M. pfefferi juveniles ©CrookLab
This week we received some new animals from the Marine Biological Laboratory’s Cephalopod Culture Initiative (read more about this program in the New York Times) to support our ongoing research into cephalopod neurobiology and behavior; Sepia bandensis and Metasepia pfefferi.
S. bandensis is a species we’ve had previously in the lab, to study the role of skin injury and noxious sensory input in driving behavioral plasticity in different contexts. These new animals will be used in an NSF-funded study of male mate contests, as we test the hypothesis that nociceptive sensitization provides fitness benefits in the realm of reproductive behavior and not only in predation encounters. M. pfefferi is new to us, and we’re excited to learn more about this species as they grow in the lab. In a project funded by the Frontiers Group of the Allen Foundation, we will examine their unique quadrupedal walking behavior and the neural circuits that control the left-right and front-rear co-ordination of walking on different substrates.