The constraints on cephalopods: why squid aren't fish

Abstract

The convergent evolution of cephalopods and fish has often been discussed on an anatomical basis, but recent advances in the knowledge of cephalopod life cycles, physiology, and biochemistry suggest that there are constraints on cephalopods that prevent them from competing directly with fish. These advances are reviewed against the background of detailed information on fish from the perspective that the basic inefficiency of the jet-propulsion system has required bioenergetic, physiological, and biochemical adaptations in squid which maximize their metabolic rates. Such "high-energy" adaptations are suggested to have resulted in the short life history and semelparous reproductive patterns that seem to characterize these coleoid cephalopods. Conversely, the physiology and biochemistry offish give them distinct advantages for long lives and iteroparity.