The completed life cycle of the octopus (Octopus vulgaris, Cuvier) under culture conditions: paralarval rearing using Artemia and zoeae, and first data on juvenile growth up to 8 months of age

This paper shows innovating results on Octopus vulgaris Cuvier 1797 growth under culture conditions during the whole life cycle. Experiments were conducted at the Spanish Institute of Oceanography of Vigo ( Spain). Using mean water temperature of 22.5degreesC, salinity of 35parts per thousand and adult Artemia ( 1-4 mm of total length) along with a diet complement of Maja squinado zoeae as living prey, it was possible to obtain a 31.5% paralarval survival at day 40 after hatching. At this age, paralarvae had reached a dry weight of 9.5 mg, 23 suckers per arm, and they began the settlement process. First results on juvenile growth showed that they reached 0.5 - 0.6 kg at the age of 6 months after hatching, and 2 months later, they attained weights ranging between 1.4 and 1.8 kg. Mean temperature of the ongrowing process was 18degreesC.