Fecundity of the common cuttlefish, <i>Sepia officinalis</i> L. (Cephalopoda, Sepiida): a new look at the old problem

Abstract

SUMMARY:The potential fecundity (PF) of advanced maturing and mature pre-spawning cuttlefish S. officinalis in the Aegean Sea varies from 3,700 to 8,000 (mean 5,871) oocytes, whereas the number of large yolk oocytes increases with mantle length from 130 to 839. Small oocytes predominate at all maturity stages. Spawning animals have a PF of some 1,000-3,000 eggs below that of pre-spawning females. This shows that intermittent spawning, which occurs in captivity, is a normal process in natural habitats. Empty follicular sheaths are resorbed very rapidly, and their number does not represent the number of eggs laid by the female prior to sampling. Regulative oocyte resorption was observed at early maturation in some cuttlefishes. -La fecundidad potencial (FP) de sepia S. officinalis en estado de maduración avanzada y pre puesta en el mar Egeo varia entre 3.700 y 8.000 (media 5.871) oocitos, mientras que el número de oocitos grandes aumenta con la longitud del manto entre 130 y 839. Los ovocitos pequeños predominan en todos los estadios de madurez. Los animales en puesta tienen una FP de 1.000-3.000 huevos menos que las hembras en pre puesta. Esto demuestra que una puesta intermitente, como ocurre en cautividad, es un proceso normal en el habitat natural. Las fundas foliculares vacías son absorbidas muy rápida-mente y su número no representa el número de huevos puestos por una hembra antes de su captura. En algunas sepias se observó la reabsorción de oocitos en primeros estadios de la maduración.

Reproductive biology of pink cuttlefish Sepia orbignyana in the Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean)

“…Histological analysis of pink cuttlefish ovaries revealed that oogenesis is asynchronous (sensu Rocha et al, 2001) and spawning likely is intermittent, as reported by Laptikhovsky et al (2003) for S. officinalis.…”

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“…It may be expected that the smaller animals have a longer spawning period as a result of having larger eggs with higher fecundity depending on the low oviduct capacity. Laptikhovsky et al (2003) stated similar opinion for the correlation between the oviduct capacity and potential fecundity for an intermittent terminal spawner Sepia officinalis from the same family.…”

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“…Size range of residual oocyte (0.1-7.5 mm) corresponds to that of viable oocytes in mature spawning individuals (Laptikhovsky et al 2003) and fit definition of the intermittent terminal spawning as assigned by Boletzky (1987). Even though the size of the animal gets larger there is no correlation with the amount of leftover residual oocytes.…”

“…Fecundity and spawning patterns are keystones of cephalopod reproduction and were studied across different taxa. There are numerous data on number of oocyte in prespawning females (Arkhipkin 1996, Boletzky 1987Forsythe et al 1994, Laptikhovsky & Arkhipkin 2001, Laptikhovsky & Nigmatullin 2005, Laptikhovsky et al 2003, Mangold-Wirz 1963, Melo & Sauer 1998, Nigmatullin & Markaida 2009) but very little is known about how many of them remain after spawning, so how efficiently the potential fecundity is used. The Common cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis (Linnaeus, 1758), was dubbed as a "white mouse" among cephalopods since it has been used for many laboratory studies (Boletzky 1983).…”

“…It is known that S. officinalis survives well under captivity and may spawn over numerous laboratory generations (Forsythe et al 1994). Laptikhovsky et al (2003) reported S. officinalis to have a high potential fecundity in nature, with egg production between 6000 and 7000 per individual female.…”