How octopuses battle each other | DIY Neuroscience, a TED series

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz

譯者: Joey Chung 審譯者: Helen Chang

Greg Gage: The octopus is a rather strange-looking animal

葛列格·蓋奇 (GG)：章魚是 看起來相當奇怪的動物，

that exhibits amazingly complex behaviors.

因為表現出驚人的複雜行為。

They have the most impressive nervous system in the entire invertebrate world.

牠們是整個無脊椎動物世界內 擁有最多神經系統的動物。

They have about a half a billion neurons

有大約 5 億個神經元

that are distributed throughout their body,

分布在牠們體內，

such that two-thirds of the neurons are actually in its legs.

而有三分之二的神經元 分布在牠們的觸鬚上。

Now mix this in with camouflaging cells, jet propulsion and a razor-sharp beak,

牠們的細胞具有保護色，

再加上能夠噴氣推進的 組織及鋒利的嘴，

and you have all the makings of a formidable predator.

令牠們成為強大的捕食者。

And then throw in the fact that the octopus is a solitary creature,

然而章魚是孤獨的生物，

and suddenly, we have ourselves a real cephalopod fight.

而突然間，我們發現了 一場真實的頭足動物戰鬥。

(Bell)

（鈴聲）

[DIY Neuroscience]

[DIY 神經科學]

We know that almost all animals fight -- for food, for territory, for mates.

我們知道幾乎所有的 動物都會打架——

為了食物、領土或者配偶。

The octopus is no different, and knowing their fighting behavior

章魚也不例外，

而且了解牠們的打架行為

could help us better understand these fascinating creatures

能幫助我們更了解這神奇的生物

and how they interact.

及牠們如何互動。

My friend Ilya has been observing the classic fighting behavior

我的朋友伊利亞一直在觀察

加州雙斑章魚間的經典打架行為。

between California two-spot octopuses.

伊利亞·丘古諾夫：大多數人 認為「octopi」是章魚的複數，

Ilya Chugunov: Most people think that it's "octopi,"

但這其實是不正確的。

but that's actually incorrect.

正確的複數是「octopuses」 或「octopodes」，

The correct plurals are either "octopuses" or "octopodes"

倘若你想準確表述的話。

if you want to be very Greek about it.

GG：那你是如何做你的實驗呢？

GG: So how do you do your experiment?

IC: First, I like to set up the chamber just so it's ready,

IC：我首先要準備好（戰鬥）地點，

然後搖動水壺，使水內有很多空氣。

so I get a jug of water, I aerate it by shaking the jug.

看來水中的空氣充足， 牠們在水中很活躍。

It seems that if the water is well-aerated, they're a lot more active.

This gives the octopuses some room to breathe.

這樣會給章魚一些呼吸的空間。

I get the first octopus --

我放第一隻章魚進去 -

Here, buddy. Here, pal.

來，伙伴。來，朋友。

Put it in, set up my GoPro,

放進去了，然後設置 GoPro 攝影機，

put the second octopus in, cover it up and leave it alone.

放第二隻章魚進去， 蓋好，讓牠們單獨相處。

(Bell ringing)

（鈴聲）

Rule 1: There's always an aggressor.

【規則 1：總會有一隻侵略性強。】

There's always one octopus on defense, one on offense.

通常會有一隻章魚防守，一隻進攻。

Usually the one that's taking up more space, that's more boastful,

通常佔空間多的那隻會比較囂張，

definitely the aggressor, most likely the winner of the fight.

明顯地，侵略性強的通常是贏家。

The loser's pretty obvious.

失敗者亦很明顯。

They get pushed around, they curl up, hide in a corner.

牠們會被推來推去， 捲曲起來，躲在角落裡。

A lot of the time, when there's initial contact,

如果在初步接觸時

if one of them is too much on the defensive side,

一隻章魚多數在防守，

the second one will sort of poke at it, grab at its tentacle and see,

另一隻就會用觸鬚戳牠， 並抓住牠的觸手，看看，

"Hey, do you want to fight me, do you want to turn around?

「嘿，你想轉過身來打我嗎？

Do you want to start a wrestling match?"

你想開始摔跤比賽嗎？」

So it'll just poke and run away. Come back, poke and run away.

因此，牠只是戳、逃跑。 回來、再戳、再逃跑。

(Bell ringing)

（鈴聲）

Rule 2: Avoid eye contact.

【規則2：避免眼神接觸。】

When the octopuses come towards each other to begin the fight,

當章魚彼此接近，開始戰鬥時，

they don't actually face each other.

牠們實際上不面對對方。

They approach sideways.

牠們會先側身接近。

The defensive octopus tries to face away from the attacker

防守的章魚會避開面向攻擊者，

until it's the critical moment it knows there's no way to avoid a fight.

直到關鍵時刻， 牠知道沒有辦法避免打架。

GG: Really, the one who's waiting to the last moment

GG：真的，那個等到最後一刻

就是採取防守策略的章魚。

is the defensive octopus.

(Bell ringing)

（鈴聲）

Rule 3: Flash your colors.

【規則3：改變顏色。】

The aggressor in a fight will quickly and sharply flash bright black on his arms

戰鬥中的侵略者將要發起戰鬥時，

牠的胳膊上會迅速而明亮地 閃爍著明亮的黑色。

when he's about to initiate a fight.

(Bell ringing)

（鈴聲）

GG: Ooh, and already --

GG：哦，已經發生了——

IC: We're seeing some action.

IC：我們看到行動了。

Looks like they've spotted each other.

看起來牠們發現了對方。

GG: Right. So now he's going to come -- He's approaching, but not directly at him.

GG：對。現在牠要來了——

牠正在接近，但不是直接走向對方。

IC: Yeah, they're like almost completely antiparallel.

IC：是的，牠們幾乎 完全向反方向行動。

GG: And then right there --

GG：然後就在那裡——

IC: Yeah. They contact, and then their arms clash together.

IC：是的，牠們接觸了， 然後牠們的觸鬚糾纏在一起。

(String music)

（弦樂聲）

GG: So we've taken the first steps in understanding fighting in the octopus.

GG：我們已經對章魚的戰鬥 有了第一階段的認識。

你可能會問自己： 了解這個事情重要嗎？

And you might be asking yourself: Why does this even matter?

Well, these types of curiosity-based research questions can often lead

這些出於好奇而發問的研究性問題，

往往可以導致一些 意想不到的見解和發現。

to some unexpected insights and discoveries.

We've learned a lot about ourselves from studying marine animals.

我們已經從研究海洋動物 了解很多關於我們自己的知識。

Squid have taught us about how our neurons communicate,

魷魚教會了我們神經元是怎樣溝通，

and the horseshoe crab has taught us about how our eyes work.

而馬蹄蟹教會了我們 眼睛是如何運作的。

So it's not too far of a stretch to say that some of these behaviors

所以，在不久的將來，

我們應該會通過研究 加州雙斑章魚的行為，

that we're seeing in the California two-spot octopus are similar to ours.

發現我們的相似之處。