Study
Signal use by octopuses in agonistic interactions
Scheel, David; Godfrey-Smith, Peter; Lawrence, Matthew
Current Biology, 2016
Continuous underwater video at an unusually dense octopus site in Jervis Bay, Australia, was analysed for how colour and posture related to the outcome of confrontations between individuals.
- Studied in
- Octopus tetricus
- Sample size
- interactions recorded at a single dense site in Australia
Dark body colour was associated with aggression and with winning encounters; pale colour was associated with retreat. Displays included standing tall with the web spread over raised arms.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Octopuses use body patterns as signals in contests, indicating more social behaviour than the solitary stereotype allows.
How NatureHQ reads it
Octopuses are usually described as solitary. At sites where shelter is scarce and food is plentiful they crowd together, and where they crowd together they signal. This is a small step towards understanding whether cephalopod social behaviour is absent or simply rarely given the conditions to appear.
- A single unusual site with atypically high density.
- Correlational: colour is associated with outcome, not shown to cause it.
- One species.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Cell PressPublished in a Cell Press journal.
doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.12.033
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref and OpenAlex on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-09.