Observations on some aspects of biology of webfoot octopus, Octopus membranaceus Quoy and Gaimard, 1832 off Visakhapatnam, east coast of India

Rao, P Yedukondala; Rao, M Mohana

Observations on some aspects of biology of webfoot octopus, Octopus membranaceus Quoy and Gaimard, 1832 off Visakhapatnam, east coast of India

2013

Rao, P Yedukondala | Rao, M Mohana

The biology of Octopus membranaceus off Visakhapatnam (Lat.17° 41’ N Long. 83° 17’E) was studied. A Scale of four stages of maturity of gonads was identified. The mean length at first maturity was found to be 225 mm total length. Sex ratio indicated that there is a significant difference between males and females in their occurrence. Spawning takes place throughout the year with peak in September. Fecundity varied from 20,432 to 62,324. O. membranaceus was a benthic carnivore, feeding on fishes, shrimps, crabs and squilla in the order of importance. A common regression equation for both the sexes in O. membranaceus was W=9E-5 L2.372

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