Growth and mortality of the juvenile common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) in pipe- and tire-type shelters placed in flow-through seawater tanks

Abstract

The common octopus, which has a high growth rate and high market price, is a prime candidate for commercial marine aquaculture operations. We evaluated the effectiveness of two types of shelters (pipe and tire types) for juvenile common octopus growing out in flow-through seawater tanks. Growth rates were evaluated in two experiments. The first experiment (Experiment 1) ran for 72 days, and the second (Experiment 2; replicated) ran for 46 days. Each trial included 40 octopuses fed a diet of frozen sardine (Sardinops melanostictus) and swimming crab (Portunustri tuberculatus) at 3-8% of body weight once every 3 days. In the two experiments, the respective specific growth rates were 0.3 and 0.04%/day in pipe-type shelters and 0.00 and 0.88%/day in tire-type shelters, while the respective percentage survivals were 80 and 80% in pipe-type shelters and 70 and 90% in tire-type shelters. Shelter type had little influence on the growth rate (P