In:
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Cambridge University Press (CUP), Vol. 95, No. 1 ( 2015-02), p. 131-138
Abstract:
T-bar anchor tags and Petersen discs were used during a preliminary mark–recapture experiment in the wild on 268 Octopus vulgaris. Discs, despite causing some injuries, were characterized by a quicker healing (within 5 days) and a higher retention rate than T-bar tags (about 97% versus 22%, respectively), therefore they were considered the best technique for tagging the animals in the subsequent growth studies. From 2010 to 2013, a total of 1604 O. vulgaris (74.4% with a total weight 〈 300 g) were tagged with discs and released in an area of the central western Sardinian Sea (western Mediterranean Sea). Ninety-one specimens were recaptured after 4–63 days of freedom, 59 of which (31 males and 28 females) showed positive growth increments after a minimum time of 8 days at liberty. In general, a high individual variability (0.96–9.09 g day −1 ) and higher mean daily growth rates in females (3.07–3.65 g day −1 ) than in males (2.08–2.98 g day −1 ) were recorded, but this difference was not statistically significant. Using tag–recapture data, the first exponential growth curves for both sexes of Octopus vulgaris of small–medium size from the Mediterranean Sea were obtained, and compared with those available in the literature for the species .
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0025-3154
,
1469-7769
DOI:
10.1017/S002531541400112X
Language:
English
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Publication Date:
2015
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1491269-7
detail.hit.zdb_id:
281325-7
SSG:
12
