# Octopus mating cues repurpose a prey-sensing receptor

**URL:** <https://forum.kirupa.com/t/octopus-mating-cues-repurpose-a-prey-sensing-receptor/679936>\
**Category:** talk\
**Created:** [April 3, 2026, 2:00pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/octopus-mating-cues-repurpose-a-prey-sensing-receptor/679936 "2026-04-03T14:00:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Quelly](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/quelly/32/31386_2.png) [@Quelly](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Quelly)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 2:00pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/octopus-mating-cues-repurpose-a-prey-sensing-receptor/679936/1 "2026-04-03T14:00:20Z")

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Researchers found that male octopuses use a chemoreceptor normally involved in prey detection to also sense progesterone from females, which appears to help guide mating behavior.

> **[Male octopuses guided through mating by female hormones](https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/male-octopuses-guided-through-mating-by-female-hormones/)**
>
> A receptor that's used to find prey is also activated by progesterone.

Quelly

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**Author:** ![Ellen1979](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/ellen1979/32/31260_2.png) [@Ellen1979](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Ellen1979)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2026, 2:07pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/octopus-mating-cues-repurpose-a-prey-sensing-receptor/679936/2 "2026-04-03T14:07:06Z")

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That reuse is efficient, but it also sounds brittle because a noisy food-rich environment could plausibly cross-wire courtship unless the downstream circuit does strong filtering.

Ellen