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Review
. 2018 Jun 6:9:700.
doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.00700. eCollection 2018.

The Current State of Cephalopod Science and Perspectives on the Most Critical Challenges Ahead From Three Early-Career Researchers

Caitlin E O'Brien  1   2 , Katina Roumbedakis  2   3 , Inger E Winkelmann  4
Affiliations
Review

The Current State of Cephalopod Science and Perspectives on the Most Critical Challenges Ahead From Three Early-Career Researchers

Caitlin E O'Brien et al. Front Physiol. .

Abstract

Here, three researchers who have recently embarked on careers in cephalopod biology discuss the current state of the field and offer their hopes for the future. Seven major topics are explored: genetics, aquaculture, climate change, welfare, behavior, cognition, and neurobiology. Recent developments in each of these fields are reviewed and the potential of emerging technologies to address specific gaps in knowledge about cephalopods are discussed. Throughout, the authors highlight specific challenges that merit particular focus in the near-term. This review and prospectus is also intended to suggest some concrete near-term goals to cephalopod researchers and inspire those working outside the field to consider the revelatory potential of these remarkable creatures.

Keywords: aquaculture; behavior; cephalopod; climate change; cognition; genetics; neurobiology; welfare.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Total number of publications on cephalopods per quinquennium that appeared in a genus-name search of the Zoological Record during the 20th century (adapted from Borrelli and Fiorito, 2008). Bar colors highlight different paces of research (see text for details).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
The number of publications per decade between 1986 and 2015 as derived from a search on the Clarivate Web of Knowledge Core Collection (WoS) with “cephalopod” and the research topics addressed in this manuscript used as keywords, i.e., “aquaculture,” “behavior,” “climate change,” “cognition,” “genetics,” “neuroscience/biology,” and “welfare.” Note that total numbers differ between Figures 1, 2 due to variations in indexing of the two databases and differences in search criteria.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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