Meeting Abstract
Several species of octopus have been known to spend extended periods of time outside of water, often quite actively. Virtually no investigation has been made, however, in what sort of physiological processes allow octopus to maintain these excursions. I examined the ability of the ruby octopus (Octopus rubescens) to consume oxygen while out of water. To test this, I enclosed octopus in a respirometer in air for fifteen minutes and measured their oxygen consumption. Additionally I hypothesize that the ability to consume oxygen outside of water would allow the octopus to rely less on anaerobic metabolism when in air than when in a completely anoxic environment. To test this I compared oxygen debt and accumulation of anaerobic metabolites in arm muscle after a period of fifteen minutes in air or anoxic water. I will be presenting evidence for the possibility of in-air oxygen consumption by octopus.
