Escape by Inking and Secreting: Marine Molluscs Avoid Predators Through a Rich Array of Chemicals and Mechanisms
2007/12/01 by Charles D. Derby · 146 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Neuroscience · #ALARM #Biology #Cephalopod #Cephalopods and Marine Biology #Context (archaeology) #Cuttlefish #Ecology #Fishery #Mollusca #Neurobiology and Insect Physiology Research #Olfactory and Sensory Function Studies #Paleontology #Predation #Squid
paper · doi:10.2307/25066645
published in Biological Bulletin 213(3), 274-289 (Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL))
openalex publication_date 2007/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Abstract
Inking by marine molluscs such as sea hares, cuttlefish, squid, and octopuses is a striking behavior that is ideal for neuroecological explorations. While inking is generally thought to be used in active defense against predators, experimental evidence for this view is either scant or lacks mechanistic explanations. Does ink act through the visual or chemical modality? If inking is a chemical defense, how does it function and how does it affect the chemosensory systems of predators? Does it facilitate escape not only by acting directly on predators but also by being an alarm signal for conspecifics? This review examines these issues, within a broader context of passive and active chemical defensive secretions. It focuses on recent work on mechanisms of defense by inking in sea hares (Aplysia) and extends what we have learned about sea hares to other molluscs including the cephalopods.
Citations
Cited by
- De novo transcriptome analysis of the Indian squid Uroteuthis duvaucelii (Orbigny, 1848) from the Indian Ocean
- Shell Degeneration: Sea Slugs and Relatives
- Community Ecology and the Evolution of Molecules of Keystone Significance
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- Chemical defense in pelagic octopus paralarvae: Tetrodotoxin alone does not protect individual paralarvae of the greater blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena lunulata) from common reef predators
- Ontogeny of Tetrodotoxin Levels in Blue-ringed Octopuses: Maternal Investment and Apparent Independent Production in Offspring of Hapalochlaena lunulata
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