Ongrowing of the octopus Octopus vulgaris Cuvier, 1797 in floating cages on the Spanish Mediterranean coast of the Levant

Abstract

In order to test the growth of the octopus Octopus vulgaris Cuvier, 1797 in Mediterranean coastal waters, two ongrowing experiments were carried out in floating cages, located inside the area of Denia harbour (Alicante, Spain). During the first experiment (October 2004-January 2005), carried out over 94 days, males and females were kept separately. Females had higher survival rates (52.2 %) than males (30.3 %); average final weight was not significantly different in males and females, and average weight increase was 652 g/month. During the second culture experiment (March-June 2005), which lasted for 86 days, two diets with different crustacean content were used. Survival and growth were not improved by an increase of crustacean content in the diet. Increase in survival and average weight over the course of the entire cycle were 53.6 % and 975 g/month, respectively. © Instituto Español de Oceanografía, 2005.