New research shows that these changes to marine environments are leading to a surge of cephalopods, the invertebrate group that includes octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish. Scientists have noticed a growth in cephalopod catches around the world since the late 1990s. But drawing conclusions from national fisheries data can be tricky. Not only can catch numbers be misreported, but changes in catch amounts can also be influenced by factors that change the amount of time people spend fishing—like the price of fish and the cost of fuel—or by technological advances that allow fishers to catch more. So an increase in cephalopod catch doesn’t necessarily mean there are more cephalopods in the ocean. To solve this problem, researchers looked for data that would allow them to calculate how much fishers catch over a given time period—a more reliable metric of actual cephalopod population numbers. The conclusion was clear: Cephalopod populations—from New England to Japan—have boomed since the 1950s. Trying to explain the cause for this thriving, researchers say that, like rodents, cephalopods are highly adaptable to changes in their environment, in large part because most species live just 1 or 2 years, dying as soon as they give birth. That allows them to respond rapidly to disturbance. Scientists e refer to them as the weeds of the sea. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/05/world-octopus-and-squid-populations-are-booming First Planet Nine, now this? I'm sure H.P. Lovecraft would be happy.
Interesting, but in a way not unexpected. Octopuses and squids have solved a number of "intelligence" tests, and shown quite unique abilities in zoos and laboratories. E.g. they are one of the few species that can open jars with screw-lids. And they apparently didn't need a trainer to show them, they found it out by themselves. And they can also do the trick when trapped in the jar: They are flexible, and go through tiny holes: A species that can do such tricks surely has little problem to deal with changes in their environment that are hard to adapt to by other species.
