Behavioural patterns of Octopus tetricus (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) and their responses to fisheries trap and bait combinations

Abstract Octopus fisheries are expanding globally. However, given their complex behavioural repertoires, cognitive capacities and individual personalities among octopuses, careful consideration of their interactions with and capture by fishing gears is required to inform efficient, sustainable, and ethical fisheries development. Here, the behaviour of Octopus tetricus was assessed in response to different bait and trap combinations in an outdoor mesocosm experiment. Eight wild octopuses were collected, maintained in individual tanks with flow-through seawater and aeration, and monitored with a 24-h video surveillance system. Six different trap types and four different baits were presented to each octopus in various combinations during four sequential trials. Fine-mesh crab traps were the most successful in capturing octopus, accounting for 23 of the total 30 captures across all trials. Whereas solid trigger traps produced the greatest number of other interactions (e.g., octopus sitting on trap or in the entrance), averaging 43 interactions per trial, but were rarely triggered. Bait type did not influence octopus capture, trap interaction frequency, or octopus activity. Octopus were generally inactive, dedicating only 9.5% of their total time to active behaviours. Octopus activity varied with time of day, with peak activity during morning daylight (0800–1200) and the lowest activity during the dark hours of the very early morning (0000–0400). Additionally, capture numbers, trap interactions, and activity varied among individuals, with bolder personalities in some octopus. This natural variation among individual octopuses may lead to fishery-induced selection associated with the elevated capture frequency of bold or more active individuals.