Document Type
Thesis
Abstract
Class Cephalopoda is thought to contain the most intelligent invertebrates thus far discovered. It has been found that cuttlefish have the capacity for learning (Boal et al. 2000, Darmillaq et al. 2003, Darmillaq et al 2006, Graindorge et al., 2006; Karson, Boal and Hanlon, 2003). It has also been shown that cuttlefish can navigate in sophisticated ways, such as within a maze (Graindorge, et al., 2006; Karson, Boal and Hanlon, 2003). The goal of this experiment is to determine the correlation between learning and navigation in cuttlefish. Cuttlefish were placed in an oval tank divided into 24 quadrants with 8 smaller buckets within it to provide shelter. A food reward was then placed into the tank, and the time spent in each quadrant, as well as when the food was retrieved, was recorded. The trials were repeated 5 times with each cuttlefish. The data was used to analyze efficiency to food capture, both in number of quadrants traveled and time expended. It was found that time significantly improved over the course of the trials, but quadrants traveled did not. More study in cuttlefish navigation strategies is necessary.
Recommended Citation
Schonwald, Jasmine, "Cuttlefish Learning Efficiency in a Food Retrieval Task" (2011). Biology Theses. 1.
https://docs.rwu.edu/biology_theses/1
