Long Term Rearing of Cuttlefish in a Small Scale Facility

Cephalopods are arguably the most complex and fascinating aquatic invertebrate taxa. Except for a few well known exceptions, this group of organisms has been a challenge to study primarily due to difficulties in rearing and maintaining these animals in a small laboratory setting. Our knowledge about cephalopod rearing comes mainly from large marine centers, with much less known about small scale rearing facilities. This paper describes a bench top (ca. 450 litre) aquarium system that is relatively inexpensive, easy to maintain, and suitable for long term rearing of cuttlefish in the laboratory. This closed aquarium system uses artificial sea water and a biological filter to remove/recycle nitrogenous wastes. The simple design of this system can be easily replicated by inland researchers interested in studying cuttlefish but who have been thwarted by the lack of suitable housing facilities. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

莱州湾头足类的群落结构及其与环境因子的关系

为了掌握莱州湾头足类的资源现状,根据2011—2012年进行的9个月份的底拖网调查数据,研究了莱州湾头足类的群落结构及其与环境因子的关系。结果显示,148网次共捕获头足类6种,隶属于3目、3科、4属。头足类生物量及个体数均以10月最高、3月最低,周年平均值分别为3 111.39 g/h和723.54个/h。枪乌贼为莱州湾头足类的绝对优势种,其周年的相对重要性指数为13 097。头足类个体数的空间分布随月份变化,6—7月以莱州湾中南部密度较高,8—11月以莱州湾中北部密度较高,3—5月头足类的密度整体较低。CLUSTER和MDS分析将9个调查月份分为4个群组,ANOSIM分析显示群组两两间的群落结构均呈显著性差异,SIMPER分析表明枪乌贼对群组区分的贡献最大。头足类的个体数分布与浮游动物密度的相关性最高。生殖洄游和越冬洄游是影响莱州湾头足类空间分布季节变化的首要因素。研究结果可为莱州湾头足类资源的可持续利用和保护提供科学依据。     

东海区头足类资源现状与合理利用的探讨↑（*）

根据有关调查、生产和文献资料,较系统地阐明：东海区头足类的种类组成共有７８种,隶属４目,２０科,３８属;产量变动呈上升趋势;其中剑尖枪乌贼的主要渔场为东海南部、中部外海和五岛对马海区渔场,渔期为５～１０月;该种的生物学特征及其与环境的关系等。文中还分析了头足类资源前景,提出了合理利用意见。     

Growth and food intake models in Octopus vulgaris Cuvier (1797): influence of body weight, temperature, sex and diet

Multiple regression analysis was used to develop mathematical models applicable to the growth and food intake of Octopus vulgaris. The variables considered were: body weight (Bw: 175–3,500 g), temperature (T: 13–28 °C), sex (S: male = 0, female = 1) and diet (D: bogue fish = 0, crabs = 1). Growth and food intake may be succesfully expressed by means of the following equations: Ln (AGR + 14) = –2.0135 + 0.0895 Ln Bw + 0.5087 T – 0.0142 T² + 0.2997 D (R² = 71.79; ANOVA p < 0.0001) and Ln (AFR) = – 5.6577 + 0.5137 Ln Bw + 0.5266 T – 0.0132 T² + 1.1135 D (R² = 78.71; ANOVA p < 0.0001), where AGR: absolute growth rate, AFR: absolute feeding rate, Bw: body weight, T: temperature and D: diet. In our experimental conditions, sex did not affect growth or food intake. The optimum temperature for growth (17.5 °C) and food intake (20 °C) was independent of body weight. Growth and food intake were higher with the crab diet. Nevertheless, food efficiency was better for animals fed on fish (bogue). Maximum food efficiency was reached at 16.5 °C for both diets. When the temperature was above 23 °C, weight losses and mortality were recorded; the temperature at which this occurred depending on body weight and diet, so that smaller and bogue-fed individuals were more sensitive to increasing temperatures. O. vulgaris growth may provide optimum economic performance from 16 to 21 °C. This range is too narrow, considering the wide natural range (12–29 °C) in some Mediterranean areas. Therefore, O. vulgaris growth will be limited by seasonality of temperature or must be carried out with other systems (e.g. recirculation in closed systems with temperature control) for it to be economically viable.     

Effects of culture density and live prey on growth and survival of juvenile cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis

The effects of culture density on growth and survival of juvenile cuttlefish were tested. Groups of 1, 3 and 5 hatchlings were placed in small containers with bottom surface of 80 cm², obtaining individual densities of 125, 375 and 625 cuttlefish m^–2, respectively. Additionally, groups of 5 hatchlings were placed in containers with 2 different bottom areas (80 and 240 cm²), providing culture densities of 625 and 42 cuttlefish m^–2, respectively. A total of 120 hatchlings were used and experiments lasted for 40 days. No differences were found in growth between any of the densities tested throughout the experiment until 35 days old. After this, cuttlefish placed in isolation grew significantly larger. A second experiment was conducted in a flow through system, using two rectangular tanks with bottom surface of 0.5 m². Two groups of 25 cuttlefish hatchlings were used in this experiment, which lasted for 40 days. Both groups were fed live juvenile shrimp (Crangon crangon) during the first 5 days. Afterwards, one group was fed live fish fry of different species, while the other continued to be fed shrimp. After day 10 and until the end of the experiment, hatchlings fed shrimp grew significantly larger than those fed fish fry. Survival of hatchlings fed shrimp or fish fry after 40 days was of 100% and 68%, respectively. Total protein content of both prey types was similar. Therefore, the higher polar lipid content, especially due to the higher phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine levels observed in the shrimp, compared to fish fry could possibly be one of the major factor to explain the significantly higher growth rates for S. officinalis juveniles fed shrimp. Also, the percentage of polar lipids in the shrimp (47.4%) was closer to the one of juvenile cuttlefish (38.1%) than the composition of polar lipids in fish fry (10.4%). This could also be an important factor to explain the poor growth and survival obtained when feeding fish fry to the cuttlefish.