Other Animal Sciences Commons^™

Individual Prey Choices Of Octopuses: Are They Generalist Or Specialist?, Jennifer A. Mather, Tatiana S. Leite, Allan T. Batista

Jennifer Mather, PhD

Prey choice is often evaluated at the species or population level. Here, we analyzed the diet of octopuses of different populations with the aim to assess the importance of individual feeding habits as a factor affecting prey choice. Two methods were used, an assessment of the extent to which an individual octopus made choices of species representative of those population (PSi and IS) and 25% cutoff values for number of choices and percentage intake of individual on their prey. In one population of Octopus cf vulgaris in Bermuda individuals were generalist by IS=0.77, but most chose many prey of the …