Guidelines for the Care and Welfare of Cephalopods in Research -A consensus based on an initiative by CephRes, FELASA and the Boyd Group.

This paper is the result of an international initiative and is a first attempt to develop guidelines for the care and welfare of cephalopods (i.e. nautilus, cuttlefish, squid and octopus) following the inclusion of this Class of ∼700 known living invertebrate species in Directive 2010/63/EU.

Self-recognition mechanism between skin and suckers prevents octopus arms from interfering with each other.

Controlling movements of flexible arms is a challenging task for the octopus because of the virtually infinite number of degrees of freedom (DOFs) [1, 2]. Octopuses simplify this control by using stereotypical motion patterns that reduce the DOFs, in the control space, to a workable few [2]. These movements are triggered by the brain and are generated by motor programs embedded in the peripheral neuromuscular system of the arm [3-5].

Cephalopods in neuroscience: regulations, research and the 3Rs.

Cephalopods have been utilised in neuroscience research for more than 100 years particularly because of their phenotypic plasticity, complex and centralised nervous system, tractability for studies of learning and cellular mechanisms of memory (e.g. long-term potentiation) and anatomical features facilitating physiological studies (e.

The evolution of flexible behavioral repertoires in cephalopod molluscs.

Cephalopods are a large and ancient group of marine animals with complex brains. Forms extant today are equipped with brains, sensors, and effectors that allow them not to just exist beside modern vertebrates as predators and prey; they compete fiercely with marine vertebrates at every scale from small crustaceans to sperm whales. We review the evolution of this group's brains, learning ability and complex behavior.

Inspiration, simulation and design for smart robot manipulators from the sucker actuation mechanism of cephalopods.

Octopus arms house 200-300 independently controlled suckers that can alternately afford an octopus fine manipulation of small objects and produce high adhesion forces on virtually any non-porous surface. Octopuses use their suckers to grasp, rotate and reposition soft objects (e.g.

Natural macrocyclic molecules have a possible limited structural diversity.

This paper examines ring size patterns of natural product macrocycles. Evidence is presented that natural macrocycles containing 14-, 16-, and 18-membered rings are of frequent occurrence based on a data mining study. The results raise a question about the limited diversity of macrocycle ring sizes and the nature of the constraints that may cause them.

How lobsters, crayfishes, and crabs locate sources of odor: current perspectives and future directions.

Olfactory orientation poses many challenges for crustaceans in marine environments. Recent behavioral experiments lead to a new understanding of the role of multiple sensory appendages, whereas application of non-invasive chemical visualization techniques and biomimetic robotics have allowed researchers to correlate the stimulus environment with behavior and to directly test proposed orientation mechanisms in decapod crustaceans.