higher degree of this transposon movement activity than most animals.4
In modern, American culture, you may remember the Disney character, Ursula, who was cunning and self-serving, with her character based on the octopus (minus a couple of arms). So in pop culture, the octopus is not a very sympathetic or loveable character.
But despite its poor reputation in pop culture, it is unique and complex and probably the smartest invertebrate on Earth.
Farming Octopuses
Interest in eating cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish and octopus) is increasing. Data from FAO (the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization) gives us a breath-taking graphic of the impact of human consumption on this animal.
A company in Spain is rapidly building an octopus farm that will be the first of its kind. It will keep octopuses in cages off the Canary Islands. However, many who have studied the behavior of the octopus are appalled, saying this would be animal cruelty for these cephalapods.5 ,6
A survey conducted in August 2024, found there was support at about 50% for state and federal law banning octopus farming — not just regulating it, but completely banning it. This would include the same level of support of a ban for importing farmed octopuses.7
The organization, Compassion in World Farming, published a report on the ethical and environmental consequences of farming octopuses. The statistics speak for themselves — 50% of farmed octopuses die in the process, due to a lack of an environment suitable to sustain its life. The “farm” is a series of jars where they are fattened over a period of a few months.8
From the observations of the traditional fishermen in Brazil, fishing for the octopus requires knowledge of the tides. The time of the "dead tides" which occurs between the new moon and the crescent moon; and from full moon to a waning moon; and from crescent to full moons. These are bad times for octopus fishing. The "big tides" occur between the waning moons to full moons, which occur about twice a month. these big tides are either “clear tides” or “dark tides” in reference to the lunar phase. It is then when the reefs are not covered in water and the octopuses are exposed. Knowing this highly specific environment makes it evident why trying emulate the earth’s tides on an octopus farm is far from possible, and without these conditions a 50% mortality rate is unconscionable.9
Rights of Nature Movement
There is a movement underway where governments led by Indigenous Nations as well as state and local governments, to give some rights of existence to animals and nature. As this implies, there is a right to exist, but also a right not to be tortured or mistreated, or to have their habitat or food source destroyed. So far, salmon is the only animal, and the wild rice plant is the only plant to be singled out for rights protection by Native American tribes. However, several Native Nations, a county in California10 and a region in Florida have passed laws to give rights to nature.11
Sy Montgomery authored a new book, The Soul of an Octopus (2024)12 where she explores the mind of the octopus. (She also tells us right off from the beginning that you can’t pluralize octopus by using an “i” as in “octopi”, as “octopus” is a Greek word that cannot be made plural with the Latin “i”.). She tells us they are escape artists, presenting a real problem for aquariums and they learn very quickly — a task in one day that they can retain for a week. She spends some time on the poison that can be injected by an octopus, the traditional fear of the octopus from ancient mariners and how we are hardwired to be afraid of them. Her book draws you to recognize the intelligence of the octopus at the lowly cephalopod level, moving forward with previous acceptance by humans of the intelligence of chimpanzees, dogs, cats and elephants.
Indigenous Culture around the Octopus
In American, the northwestern Native Nations, including Alaska Natives, have traditional art depicting stories of the octopus.
Artist unnamed, Coast Salish Nation.
The octopus is depicted in the art of various Indigenous peoples, including the Coast Salish, Haida, Tlingit, and Nuu-chah-nulth. These stories are symbolic of intelligence, adaptability, mystery and other traits that are used to pass on the teachings of the octopus.
The story of the crow and the octopus depicts the cunning of the octopus and how thinking you are too smart can make you vulnerable to the charms of the octopus that will lead to your demise.13
The Tlingit Nation’s Chookaneidí (octopus) Clan earned the right to have the octopus on totem poles, masks and beadwork. It is a kin relationship they have shared since time immemorial.14
Tlingit artist, Octopus Bag, ca. 1840, glass beads on wool, with silk and cotton border, Museum Purchase: Indian Collection Subscription Fund, Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast Indian Art.
The Brazil traditional community, the Coroa Vermelha district, located in the municipality of Santa Cruz Cabrália, in the southern most part of the state of Bahia has a close association with the octopus fishing. It is the most important of all the fishing done in this village. This area is an officially protected environment zone through a government decree, where about 850 families of the ethnic group Pataxó live in this area of 1,494 ha,16 equivalent to about 5.75 square miles (For comparison, Washington, D.C. is 68 square miles.)
These Octopus fishermen (they are 90% men and 10% women but are referred to as fishermen or can also be called polvejadores) respect the ability of the octopus to "imitate[s] the bottom" to avoid being found by predators, including the fishermen. This capacity to camouflage on the bottom, happens with the contraction of muscle cells making possible the expansion of chromatophores, that change the color.17
Looking forward
The octopus is a wild animal, complex enough to be thought of as maybe alien. Farming such an intelligent and charming invertebrate and putting them on farms may not be a wise choice. Farming creates artificial conditions for economic reasons, which often outweigh humane, quality of life reasons, even with our best intentions. However, with the rapid growth in eating octopuses around the world, farming may be an alternative to their potential threatened or even extinct future. That may be the best measured decision that can be made by the human apex predators.18
https://octopus.org.nz/content/dna-proves-octopuses-are-aliens
https://www.gaia.com/article/scientific-study-says-octopuses-come-from-space
Wells, M. J. Octopus: Physiology and Behaviour of an Advanced Invertebrate. Octopus (Springer Netherlands, 1978). doi:10.1007/978-94-017-2468-5.
https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14668
https://www.npr.org/2024/02/07/1229233837/octopus-farm-spain-controversy
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/octopus-aquaculture-debate
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c6z9RjapQ_dR4LhwJ21qbGa9kBl-JqTk/view
https://www.ciwf.com/research/octopus-factory-farming-a-recipe-for-disaster/ (also photo credit for the octopus farm).
Viviane S Martins, Alexandre Schiavetti, Francisco J. B Souto, “Ethnoecological knowledge of the artisan fishermen of octopi (Octopus spp.) in the community of Coroa Vermelha (Santa Cruz Cabrália, Bahia),” Biological Sciences, An. Acad. Bras. Ciênc. 83 (2) June 2011 at https://www.scielo.br/j/aabc/a/ztQqPgSjKpcfNDTMmVqmvVS/
https://www.ojaivalleynews.com/news/government/ojai-council-passes-cutting-edge-rights-of-nature-ordinance/article_0cd7c3ac-a367-11ef-b6de-57490d265711.html
https://www.wusf.org/environment/2022-07-12/judge-strikes-down-rights-of-nature-charter-amendment
https://www.amazon.com/Soul-Octopus-Surprising-Exploration-Consciousness/dp/1451697716/
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/what-new-research-and-indigenous-wisdom-teach-us-about-octopus-and-ourselves
http://portlandartmuseum.us/mwebcgi/mweb.exe
June 7, 1993, State Decree number 2,184, the Area of Environmental Protection of Coroa Vermelha (Área de Proteção Ambiental - APA, in portuguese), comprising 4,100 ha of extension (SEMARH 2007), a protected area (PA) by IUCN classified as Class V. The indigenous village of Coroa Vermelha, within this Indigenous Land (IL) is officially recognized by the Brazilian government. See https://www.scielo.br/j/aabc/a/ztQqPgSjKpcfNDTMmVqmvVS
Hanlon, R. 2007. Cephalopod dynamic camouflage. Curr Biol 17: 400-404.
It is controversial whether humans are an apex predator, but my opinion is that humans are indeed apex predators.