Study
Multiple optic gland signaling pathways implicated in octopus maternal behaviors and death
Wang, Z. Yan; Ragsdale, Clifton W.
Journal of Experimental Biology, 2018
Optic gland tissue was sampled from female octopuses at successive stages after laying, and gene expression compared to identify the signalling changes accompanying brooding, fasting and death.
- Studied in
- Octopus bimaculoides
- Sample size
- optic gland transcriptomes across reproductive stages
Several distinct signalling pathways switch on in sequence after laying, including cholesterol and steroid metabolism. The optic gland is not a single on-off death switch but a set of programmes that jointly drive brooding, feeding cessation and rapid decline.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Maternal behaviour and death in octopuses are driven by multiple concurrent optic gland signals rather than by one hormone.
How NatureHQ reads it
This finally makes the octopus lifespan question answerable properly. Most octopuses live one to two years and die after reproducing once — the female stops eating while brooding her eggs and dies around the time they hatch. The 1977 experiment removing the optic glands, which produced a female who resumed eating and lived far longer, showed a control point; this shows it is several pathways rather than a switch. It also explains why an octopus cannot accumulate the decades of experience its cognition might otherwise support.
- One species, and a small laboratory one at that.
- Expression changes identify correlates of the decline, not proof of cause.
- Male senescence, which also occurs, is not addressed.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: The Company of BiologistsPublished by The Company of Biologists.
This reference was resolved automatically against Crossref on 2026-08-11.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-08-10.