FURTHER RESEARCH REGARDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF CUTTLEFISH SEPIA OFFICINALIS AQUACULTURE TECHNOLOGY

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Characterization of deformed hatchlings of Octopus vulgaris obtained under captivity from a small female

Publication . Jiménez-Prada, Pablo; Scherbakova, Anastasia; Riera, Rodrigo; Felipe, Beatriz C.; Sykes, António V.; Gonçalves, Rui A.; Andrade, José Pedro; Perales-Raya, Catalina; Rodríguez, Covadonga; Almansa, Eduardo

The common octopus (Octopus vulgaris), a promising species for aquaculture, spawns easily under cap-tivity from mature females (usually above 1 kg wet weight). Octopus juveniles and adults are collectedfrom nature to obtain eggs and paralarvae for aquaculture development trials. In July 2011, a very smallfemale (150 g wet weight but with an age estimation of 300 days-old) spawned almost 77,000 paralar-vae. Malformations of paralarvae were noticed in the first spawning days, namely the absence of arms.Despite not being lethal, these abnormalities might be derived from the physiological condition of thebreeding specimen (the female’s lower weight to the estimated amount of living days), which might beeventually related to nutritional unbalances or genetic parameters that were transferred to the eggs.

2014Journal article

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The use of different anaesthetics as welfare promoters during short-term human manipulation of European cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) juveniles

Publication . Gonçalves, Rui A.; Aragão, C.; Frias, P. A.; Sykes, António V.

Anaesthetics are frequently used to prevent injuries, stress and to promote welfare while handling animals. The efﬁciency of ﬁve anaesthetics for short-term handling of the European cuttleﬁsh (Sepia ofﬁcinalis) was tested in order to determine the best agent and its concentration. Ethanol (10.0, 20.0 and 30.0 mL.L−1 ), clove oil (0.05, 0.15 mL.L−1 ), hypothermia (8 °C), magnesium chloride (hexahydrated; 20.0, 27.0 g.L−1 ) and AQUI-S® (10.9 μl.L−1 ) were the selected anaesthetics. This choice was preceded by a preliminary trial, with additional agents, where 2-phenoxyethanol (10, 15, 20, 30 mL.L−1 ) and MS-222® (30, 40 mg.L−1 ) were used.

2012Journal article

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Control of zootechnology leads to improved Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis, L.) reproduction performance up to pre-industrial levels

Publication . Capaz, Juan Carlos; Hernández-Brooke, Daniel; Balvet, Safia; Couto, Ana T.; Alves, Alexandra; Baptista Gonçalves, Rui; Frias, Paulo A.; Andrade, José Pedro; Sykes, António

Cephalopods are gaining momentum as an alternate group for aquaculture species diversification, not only because they are a good food source (highly appreciated in some worldwide markets) but they also have the potential to quickly reach a market size. However, there are some bottlenecks impeding the transition of culture technology from the laboratory to industry. One is related to control over reproduction in captivity. The objective of the present experiment was to verify the effects of tanks with different bottom areas/volumes on the reproduction performance of S. officinalis breeding stocks, when sex ratios were controlled a priori; and the food cost associated with such performance when individuals are fed a natural frozen diet. One hundred and ninety two juvenile cuttlefish were used to compare three different round-shaped tanks: one type with 3000L volume and two types with 9000L volume (with differences in bottom areas and water column). Individuals had their sex and maturity stage determined to establish a sexual ratio of 2 female:1 male per tank and assure that cuttlefish were still immature. Biological data was collected during both growth and reproduction stages and until the death of all females in each tank. The experiment lasted nearly 300 days. Temperature differences between tank types were registered during both stages. The optimizing of rearing conditions has allowed for higher growth and a higher amount of cuttlefish available for breeding purposes. A total of 123,751 eggs (in 85 batches) was obtained during this experiment, which is a number that may meet a small scale cuttlefish commercial hatchery facility requirements. The present conditions contributed to a better and predictable reproduction performance in specific 9000L tanks, with values reaching pre-industrial numbers (approximate to 24,000 eggs/tank). Moreover, both the amount of eggs per batch and the overall quality of eggs has increased. Three of these 9000L tanks have an overall consumption of approximate to 38.64 Kg tank(-1), which translates in an investment in feed of approximate to 193 (sic) tank(-1), 8.40 (sic) per cuttlefish and an overall daily tank expense of 1.76 (sic) d(-1).

2020Journal article

Open Access

The effects of light intensity on growth and survival of cuttlefish (sepia officinalis) hatchlings and juveniles

Publication . Sykes, António V.; Quintana, Daniel; Andrade, José Pedro

Cephalopods, particularly the European cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis), are considered to be potential species for aquaculture diversification due to their high growth rates in captivity (Domingues, Sykes & Andrade 2001; Domingues, Bettencourt & Guerra 2006) and great demand as food throughout different regions of the world (FAO 2009). Nonetheless, cuttlefish differ from fish in several biological aspects, thus requiring different approaches to solve similar or new problems associated with their culture. For instance, the hatchling stage has been identified as the most problematic due to mortality and the need of live prey. Several factors might influence growth and mortality of cuttlefish in captivity, such as culture conditions and nutritional requirements of the species. According to Downing and Litvak (1999), there is a need to understand the physical and biological factors that act on developing fish larvae to create protocols that maximize survival and growth under culture conditions. It is known that system design may promote stress and lower animal welfare in finfish (Conte 2004) and the same seems to apply to cuttlefish.

2014Journal article

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Refining tools for studying cuttlefish ( Sepia officinalis ) reproduction in captivity: in vivo sexual determination, tagging and DNA collection

Publication . Sykes, António V.; Alves, Alexandra; Capaz, Juan Carlos; Madeira, Céline; Couto, Ana T.; Gonçalves, Rui A.; Frias, Paulo A.; Leal, Irene; Andrade, José Pedro

To overcome the bottleneck of reproduction in cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis, aquaculture development, there is need for new tools or refinement of methods. While attaining low welfare impact on individuals, procedures to allow for in vivo individual sexual and maturity determination, tagging and collection of samples for high quality DNA are needed. The present study evaluated the use of an endoscope, visual implant elastomer and swabbing for each, respectively, in a set of 3 experiments that registered its effects on growth, mortality and reproduction. Results showed that all the methodologies tested herein were of easy application, did not promote injuries nor poor growth, abnormal reproduction or increased mortality. This indicates that cuttlefish would not be experiencing pain, suffering, distress and lasting harm (PSDLH), resulting from the application of these procedures and that these are therefore recommended as new standards for reproduction studies in the species.

2017Journal article

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