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Mark–recapture investigation on Octopus vulgaris specimens in an area of the central westernMediterranean Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2014

Marco Mereu ,
Blondine Agus ,
Rita Cannas ,
Alessandro Cau ,
Elisabetta Coluccia  and
Danila Cuccu
Marco Mereu
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università di Cagliari, Via T. Fiorelli, 1 - 09126 Cagliari, Italy
Blondine Agus
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università di Cagliari, Via T. Fiorelli, 1 - 09126 Cagliari, Italy
Rita Cannas
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università di Cagliari, Via T. Fiorelli, 1 - 09126 Cagliari, Italy
Alessandro Cau
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università di Cagliari, Via T. Fiorelli, 1 - 09126 Cagliari, Italy
Elisabetta Coluccia
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università di Cagliari, Via T. Fiorelli, 1 - 09126 Cagliari, Italy
Danila Cuccu*
Affiliation:
Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Università di Cagliari, Via T. Fiorelli, 1 - 09126 Cagliari, Italy
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: D. Cuccu, Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita edell'Ambiente, Università diCagliari, Via T. Fiorelli, 1 - 09126 Cagliari, Italy email: cuccu@unica.it
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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.

Keywords

Octopus vulgaristagginggrowthgrowth curvesMediterranean Sea

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 95 , Issue 1 , February 2015 , pp. 131 - 138
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2014 

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