The life of cephalopods , mainly octopus, cuttlefish and squid , is one of the most hectic in nature. They grow and develop very quickly, their life expectancy is short and their physiology is so sensitive that it allows them to adapt to the environment more easily than other marine species. For all this and for the intense fishing to which these animals are subjected, scientists have not stopped investigating the aptitude of cephalopods to proliferate in a changing environment.
According to Zoë Doubleday, one of the authors of a study published in Current Biology and a researcher at the Institute for the Environment at the Australian University of Adelaide, “they are very flexible and adaptable animals. Their demographic indices vary a lot . “The research has collected data on their population as well as the capture rates of 35 species or genera of six families of cephalopods between 1953 and 2013. The main conclusion is that these animals that inhabit the seas and oceans are on the rise worldwide Doubleday was surprised to see steady long-term population increases in three different groups of cephalopods, which can live on rocks and also in the open ocean.
Researchers do not know what the ecological and socioeconomic consequences of this population increase may be, since these animals are voracious and versatile predators. A significant increase in their hunting could affect many species that are their potential prey, including commercially valuable fish and many invertebrates. On the other side of the scale, we must consider that a greater number of octopuses, cuttlefish and squid could benefit other marine predators that feed on them, and numerous human communities that depend on cephalopods as their main fishing resource. In any case, Australian scientists find it difficult to predict what may happen to cephalopod populations in the future, especially if fishing pressure continues to increase. Doubleday and his team now set out to study the factors responsible for the proliferation of these species.
