Shutterstock Image by Olga Visavi - The octopus population is growing while number of fishes is decreasing
- Octopuses are sea animals famous for their rounded bodies, bulging eyes, and eight long arm
- Scientists say overfishing may have contributed to this
Amid the decreasing number of fishes, the population of octopuses is growing around the world, scientists have disclosed.
Octopuses are sea animals famous for their rounded bodies, bulging eyes, and eight long arms, the National Geographic Kids disclosed. They live in all the world’s oceans but are especially abundant in warm, tropical waters.
In an article written by Scott Campbell of Mirror, it was disclosed that experts around the world have catalogued a significant increase in numbers of cephalopods over the past six decades. Cephalopods include octopuses, squids, and cuttlefishes.
“Our analyses showed that cephalopod abundance has increased since the 1950s, a result that was remarkably consistent across three distinct groups,” said Dr. Zoe Doubleday from Australia’s Environment Institute at the University of Adelaide.
According to him, cephalopods are notoriously variable, and population abundance can fluctuate wildly; both within and among species.
With the huge increase in octopus numbers in the world’s oceans, the scientists herald the “time of the tentacled.”
“The fact that we observed consistent, long-term increases in three diverse groups of cephalopods, which inhabit everything from rock pools to open oceans, is remarkable,” Doubleday said.
It was disclosed that the “brainy” invertebrates have evolved some extraordinary adaptive traits, including suckered tentacles, camera-like eyes, colour-changing skin and complex learning behavior.
Moreover, one group of scientists who mapped the octopus genetic code stated that the animal was so strange that it could be viewed as an “alien” from another world.
According to Doubleday, cephalopods may be able to cope with changing environmental conditions such as rising temperature; better than many other marine species.
Furthermore, researchers believe that overfishing may have also contributed to the event.
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