Common octopuses (Octopus vulgaris) have a highly developed repertoire of behaviours but have thus far been characterised as asocial animals, which is an unusual feature when compared to other cognitively-advanced species such as primates. Here, the effectiveness of using mirrors to study the social behaviour of Octopus vulgaris in the wild was explored. Behavioural responses and the intensity of cryptic camouflage towards a mirror and an opaque grey panel were recorded, analysed, and further related to body size. Tendentially, animals were observed to be more fearful and cautious of the mirror stimulus, with the majority of the animals interacting more frequently and faster with the panel, in addition to being more cryptical when faced with it. Regarding body size, smaller individuals were found to seemingly be more cryptic and less interactive towards the mirror stimulus. This was probably due to larger individuals being less fearful of a cannibalistic event, and also most likely sexually mature and driven to interact with a possible conspecific. It was concluded that, even though further investigation is needed, this study provides a stepping stone for research concerning the social behaviour of octopuses.
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