Feeding behavior and oxygen consumption of Octopus ocellatus preying on the short-neck clam Ruditapes philippinarum

We examined the feeding behavior and energy consumption of Octopus ocellatus preying on short-neck clams under experimental conditions. Observed feeding patterns of individual octopuses of 7.0–52.1 g in wet weight were classified as “pulling”, “pulling–drilling–pulling” or variations of pulling and drilling. Octopuses used pulling for clams with shell lengths (SL) of 0.9–2.9 cm and a combination of pulling and drilling for clams with SL of 0.8–3.6 cm. Pulling alone resulted in a mean time for opening a clam (handling time) of 3.1 min and energy consumption of 8.0 μgO2 g− 1. Pulling plus drilling involved longer handling times. Prior to drilling, octopuses showed one of two pulling strategies, “low-energy pulling” or “high-energy pulling”. The latter was more similar to the type of pulling behavior seen when drilling was not used. The high-energy strategy resulted in a mean handling time of 55.4 min and an energy cost of 78.9 μgO2 g− 1. Low-energy pulling plus drilling resulted in a shorter handling time (29.5 min) and a lower energy cost (26.4 μgO2 g− 1). We calculated the profitability (yield of energy gain per unit handling time) and energy efficiency (yield of energy gain per unit energy cost) of these feeding strategies. Pulling alone was the most efficient method in terms of profitability, whereas low-energy pulling plus drilling was the most efficient in terms of energy expenditure for young octopuses eating clams.

► We examined the relationship between feeding behavior of Octopus ocellatus to clams and the cost, namely the time and oxygen consumption.
► The feeding pattern of O. ocellatus to clams which were comprised pulling and drilling was categorized into three patterns.
► The feeding pattern and the energy cost were changed with the size of clams.
► O. ocellatus could select the efficient feeding pattern with the size of clams.