{"id":2745,"date":"2026-08-16T04:24:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T03:24:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/ocean-acidification-causes-squid-brains-to-shrink\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T04:24:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T03:24:40","slug":"ocean-acidification-causes-squid-brains-to-shrink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/ocean-acidification-causes-squid-brains-to-shrink\/","title":{"rendered":"Ocean Acidification Causes Squid Brains to Shrink"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Linked to rising CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, ocean acidification weighs heavily on marine life, as demonstrated by new experiments conducted on squids.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A Real Threat<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The <strong>cephalopods<\/strong> are renowned for their remarkable cognitive abilities. Belonging, like cuttlefish and octopuses, to the sub-group of coleoids, they possess a brain neuron count comparable to that of a dog, making them the most \u201cintelligent\u201d invertebrates in the world.<\/p>\n<section class=\"incontent-related\"><span class=\"incontent-related__title\">Read also<\/span> <span class=\"incontent-related__desc\">Human presence alters puma movements and even how bears forage<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Like many other marine species and ecosystems, whether mollusks, crustaceans, or coral reefs, these fascinating creatures are affected by the acidification of the <strong>oceans<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>To clarify the impact of this phenomenon on their physiology and behavior, Garette Allen from Acadia University in Canada and her colleagues conducted experiments involving two tanks.<\/p>\n<p>The water in the first tank showed a pH of 8.2, corresponding to the current average of the oceans, while the second tank did not exceed 7.8, the oceanic pH level projected by climate models for 2100.<\/p>\n<section class=\"incontent-related\"><span class=\"incontent-related__title\">Read also<\/span> <span class=\"incontent-related__desc\">Facing drought, some plants conserve water through a very particular form of photosynthesis<\/span><\/section>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775104150_612_Gulf-Stream-Shifts-North-Major-Ocean-Current-Worries-Scientists.jpg\" alt=\"Ocean\" class=\"wp-image-934173\"  ><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Physiological and Behavioral Changes<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>After 90 days, the brain structure and size of the large-fin squids (<em>Sepioteuthis lessoniana<\/em>) studied were analyzed using an MRI device. On average, the individuals kept in the second tank showed a brain volume 49% smaller, possibly linked to oxidative damage.<\/p>\n<p>The greatest reductions in volume concerned the cephalopods\u2019 visual system. More specifically, the optic lobes (52%) and the optic pathways (62%), responsible for processing information transmitted from the retina.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>In individuals exposed to higher acidity from hatching, we also observed a 42% reduction in hunting behaviors<\/em>,\u201d the researchers explained at the annual meeting of the <em>Society for Experimental Biology<\/em>.<\/p>\n<section class=\"incontent-related\"><span class=\"incontent-related__title\">Read also<\/span> <span class=\"incontent-related__desc\">A whale hunted near Barrow, Alaska, hid the gleam of a weapon missing for over a century in its blubber<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Earlier, a study had revealed that ocean acidification was reaching alarming depths.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2046,2147,565,482,2146],"class_list":["post-2745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-acidification","tag-brains","tag-ocean","tag-shrink","tag-squid","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2745"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2747,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2745\/revisions\/2747"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.farmersforum.ie\/trends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}