Non‐associative learning in the squidlolliguncula brevis(Mollusca, Cephalopoda)

Abstract

Habituation and dishabituation are demonstrated for the first time in a squid (Cephalopoda: Teuthoidea). Each squid (n = 29) was exposed briefly to a plastic model of a predator to determine how the behavioural responses changed with repeated trials at 1 min intervals. Behavioural responses were video‐monitored for subsequent measurements of the number of escape jets and the duration of neurally controlled body pattern rings on each trial. Squids habituated readily to a teleost fish model and could differentiate clearly between a teleost fish and a shark model of the same size. Following a single series of 15 trials, habituated responses recovered after a 1 hr rest. Habituated responses also recovered rapidly (dishabituation) when a noxious stimulus was presented. Spaced Training was more effective than Massed Training in producing longer‐term habituation.