Octopuses are not communal animals. Most live alone their entire lives.

章鱼不是公共动物。 大多数人一生都独自生活。

So, scientists were surprised to find thousands of pearl octopuses living together as they protected their developing eggs. The community is on the ocean floor off the California coast.

因此，科学家们惊讶地发现数千只珍珠章鱼生活在一起，保护正在发育的卵。 该社区位于加利福尼亚海岸附近的海底。

Now, researchers may have solved the mystery of the strange pearl octopus behavior.

现在，研究人员可能已经解开了珍珠章鱼奇怪行为的谜团。

An inactive underwater volcano heats the area where the mother octopuses settle. Their eggs hatch faster as a result.

一座不活跃的水下火山给母章鱼栖息的地区加热。 结果，它们的卵孵化得更快。

“There are clear advantages of basically sitting in this natural hot tub,” said Janet Voight. Voight is an octopus biologist at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois. She co-wrote the study published in Science Advances.

“坐在这个天然热水浴缸里有明显的优势，”珍妮特·沃伊特说。 沃伊特是伊利诺伊州芝加哥菲尔德自然历史博物馆的章鱼生物学家。 她与人共同撰写了这项研究，发表在《科学进展》上。

The researchers found that the area’s warmth greatly reduced the time it took for eggs to hatch. As a result, the eggs had a reduced risk of being eaten by snails, shrimp and other animals.

研究人员发现，该地区的温暖大大缩短了鸡蛋孵化所需的时间。 因此，鸡蛋被蜗牛、虾和其他动物吃掉的风险降低了。

Researchers discovered the nesting area in 2018, calling it an “octopus garden.”

研究人员于 2018 年发现了这个筑巢区域，称其为“章鱼花园”。

Researchers used a robotic underwater vehicle to film the group of nearly 6,000 octopuses living around 3 kilometers deep.

研究人员使用机器人水下航行器拍摄了生活在约 3 公里深的近 6000 只章鱼。

The octopuses lay their eggs on warm rocks and then remain there, protecting their young with their bodies.

章鱼将卵产在温暖的岩石上，然后留在那里，用身体保护幼崽。

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration biologist Andrew DeVogelaere was a study co-writer. He described what researchers saw: “It was completely incredible – we suddenly saw thousands of pearly-colored octopus, all upside down, with their legs up in the air and moving around.”

美国国家海洋和大气管理局生物学家安德鲁·德沃格拉尔 (Andrew DeVogelaere) 是该研究的合著者。 他描述了研究人员所看到的情况：“这完全令人难以置信——我们突然看到了数千只珍珠色的章鱼，它们全部倒置，它们的腿悬在空中并四处移动。”

The octopus were pushing away possible predators and turning their eggs for an even flow of water and oxygen, he explained.

他解释说，章鱼正在推开可能的捕食者，并转动卵以获得均匀的水和氧气流。

But scientists still did not know exactly why the octopuses had gathered there.

但科学家们仍然不知道章鱼为何聚集在那里。

Scientists observed the area for three years to understand the hatching process. They recorded both the developmental stage of eggs at 31 nests and the deaths of octopus mothers.

科学家对该地区进行了三年的观察，以了解孵化过程。 他们记录了 31 个巢中卵的发育阶段以及章鱼妈妈的死亡情况。

“After the hatchlings come out of the nest and swim off immediately into the dark, the mothers, who never left their nest and never appeared to feed during nesting, soon die,” said James Barry. Barry is a biologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and co-writer of the study.

詹姆斯·巴里说：“当幼龟从巢中出来并立即游入黑暗中后，从未离开巢穴且在筑巢期间从未出现过进食的母亲很快就会死亡。” 巴里是蒙特利湾水族馆研究所的生物学家，也是该研究的合著者。

The researchers found that eggs at this site hatch after about 21 months. The same process takes four years or more for other deep-sea octopuses.

研究人员发现，卵在该地点大约 21 个月后孵化。 对于其他深海章鱼来说，同样的过程需要四年或更长时间。

“Usually, colder water slows down metabolism and embryonic development and extends life span in the deep sea. But here in this spot, warmth appears to speed things up,” said Adi Khen. Khen is a biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and was not involved in the study.

“通常，较冷的海水会减慢新陈代谢和胚胎发育，并延长深海的寿命。 但在这个地方，温暖似乎加速了事情的发展，”阿迪·肯说。 肯是斯克里普斯海洋学研究所的生物学家，没有参与这项研究。

Mike Vecchione is a zoologist and octopus expert with the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. He praised the researchers for gathering “so much detailed data about such a remote location.”

迈克·维奇奥内 (Mike Vecchione) 是史密森尼国家自然历史博物馆的动物学家和章鱼专家。 他赞扬研究人员收集了“关于如此偏远地区的如此多的详细数据”。

Such octopus gardens “may be widespread and really important in the deep sea,” he said. “There’s still so much to discover in the deep sea.”

他说，这样的章鱼花园“可能在深海中分布广泛，而且非常重要”。 “深海还有很多东西有待发现。”