Determining the effects of stocking density and temperature on growth and food consumption in the pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, Ehrenberg 1890

Abstract

The purpose of this experiment was to observe the impact of stocking density on growth and food consumption of juvenile Sepia pharaonis reared at 23 and 28°C. Two groups of 32 cuttlefish each were reared in closed recirculating seawater systems with water temperatures of 23°C (group A) and 28°C (group B). Each group was divided into three treatments with two replicates per treatment: low-density (equivalent to 20 cuttlefish m -2 ), medium-density (equivalent to 100 cuttlefish m -2 ), and high-density (equivalent to 200 cuttlefish m -2 ). Measured amounts of live food were added three times a day and the wet body weight of each cuttlefish was measured once a week during the 42-day study. Cuttlefish in group B had higher growth rates and food consumption than cuttlefish in group A. The different stocking densities in group B affected the size of the cuttlefish whereas the stocking densities of the cuttlefish in group A treatments did not lead to different sizes between densities. Overall, the gross growth efficiency of the high-density treatments was lower than that of the low-density treatments, as was the weight of the cuttlefish in the high-density treatment. Although the wet weights of group A treatments were not significantly different (P [ 0.05), the wet weights of the cuttlefish in the highdensity, group B, treatment were lower than those in the low and medium density treatments. This decrease in individual size suggests that stocking densities of 100 to 200 cuttlefish m -2 may interfere with growth.

Inter-cohort growth patterns of pharaoh cuttlefish <i>Sepia pharaonis</i> (Sepioidea: Sepiidae) in Eastern Arabian Sea

“…Some aspects of S. pharaonis fishery have been addressed from Australia (Dunning et al 1994), Yemen (Sanders 1979, Aoyama & Nguyen 1989, Thailand (Chotiyaputta 1993) Philippines (Watanuki et al 1993) and Egypt (Gabr et al 1999). S. pharaonis is also a highly promising species for aquaculture (Nabhitabhata 1995) and is extensively studied under controlled laboratory conditions (Nabhitabhata & Nilaphat 1999, Minton et al 2001, Anil et al 2005, Barord et al 2010.…”

Optimum weaning method for pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis Ehrenberg, 1831, in small‐ and large‐scale aquaculture

“…One of the key aspects of successful large‐scale culture is determining the optimum culture densities (Barord et al., 2010; Correia et al., 2005; Forsythe et al., 1994; Sykes et al., 2003). Nevertheless, only a few culture density studies on cuttlefish have been conducted (Barord et al., 2010; Correia et al., 2005; Domingues et al., 2003; Forsythe et al., 2002). Furthermore, in these studies, scarce information was provided about the growth and effects of juvenile culture density during diet transition.…”

“…Similar results were found in this study, the WG and SGR of juveniles in the 60 and 70 cuttlefish/m 2 culture density groups were much higher than those in the 80 cuttlefish/m 2 group; however, there was no difference in survival among the culture density groups. Although a sufficient amount of prey was offered to each group, the predatory behaviour of locating and capturing prey played a greater role in the high‐density groups than in the low‐density groups (Barord et al., 2010). Increased social interaction explains the occurrence of food snatching in high‐density groups.…”

“…Furthermore, these two species, S. pharaonis and S. officinalis, are closely relatives, experimental studies and breeding practices found that they share many common characteristics, such as fast growth rates, short life spans and adaptable feeding habits; therefore, they have been proposed as an excellent candidate for large‐scale artificial culture (Barord et al., 2010; Jiang et al., 2018; Sykes, Domingues, Correia et al., 2006; Sykes, et al., 2009; Vidal et al., 2014). S. pharaonis was raised to an age of 170 days, fed live mysids ( Hyperacanthomysis brevirostris ), frozen shrimp ( Penaeus vannamei ) and fish ( Larimichthys polyactis ), with a yields of up to 5,000 individuals and weights of 570.71 ± 126.32 g (Jiang et al., 2018).…”

Growth performance and nutritional composition ofSepia pharaonisunder artificial culturing conditions

“…In the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Oceans, cuttlefish are found from the Red Sea and southern Arabian Sea to the Andaman Sea and from the South China Sea to Taiwan, Japan, eastern Indonesia and northern Australia (FAO 2005). S. pharaonis is a commercially harvested species with such features as high spawning success, a fast growth rates, a short life span, tolerance of crowding and handling, disease resistance and adaptable feeding habits; therefore, this species has also been proposed as an excellent candidate for large-scale artificial culture (Barord, Keister, & Lee, 2010;Domingues, 1999;Minton, Walsh, Lee, & Forsythe, 2001;Nesis, 1987). The culture of cephalopods has been an important research area due to their richness in nutrients (Gao et al, 2014;Wen, Chen, & Zeng, 2014), excellent palatability (Almansa et al, 2006) and high market price (Navarro & Villanueva, 2000); in addition, their tissues (cuttlebone, squid ink and visceral mass) are extensively used in biomedical and environmental sciences DOI: 10.1111/are.13741 and feed ingredients (Beom, Seong, Hark, You, & Jun, 2012;Bettencourt & Guerra, 1999;Fadjar, Andajani & Zaelani, 2016;Takaya et al, 1994).…”