In a recent paper in the journal Marine Biology, “Prey selection in Octopus rubescens: possible roles of energy budgeting and prey nutritional composition“, Kirt L. Onthank and David L. Cowles studied whether Octopus rubescens preferred to eat crabs or clams. Onthank is a graduate student studying marine biology at Washington State University and Cowles is a biology professor at Walla Walla University.

The abstract is:

This study explores the relationship between energy budgeting and prey choice of Octopus rubescens.Seventeen male Octopus rubescens were collected between June 2006 and August 2007 from Admiralty Bay,Washington. Prey choices made by individuals in the laboratory deviated widely from those expected froma simple optimal foraging model. O. rubescens chose the crab Hemigrapsus nudus over the clam Nuttalliaobscurata as prey by a ratio of 3:1, even though prey energy content and handling times suggested that thisoctopus could obtain 10 times more energy intake per unit time when choosing the latter compared to theformer prey species. Octopus energy budgets were similar when consuming either of the prey species exceptfor lipid extraction efficiency that was significantly higher in octopuses consuming H. nudus. This suggeststhat lipid digestibility may play an important role in the prey choice of O. rubescens.

If you haven’t read a lot of scientific papers, as I haven’t, I would highly recommend this paper. The authors found a good balance between using the precise technical language required and language that is accessible for lay geeks. Check it out and find out why octopus might like crab better.

Now, all this talk of octopus, crab, clams, and dietary choices makes me want some sea food….how about a plate with all three?