Huffard Christine L, Caldwell Roy L, DeLoach Ned, Gentry David Wayne, Humann Paul, MacDonald Bill, Moore Bruce, Ross Richard, Uno Takako, Wong Stephen
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA.
PLoS One. 2008;3(11):e3732. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0003732. Epub 2008 Nov 14.
Studies on the longevity and migration patterns of wild animals rely heavily on the ability to track individual adults. Non-extractive sampling methods are particularly important when monitoring animals that are commercially important to ecotourism, and/or are rare. The use of unique body patterns to recognize and track individual vertebrates is well-established, but not common in ecological studies of invertebrates. Here we provide a method for identifying individual Wunderpus photogenicus using unique body color patterns. This charismatic tropical octopus is commercially important to the underwater photography, dive tourism, and home aquarium trades, but is yet to be monitored in the wild. Among the adults examined closely, the configurations of fixed white markings on the dorsal mantle were found to be unique. In two animals kept in aquaria, these fixed markings were found not to change over time. We believe another individual was photographed twice in the wild, two months apart. When presented with multiple images of W. photogenicus, volunteer observers reliably matched photographs of the same individuals. Given the popularity of W. photogenicus among underwater photographers, and the ease with which volunteers can correctly identify individuals, photo-identification appears to be a practical means to monitor individuals in the wild.
对野生动物寿命和迁徙模式的研究在很大程度上依赖于追踪成年个体的能力。在监测对生态旅游具有商业重要性和/或珍稀的动物时，非提取性采样方法尤为重要。利用独特的身体特征来识别和追踪个体脊椎动物的方法已得到广泛应用，但在无脊椎动物生态学研究中并不常见。在此，我们提供一种利用独特的身体颜色特征识别个体奇妙章鱼的方法。这种具有魅力的热带章鱼在水下摄影、潜水旅游和家庭水族贸易中具有商业重要性，但尚未在野外进行监测。在仔细检查的成年个体中，发现背甲上固定白色斑纹的形态是独特的。在两只饲养在水族箱中的章鱼中，发现这些固定斑纹不会随时间变化。我们认为在野外有另一个个体在相隔两个月的时间里被拍摄了两次。当向志愿者观察者展示多个奇妙章鱼的图像时，他们能够可靠地将同一个体的照片进行匹配。鉴于奇妙章鱼在水下摄影师中的受欢迎程度，以及志愿者能够轻松正确识别个体，照片识别似乎是一种在野外监测个体的实用手段。
