Food consumption, food conversion and growth rates of the oval squid Sepioteuthis lessoniana by laboratory experiments.

Abstract

Food consumption, food conversion and growth rates of the oval squid Sepioteuthis lessoniana were measured on an individaul basis fed on three kinds of live organisms, namely, fish, mysid and squid hatchling. Squid used in the present study were all reared from egg to the experimental size, ranged from 0.06 to 42.1g in wet body weight in an indoor aquarium. The daily food con-sumption rate ranged from 0 to 72% of body weight and depended upon the growth stage of the squid. Food conversion rate on a wet weight basis ranged from 15.4 to 43.8% and the rate was largely independent of the size of squid. Growth rate of the oval squid decreased with increasing size. The daily growth rate in body weight of hatchling reached 12.9% and that of the squid grown up to 30-50g in body weight ranged from 1.8 to 4.1%. The growth was dependent upon quality of food. Squid fed on squid hatchlings showed the highest growth rate followed by those fed on fish. The daily growth rate increased with each increment of the daily food consumption rate.