Meta-analysis approach to the effects of live prey on the growth of octopus vulgaris paralarvae under culture conditions

The common octopus (Octopus vulgaris, Cuvier 1797) is a species with increasing interest for marine aquaculture diversification, given its high growth rate and easy adaptation to captivity, among other positive features (Iglesias et al. 2007, 2014a). However, the massive paralarvae mortalities verified under culture conditions ( 100% in most studies) have hampered its commercial production, therefore making this the main bottleneck for industrial farming. According to several authors (Iglesias et al. 2007, 2014a; Iglesias & Fuentes 2013), the high mortalities could be due to: (i) inadequate and/or unbalanced diets that do not fulfil paralarvae nutritional requirements, (ii) lack of standardized rearing techniques, and (iii) little knowledge about octopus paralarvae physiology and behaviour.