Scientists have recorded the seemingly strange behavior of one octopus in a lab that, on first reading, they associate with the possibility that he saw… a nightmare.

Over the course of a month, the researchers observed the octopus appear to wake up from a restful sleep and squirm, a behavior that almost looked like the clam was suffering from some sort of sleep disorder.

But did the octopus really have nightmares? Scientists have some explanations, but they are reserved for the certainty and quick interpretation of his behavior, which, however, they described as unusual.

Material from the Rockefeller University Laboratory in New York Records four episodes in which Costello, island octopus while he appears to be sleeping peacefully in his aquarium, he suddenly starts flailing his tentacles violently. In two of these episodes, Costello appears it also throws out ink in water – what constitutes common defense mechanism against predators.

“Despite all the research we’ve done on octopuses and other cephalopods, there’s still a lot we don’t know,” said Eric Ramos, a researcher at the University of Vermont.

According to what researchers describe in pre-publication on bioRxiv that have not yet been evaluated, some of these behaviors they resemble the reactions of octopuses upon contact with a potential predator in nature.

This leads scientists to believe that the animal perhaps he was reacting to an episode of negative memories or presented one form of parasomnia“, that is, sleep disturbance. However, they themselves admit that they cannot draw a definite conclusion from their observation.

“It was really weird because it looked like he was in pain. He looked like he was in pain for a moment. And then he got up, as if nothing had happened, continuing his day as usual, ”Ramos describes, referring to a specific episode.

However, the researchers, citing recent studies of another species of octopus, are considering the possibility that uncontrolled tentacle movements are not associated with “nightmares” or negative memory, but rather are the result of age-related deterioration of the nervous system.

In another species of octopus, the Pacific giant (Enteroctopus dofleini), Recently, researchers have found a link between aging and deterioration of the nervous system.with a clam caught on video shaking its tentacles as if he does not control their movementwhich, according to scientists, has more to do with old age than with defensive behavior towards predators.

Indeed, Costello, who has a lifespan of 12 to 18 months, died shortly after these episodes. “I do not exclude that advanced age was one of the factors in the incidents,” Ramos notes.

Perhaps this behavior may seem unusual, but in fact it is not, scientists note, given that, on the one hand, laboratories do not film octopuses 24 hours a day, and on the other hand, many of them are killed before they grow old.

Source: live science