Egg laying and embryo development of Octopus huttoni in response to temperature and season

Abstract

Basic life history information, such as reproductive strategy and embryo development, are lacking in many octopus species, including in the New Zealand species Octopus huttoni. Octopus paralarvae are particularly sensitive to changing temperatures; therefore, this study aimed to determine how temperature affects the egg-laying behaviour and embryo development and the implications on O. huttoni paralarvae survivability in southern New Zealand is discussed. Reproduction was found to occur all year-round, but there was a tendency to lay eggs in the spring and summer, most likely due to the increase in planktonic food production during this time of year. An inverse relationship was observed between temperature and duration of embryo development, in which the shortest duration was 44 days at a mean temperature of 17.3°C and the longest was 158 days at a mean temperature of 12.7°C. It is unknown how this increase in temperature and decrease in development time affects the survivability of the resulting individual, but studies from other species of octopus suggest that this phenomenon can be detrimental to overall paralarval survivability.