Miles down for lunch: deep-sea in situ observations of Arctic finned octopods Cirroteuthis muelleri suggest pelagic-benthic feeding migration.

ABSTRACT: Deep-sea cephalopods are diverse, abundant, and poorly understood. The Cirrata are gelatinous finned octopods and among the deepest-living cephalopods ever recorded. Their natural feeding behaviour remains undocumented. During deep-sea surveys in the Arctic, we observed Cirroteuthis muelleri. Octopods were encountered with their web spread wide, motionless and drifting in the water column 500-2600 m from the seafloor. Individuals of C. muelleri were also repeatedly observed on the seafloor where they exhibited a repeated, behavioural sequence interpreted as feeding. The sequence (11-21 s) consisted of arm web spreading, enveloping and retreating. Prey capture happened during the enveloping phase and lasted 5-49 s. Numerous traces of feeding activity were also observed on the

SUBMITTER: Golikov AV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10291714 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature