Forty-five full-sized, virgin cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis Linnaeus) were
tested for social discriminations on the basis of chemical cues alone. Subj
ects were tested by placing them in the base of a Y-maze and permitting the
m to choose between the two arms of the maze, each arm with a different wat
er supply. Each subject was tested three times: once with water from a male
versus a female conspecific, once with water from a mated versus a virgin
conspecific of the opposite sex, and once using plain seawater in both arms
of the Y-maze as a control for any bias towards one of the arms of the maz
e. Results fail to support hypotheses for chemical communication in cephalo
pods: difficulties in using approach behavior to measure chemical communica
tion in cephalopod and other mollusks are discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scie
nce B.V. All rights reserved.