Evidence of learning and memory in the juvenile dwarf cuttlefish Sepia bandensis.

ABSTRACT

Measuring behavior in the form of numerical data is difficult, especially for studies involving complex actions. DanioVision is a closed-chamber system that utilizes subject tracking to comprehensively record behavior, while also mitigating the influence of environmental conditions. We used DanioVision to record activity of juvenile dwarf cuttlefish (Sepia bandensis) during the inaccessible prey (IP) procedure, a memory experiment in which cuttlefish learn to inhibit capture attempts towards inaccessible prey. By quantifying total movement and orientation of the body, we found that cuttlefish show memory by selectively inhibiting tentacle strikes without reducing total movement, or orientation towards the prey. We show that DanioVision can be used to assess multiple components of dynamic responses that are not measurable by direct observation alone and provide new evidence that strike inhibition is the product of learning, and not motor fatigue.