Giant Pacific Octopus, Enteroctopus dofleini, at the Aquarium of the Bay in San Francisco. ©Meghan Holst
Congratulations to first author Meghan Holst, whose MS thesis work is published this week in the Journal of Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A. Her paper, titled “Behavioral changes in senescent giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) are associated with peripheral neural degeneration and loss of epithelial tissue” is the culmination of a large multi-site study of GPOs in public aquaria in the USA.
In this paper, Meghan shows that GPOs experience significant changes to sensory physiology beginning early in the reproductive period - far earlier than we appreciated previously - and that the peripheral nervous system degenerates significantly as neuronal cells fail to regenerate toward end of life. Her study raises important new questions about the welfare of octopuses during the terminal senescence phase, as well as interesting new mechanistic questions about how the peripheral nervous system degenerates during aging in cephalopods.
Our hope is that this and future studies of senescence in octopus will lead to ongoing refinements in management in public aquaria and in research laboratories.