Cephalopods: Intelligent Morsels of Protein (October 2024)

This essay first appeared in the October 2024 issue of Choice (volume 62 | issue 2).

Posted on October 15, 2024 in Bibliographic Essays

Introduction:

Artificial intelligence is in the headlines at this writing thanks to ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and other models. This makes an essay on non-artificial intelligence all the more timely. Many of the concepts of AI have come out of studies of how the nervous system works in vertebrates and invertebrates, including concepts such as nerve nets, memory storage in nerve connections and organic molecules, and the ideas of distributed and centralized neuronal control. How does intelligence work in nonhuman organisms? Cephalopod mollusks are perhaps the most intelligent of all invertebrates, so a review of the history, biology, physiology, behavior, and use of organisms belonging to this fascinating group is in order.

Including mostly recent books on cephalopods but also a few classics, this essay starts with the fossil groups of cephalopods, the ammonites and the belemnites. It then examines the best general surveys of cephalopods and books that concentrate on more specialized topics, such as biology, geography, interactions with other marine life, and specific species. A brief section treats famous individuals who studied cephalopods. This essay concludes on a light note with sections on fictional representations of cephalopods, many of which have been rendered as dangerous monsters.

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About the Author:

Larry Spencer is professor emeritus at Plymouth State College.

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