8 Arm Assistance
8 Arm Assistance
Marine biology with a cephalopod twist...
New York Times - The Search for a Model Octopus That Won’t Die After Laying Its Eggs
New York Times - The Search for a Model Octopus That Won’t Die After Laying Its Eggs
A lab in Massachusetts may have finally found an eight-armed cephalopod that can serve as a model organism and assist scientific research.
Euro Scientist - The Science and Ethics of Turning Octopuses into Lab Rats'
Euro Scientist - The Science and Ethics of Turning Octopuses into Lab Rats'
A squid whisperer might be about to help revolutionize experimental biology. Bret Grasse is one of the most renowned keepers and breeders of cephalopods, a group of animals that includes squid, cuttlefish and octopus, and his expert knowledge of these creatures may soon help biologists open up a whole new avenue of research...
The Kids Should See This - The Cephalopod Empire in Woods Hole, Massachusetts
The Kids Should See This - The Cephalopod Empire in Woods Hole, Massachusetts
Learn more about the five adorable species candidates being studied and cared for at MBL—the Striped Pyjama Squid, the Dwarf Cuttlefish, the Flamboyant Cuttlefish, the Hawaiian Bobtail Squid, and the Two-Spot Octopus
NPR - Octopuses' Big Brains And Unique Behavior Spur Basic Research
NPR - Octopuses' Big Brains And Unique Behavior Spur Basic Research
At the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., there's a room filled with burbling aquariums. A lot of them have lids weighed down with big rocks. ...Grasse's part of a team that's trying to figure out the best ways to raise these sea creatures in captivity, so that scientists can investigate their genes and learn the secrets of their strange, almost alien ways.
Hakai Magazine - The Newest Lab Rat Has Eight Arms
Hakai Magazine - The Newest Lab Rat Has Eight Arms
Move over mice and fruit flies, the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, is busy developing the next great model organism for science...
A World First - MBL Team Births Multiple Generations of Pygmy Zebra Octopus
A World First - MBL Team Births Multiple Generations of Pygmy Zebra Octopus
Hundreds of tiny, orange-speckled pygmy zebra octopuses, each no bigger than a grain of rice, have safely hatched out in the MBL’s Marine Resources Center. And Bret Grasse, Manager of Cephalopod Operations, couldn’t be more proud....
The Atlantic - So You Know, This Is How to Incubate Baby Cephalopods in a Soda Bottle
The Atlantic - So You Know, This Is How to Incubate Baby Cephalopods in a Soda Bottle
Say you find yourself, as one occasionally does, in need of incubating some baby cuttlefish. Say you don't have a lot of money, as one occasionally does not, to do the incubating of said cuttlefish....
ScienceFriday - This cuttlefish dazzles
ScienceFriday - This cuttlefish dazzles
Internet chatter suggests that the flamboyant cuttlefish—known for ambling along the seafloor and flashing brilliant displays—is toxic. What does the science say?...
WIRED - Absurd Creature of the Week: Cross-Dressing Cuttlefish Puts on World’s Most Spectacular Light Show
WIRED - Absurd Creature of the Week: Cross-Dressing Cuttlefish Puts on World’s Most Spectacular Light Show
Cuttlefish are far and away nature’s most adept camouflagers, capable of observing their surroundings and perfectly adjusting not only their color but also their skin texture in just 250 milliseconds. ..They can also launch truly bizarre displays of rippling colors to either intimidate rivals or hypnotize prey. Oh, also. They’re color blind. Yeah … scientists aren’t quite sure how that’s possible quite yet
Research Gate - The Biological Characteristics, Life Cycle, and System Design for the Flamboyant and Paintpot Cuttlefish, Metasepia sp., Cultured Through Multiple Generations
Research Gate - The Biological Characteristics, Life Cycle, and System Design for the Flamboyant and Paintpot Cuttlefish, Metasepia sp., Cultured Through Multiple Generations
Metasepia is a genus of small cuttlefish found in the Pacific Ocean. They are characterized by several definitive traits. The cuttlebones of this genus are small and diamond or rhomboidal shaped. Cuttlebones are also typically...
