The overall architecture of the two receptors looked similar. The team determined the 3D structure of the octopus chemotactile receptor and compared it with the acetylcholine receptor to examine how it transitioned from its ancestral role in neurotransmission. "They use their arms for 'taste by touch' contact-dependent aquatic exploration of crevices in the sea floor," said senior investigator Nicholas Bellono, associate professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Squid are ambush predators that strike and capture unsuspecting prey with their eight arms and two long tentacles. Instead of sensing neurotransmitters, however, octopus receptors contain important adaptations to sense relatively insoluble, greasy molecules that stick to surfaces. They discovered that octopus chemotactile receptors evolved from acetylcholine neurotransmitter receptors, the same kind that humans have at our neuromuscular junction. In the first of the papers, the researchers describe how the octopus repurposes ancestral neurotransmitter receptors to sense its external environment. They describe how the animals evolved using a family of chemotactile receptors within their arms and offer a glimpse into how such functional changes likely took place as adaptations to environment over deep evolutionary time. In two separate studies published in Nature, researchers from the Bellono lab at Harvard and Ryan Hibbs' lab at UC San Diego discovered some clues, focusing on how cephalopod nervous systems adapt to sense their marine environments. This post originally posted on Quora, but was deleted by their moderator due to external links (which I thought were visually necessary) hence here we are ).So how did these animals evolve neurologically from the shelled mollusk to a behaviorally sophisticated creature? The other very cool related animal is the cuttlefish. Squids almost seem to have multicolored psychedelic running lighting.Ĭamouflage is the gift of all of the cephalopods. Squids and Octopus are both gifted with this and both very beautiful in different ways. Try to see them in their environment when you can see how psychedelic their iridescence is. When an animal dies all the epic coloration fades immediately. Both species might not live in the same ocean area, so don’t expect to see both (but it can happen!)īoth animals boast amazing color and camoflague capability. Night dives offer the opportunity to see both animals at their peak. Squid, because they are in the open water, are netted which makes them both more elusive and easier to catch, though the nets are tragically dangerous and destructive to the ocean and everyone who lives in it or enjoys it.Īnother difference is that I’ve seen footage of an octopus eating a shark. We are killing off our octopus, reefs and oceans in this way. It kills the rocks and reef, bleach is poured into the environment and yes I’ll bet that people who eat these animals are eating the bleach (or whatever other chemicals used) too. When I’m diving I can sometimes find the empty plastic bleach containers. The sickening thing is that in order to supply aquariums, sushi and other restaurants, bleach is often injected into the rocks or reef to get the octopus to come out. Sometimes we can see the eyes looking out from behind a rock, but then if they are approached they dart back into their crevice. We might see a part of them, but generally when we approach they disappear. Usually in the day they are deep inside the rocks. I’ve never observed this muppet like intelligence from a squid. Octopus live in rocks, crevices and caves. I have avoided that thrill on purpose, for personal safety. I wish I could tell you I’ve dove with schooling giant squid but I have not. Squid swim in the open water and can school. I have observed octopus with personality, like they are squid’s nerdy honor roll cousins. I’ve never observed a squid with personality. Though I have seen a zillion squid beaching themselves in the Sea of Cortez and the hour of day didn’t seem to matter. They are phylum Molluska, and while they don’t have shells, they do have a shell-like beak, almost like a parrot.įrom a diving perspective, both are more active at night. The bite also gave me an overall sick reaction for about 24 hours after.īoth have beaks. I thought I was cool and it was cute until the beak broke my skin. I was very young in San Felipe Mexico, handling the octopus and its tentacles attached to my arm. My personal difference is that I’ve been bitten by octopus (my fault, not the animals-Don’t handle wild animals!), but never a squid. These are both amazing alien like animals that are iridescent and awesome to observe in their environment. Squid vs Octopus – Difference and Comparison
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