Browsing by Author "Sommerfield, Anne"
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- Effects of feeding live or frozen prey on growth, survival and the life cycle of the cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis (Linnaeus, 1758)Publication . Domingues, P.; Sykes, António V.; Sommerfield, Anne; Andrade, José PedroThe European cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis belongs to the family Sepiidae. About 100 species of cuttlefish have been found around the world (Okutani 1990). From these, S. officinalis, is one of the most well known, and the most easily cultured (Forsythe et al. 1994). This species has been grown in laboratories and public aquaria around the world (Boletzky 1983; Clarke et al. 1989, Domingues 1999) and more than two or three consecutive generations have been cultured throughout the years (Richard 1966; Pascual 1978; Boletzky 1979; Toll and Strain 1988; Forsythe et al. 1994; Lee et al. 1998; Domingues et al. 2001b). Cuttlefish (S. officinalis) hatchlings are born as miniature replicas of adults, and have similar basic behavior as adults, namely a marked benthic mode of life (Warnke 1994). During the first few weeks of their life, cuttlefish have to be fed live prey, usually mysid shrimp (Richard 1975; Forsythe et al. 1994; Domingues 1999; Domingues et al. 2001a). Afterwards, they will accept dead food, such as frozen shrimp, fish or crabs (DeRusha et al. 1989; Forsythe et al. 1991; Domingues et al. 2001a). Some authors have cultured this species making this transition to dead food (Pascual 1978; Forsythe et al. 1994), while others fed live prey throughout the life cycle (Domingues et al. 2001a, 2001b, 2002).
- Growth and survival of cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) of different ages fed crustaceans and fish. Effects of frozen and live preyPublication . Domingues, P.; Sykes, António V.; Sommerfield, Anne; Almansa, Eduardo; Lorenzo, António; Andrade, José PedroThree feeding experiments, using live mysid shrimp, grass shrimp or fish fry as prey for 1-, 30- and 60-day-old cuttlefish were conducted to determine the efficiency of each dietary source in relation to cuttlefish size and age. Additionally, a fourth experiment using fish fry and grass shrimp, but previously frozen, was also conducted. The results showed that when 1-day-old cuttlefish were fed mysids, grass shrimp or fish for 4 weeks, mysids were the best prey, but only during the first week. From this moment until the end of the experiment, the best growth rate was when cuttlefish were fed grass shrimp. Cuttlefish fed fish fry showed the poorest growth rate throughout the experiment. Similarly, cuttlefish aged 30 or 60 days fed grass shrimp or fish fry had the best growth rates when fed grass shrimp. When cuttlefish were fed live fish, survival increased with size of cuttlefish (73.3%, 91.7% and 100% for 1, 30 and 60 days cuttlefish, respectively). In the fourth experiment, using frozen diets, overall acceptance of each diet (feeding rates) was the same for fish and shrimp. However, lower growth was obtained when cuttlefish were fed fish compared to grass shrimp. This lower growth was due to a lower food conversion (28% vs. 41%). Since cephalopod paralarvae and juvenile most likely need prey rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), phospholipids and cholesterol, and a moderate content in neutral lipids, we have analyzed the biochemical compositions of the different prey to evaluate the influence of this factor on growth and survival.
- The influence of culture density and enriched environments on the first stage culture of young cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis (Linnaeus, 1758)Publication . Sykes, António V.; Domingues, Pedro M.; Loyd, Maria; Sommerfield, Anne; Andrade, José PedroThe cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) is one of the most well-known cephalopods (Boletzky 1983). Successful culture throughout the life cycle has been done in many places around the world (Pascual 1978; Forsythe et al. 1994). However, it is known that the first stage culture of this species is the most problematic phase and when most mortality occurs (Richard 1971; 1975; Domingues et al. 2001). Recent studies showed that grass shrimp (Palaemonetes varians) can and should be considered as an adequate prey for the culture of the early stages of cuttlefish. It promotes very similar results in life span, survival, and growth, when compared to mysids (Sykes, unpublished results). Furthermore, grass shrimp has been used successfully to culture cuttlefish throughout the life cycle (Domingues et al. 2002, 2003). One of the most important aspects in commercial culture of marine animals is culture density. These studies are important to maximize biomass cultured in each tank while attaining optimal growth and survival, to reduce production costs.