How do Cuttlefish Interact With Their Environment While in Captivity?
Author: Kira Lemke
Faculty Supervisor: Robyn Crook
Department: Biology
Cephalopods are intelligent animals that can solve mazes, have episodic-like memories, and exert self-control, but little is known about best practices for their husbandry. For example, we have no behavioral assessments to measure welfare. This project aims to fill this gap by examining cuttlefish interactions with their environment by asking the questions “do cuttlefish play?” and “how do cuttlefish interact with natural vs. artificial hides?” Cuttlefish will be given a variety of toys and recorded. The recordings will then be analyzed to see if the criteria for play as defined by Burghardt 2005 are met. If the criteria for play are met, then the recordings will be further analyzed to determine how cuttlefish prefer to play, and recordings from enriched vs. impoverished habitats will be contrasted to determine if there is a correlation between habitat enrichment and play behavior in cuttlefish. Cuttlefish will also be recorded in the presence of natural vs. artificial plants and shelters. These recordings will also be analyzed to determine if there is a statistical significance between the amount of time cuttlefish spend in natural vs. artificial hides. This project will hopefully generate a new tool for assessing welfare of cuttlefish in aquaria and create more informed cuttlefish aquaria habitats.