Settlement is the process whereby benthic octopuses with a planktonic paralarval phase make a behavioural change from being active swimmers to assume adult life on the seabed. This process is poorly understood, mainly because octopus juveniles are highly cryptic in the natural habitat and they lack any distinct morphological changes (i.e. metamorphosis) in concert with settlement. To investigate behaviour during the settlement process, ontogenetic changes in swimming, clinging and shelter-utilizing behaviours were examined during both day- and night-time using laboratory-raised East Asian common octopus, Octopus sinensis, aged from 10 to 28 days after hatching (ranging from 1.7 to 16.4 mg mean dry weight, DW). The accompanying change in feeding habit from planktivorous to benthivorous was assessed by comparing rates of consumption of planktonic zoea (of the swimming crab Portunus trituberculatus) and benthic juveniles of the Manila clam, Ruditapes philippinarum. During the daytime, octopus behaviour changed rapidly from swimming to clinging onto the surface of the wall and bottom of the test tank during growth from 3 to 9 mg DW. At night, the frequency of clinging behaviour increased along with growth but the behavioural change progressed more slowly, indicating a tendency to continue swimming during darkness. Shelter utilization during the day commenced mainly after reaching 8 mg DW, after which shelter use gradually increased with growth. In contrast, shelter utilization at night was rarely observed throughout the experiment. Regarding octopus prey preference, consumption of clam juveniles increased with growth while zoeae consumption remained constant. The increase in clam consumption, however, was gradual, indicating that the shift of feeding habit from planktivorous to benthivorous is by no means an abrupt transition. These results indicate that O. sinensis requires a considerable period of time to complete the transition to benthic life. The alternating behaviours of diurnal clinging and nocturnal swimming in the water column may facilitate safe migration of the octopuses from the location to which they have been passively advected towards a more suitable benthic habitat while minimizing their exposure to visual predators. Since shelter utilization and feeding on bivalves are likely to require the use of a certain degree of force and complex coordination of the arms and suckers, the extended, gradual increase in shelter utilization frequency and clam consumption may be attributable to the degree of arm and sucker development.

沉降是一个过程，在此过程中，具有浮游性幼体期的底栖章鱼会从行为活跃的游泳者转变为在海底生活的成年行为。对这一过程了解甚少，主要是因为章鱼少年在自然栖息地中是高度隐秘的，并且与定居相伴而没有任何明显的形态变化（即变态）。为了调查定居过程中的行为，我们使用实验室饲养的东亚普通章鱼八达通（Octopus sinensis）在白天和晚上检查了游泳，紧贴和庇护所利用行为的个体发育变化，孵化后10到28天的年龄（平均干重1.7到16.4 mg）。通过比较浮游动物（游泳蟹Portunus trituberculatus的）和马尼拉蛤仔，菲律宾蛤仔的底栖幼鱼的食用率，评估了从浮游性到底栖食性的伴随摄食习惯变化。。在白天，章鱼的行为从3毫克/千克DW增长到9毫克/千克DW时，从游泳到紧贴在测试槽的壁和底部的表面迅速变化。到了晚上，依恋行为的频率随着成长而增加，但是行为改变的过程却更加缓慢，这表明在黑暗中有继续游动的趋势。白天的庇护所利用主要是在达到8 mg DW之后开始，此后庇护所的使用随着生长而逐渐增加。相反，在整个实验过程中很少观察到夜间使用庇护所。关于章鱼猎物的偏好，蛤仔少年的消费量随着生长而增加，而斑ea的消费量却保持不变。但是，蛤lam的消费量是逐渐增加的，这表明喂养习惯从浮游性向弯食性转变绝不是突然的转变。这些结果表明O. sinensis需要相当长的一段时间才能完成向底栖生物的过渡。昼夜紧贴和夜间游泳在水柱中的交替行为可以促进章鱼从被动平移到更合适的底栖生境的位置安全迁移，同时最大程度地减少它们对视觉掠食者的接触。由于庇护所的利用和对双壳类的取食可能需要使用一定程度的力，并且手臂和抽油杆的配合复杂，因此，住房使用频率和蛤类消费量的逐渐扩大是由于手臂和抽油杆的程度而造成的。发展。