Interspecific Evaluation of Octopus Escape Behavior

The well-known ability of octopuses to escape enclosures is a behavior that can be fa-tal and, therefore, is an animal welfare issue. This study obtained survey data from 38 participants—primarily scientists and public aquarists who work with octopuses—on 25 described species of octopus. The study demonstrates that the likeliness to escape is species specific (p =.001). The study gives husbandry techniques to keep captive octopuses contained. This first interspecific study of octopus escape behavior allows readers to make informed species-specific husbandry choices. The only cephalopod to go out on to dry land is the octopus. —Aristotle Written records of octopuses leaving the water have existed for over 2,000 years to the time of Aristotle (Balme, 1991). Octopus alpheus is known to leave the water to crawl between tide pools (Norman, 2000). In the field, Wodinsky (1971) reported observing Octopus vulgaris leave the water and climb on exposed rocks to collect gastropods. The octopus then returned to the water to feed. We have observed wild Octopus briareus leave the water in the Caribbean and Enteroctopus dofleini and Octopus rubescens out of the water in the northeast Pacific. Leaving the water ap-pears to be a normal behavior for some species. Researchers and aquarists have reported octopuses escaping captivity despit