Possible evidence of paternal care in bigfin reef squid

by Bob Yirka, Phys.org
September 7, 2021

A trio of researchers, two from Universidade de Lisboa, the other from the American Museum of Natural History, has found possible evidence of paternal care in a cephalopod. In their paper published in the journal Ecology, Eduardo Sampaio, Samantha Cheng and Rui Rosa describe recording bigfin reef squid mating behavior in two vastly different areas.

As part of ongoing research into squid, the researchers were recording specimens around the world. As part of their work, they captured images of bigfin reef squid mating rituals in the Red Sea and off the coast of Indonesia. The researchers found something unusual in the video—the male appeared to be helping the female find a suitable place to lay her eggs.

Keep reading: https://phys.org/news/2021-09-evidence-paternal-bigfin-reef-squid.html

Read the Ecology paper: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecy.3529