Advances in Cephalopod Science: Biology, Ecology, Cultivation, and Fisheries (coauthor)
Advances in Cephalopod Science: Biology, Ecology, Cultivation, and Fisheries (coauthor)
Marine Biology series-addresses major themes of growing research interest in the field of cephalopod research. The book is composed of four chapters incorporating the latest advances in biology, ecology, life cycles, cultivation, and fisheries of cephalopods. Each chapter is written by a team of internationally recognized authorities to reflect recent findings and understanding....
Alert Diver
Alert Diver
An Alien Invasion
If Mack and the boys stumbled out of John Steinbeck's Cannery Row and down the street into the back door of Monterey Bay Aquarium, they might mistake it for the clandestine hatchery of an alien invasion force...
Lab Animal - Considering the Cephalopod
Lab Animal - Considering the Cephalopod
Octopuses, squids, and cuttlefishes all have potential as lab animals. As models emerge, what goes in to keeping them happy and healthy in the lab?
The Falmouth Enterprise - A Home For Cephalopods At MBL
The Falmouth Enterprise - A Home For Cephalopods At MBL
The California two-spot octopus was anticipating dinner last week. Its tentacles spread out, and the two spots on either side of its body that give the animal its name darkened. Bret Grasse, the manager of cephalopod operation at the Marine Biological Laboratory where the octopus resides, described this as common behavior when someone approaches the tank...
Scientific American - An Octopus Could Be the Next Model Organism
Scientific American - An Octopus Could Be the Next Model Organism
Big-brained cephalopods could shine light on the evolution and neurobiology of intelligence, complexity, and more—and inspire medical and technological breakthroughs
Quebec Science Magazine - Octopus, squid and cuttlefish to replace the mouse in the lab?
Quebec Science Magazine - Octopus, squid and cuttlefish to replace the mouse in the lab?
Bret Grasse, in charge of cephalopod operations at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), in Woods Hole, southwest of Cape Cod, has been on a mission since 2017: he cultivates seven species of octopus, cuttlefish and squid with the aim of making them available to researchers of the whole world....
Wisconsin's Private Colleges Highlighted Alumni
Wisconsin's Private Colleges Highlighted Alumni
On the fast track to superstardom in saltwater aquaria through his work with the fragile cuttlefish, Bret Grasse ’08 has found his methods so successful that he has become the world’s go-to expert in culturing generations of cuttlefish.
NPR Cape Cod and The Islands - Prince Albert II Monaco Visits MBL, Woods Hole.
NPR Cape Cod and The Islands - Prince Albert II Monaco Visits MBL, Woods Hole.
Prince Albert II of Monaco visited Woods Hole on Monday, and met with scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory. He also announced that his foundation, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, will be supporting research at MBL for the first time. ...After going out on one of MBL’s research boats, The Gemma, Prince Albert II peered into tanks, and even – at the invitation of Bret Grasse, manager of cephalopod research at MBL – fed an octopus.
TENTACLE FESTIVAL 2017 WITH BRET GRASSE; Lembeh Resort, Lembeh Indonesia
TENTACLE FESTIVAL 2017 WITH BRET GRASSE; Lembeh Resort, Lembeh Indonesia
The Lembeh resort, Lembeh Indonesia, held it's first ever "Tentacles Festival" and invited cephalopod expert, Bret Grasse, to spend a week providing lectures to guests on everything cephalopod while diving and observing these beautiful creatures in their natural habitat....
New York Times: Did a Cuttlefish Write This?
New York Times: Did a Cuttlefish Write This?
Octopuses and squid are full of cephalopod character. But more scientists are making the case that cuttlefish hold the key to unlocking evolutionary secrets about intelligence.
The lesser Pacific striped octopus, Octopus chierchiae: an emerging laboratory model for the study of octopuses
The lesser Pacific striped octopus, Octopus chierchiae: an emerging laboratory model for the study of octopuses
Cephalopods have the potential to become useful experimental models in various fields of science, particularly in neuroscience, physiology, and behavior. Here we describe the biology, animal care, and culture methods for this tiny octopus species uniquely suited for research.