Abstract
Under the influence of the Western Iberian upwelling system, the Iberian Atlantic coast holds important hatcheries and recruitment areas for Octopus vulgaris. Recently identified as an octopus hatchery, the Ría de Vigo harbors an important mesozooplankton community that supports O. vulgaris paralarvae during the first days of their planktonic stage. This study represents a preliminary approach to determine the nutritional link between wild O. vulgaris hatchlings, paralarvae and their zooplankton prey in the Ría de Vigo, by analyzing their lipid class content and fatty acid profiles. The results show that octopus hatchlings are richer in structural lipids as phospholipids and cholesterol, while the zooplankton is richer in reserve lipids like triacylglycerol and waxes. Zooplankton samples are also particularly rich in C18:1n9 and 22:6n3 (DHA), that seem to be successfully incorporated by O. vulgaris paralarvae thus resulting in a distinct fatty acid profile to that of the hatchlings. On the other hand, content in C20:4n6 (ARA) is maintained high through development, even though the zooplankton is apparently poorer in this essential fatty acid, confirming its importance for the development of O. vulgaris paralarvae. The content in monounsaturated fatty acids, particularly C18:1n7, and the DHA: EPA ratio are suggested as trophic markers of the diet of O. vulgaris paralarvae.
Highlights
The common octopus (Octopus vulgaris Cuvier, 1797) is the most important commercially harvested octopus worldwide
Being aware of the seasonal, regional, and sampling limitations, this study still represents an important snapshot on the nutritional support provided by the zooplanktonic community to the O. vulgaris paralarvae
Octopus vulgaris paralarvae are lecithotrophic and in the first days of life, their survival depends of the embryonic yolk which nutritional composition is directly influenced by female’s diet (Quintana et al, 2015)
Summary
The common octopus (Octopus vulgaris Cuvier, 1797) is the most important commercially harvested octopus worldwide. O. vulgaris paralarvae find the optimal environmental conditions to grow favored by the strong summer upwelling (Moreno et al, 2009; Roura et al, 2016). During summer, all these potential prey are naturally “enriched” with essential fatty acids (EFA) by the seasonal coastal upwelling where the frequent diatom and dinoflagelate blooms are responsible for the production of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) as 20:5n3 (eicosapentaenoic acid, EPA) and 22:6n3 (docosahexaenoic acid, DHA). The phytoplankton fatty acid (FA) composition and, the ratios PUFA (n-3)/(n-6) and EPA/DHA will influence the FA composition of the linked trophic levels like meso- and microzooplankton and planktivorous fishes (Dalsgaard et al, 2003) like Sardina pilchardus (Garrido et al, 2008) and to certain extent tissues and eggs of higher trophic levels species as O. vulgaris (Lourenço et al, 2014). The FA composition of muscle and eggs in marine organisms reflects to certain level the biochemical and ecological conditions of ecosystems and can be used to identify food web interactions (Bergé and Barnathan, 2005) being used as qualitative markers, or biomarkers, to trace or confirm predator-prey relationships (Dalsgaard et al, 2003; Budge et al, 2006)
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