Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Continuous spawning in the cirrate octopods Opisthoteuthis agassizii and O. vossi: features of sexual maturation defining a reproductive strategy in cephalopods

  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The reproductive strategy of the cirrate octopods Opisthoteuthis agassizii and O. vossi (collected off Namibia from 1988 to 1990) was analyzed. Ovarian oocyte size frequency analysis for both species revealed continuous egg production over the entire adult life span. Mature eggs were stored in the single oviducal gland and distal oviduct, but oviducal gland fullness was not related to body size (p>0.2). All O. agassizii male specimens from 95 to 5400 g total weight were sexually mature, as were all females from 190 to 1650 g, indicating that considerable growth takes place after the onset of sexual maturity. “Continuous spawning” is defined as a single, extended and continuous period of egg maturation and spawning. This model of reproductive strategy is previously unreported in cephalopods. All O. vossi male specimens from 750 to 3050 g total weight, and females from 800 to 1300 g, were sexually mature. Mature males and females of both species were collected in all seasons of the year. The adaptation of cirrate octopods to non-scasonal deep-sea environments is considered. The sexual maturity characteristics of males were analyzed, and examination of the spermatophore revealed opercular structures previously unreported in cephalopods. For females, the micropyle of the eggs are described and the mineral analysis of the egg shell disclosed that sulphur was the major element present.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature cited

  • Adam, W. (1962). Céphalopodes de l'Archipiel du Cap Vert, de l'Angola et du Mozambique. Mem. Junta Invest. Ultramar (Port.) 33: 7–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Aldred, R. G., Nixon, M., Young, J. Z. (1983). Cirrothauma murrayi Chun, a finned octopod. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. (Ser. B) 301: 1–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Berry, S. S. (1952). The flapjack devilfish Opisthoteuthis, in California. Calif. Fish Game 38: 183–188

    Google Scholar 

  • Boletzky, S. v. (1978). Nos connaissances actuelles sur le développment des Octopodes. Vie, Milieu 28: 85–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Boletzky, S. v. (1981). Reflexions sur les stratégies de reproduction chez les céphalopodes. Bull. Soc. zool. Fr. 106: 293–304

    Google Scholar 

  • Boltzeky, S. v. (1982). On eggs and embryos of cirromorph octopods. Malacologia 22: 197–204

    Google Scholar 

  • Boltzeky, S. v. (1986). Reproductive strategies in cephalopods: variation and flexibility of life-history patterns. In: Porchet, M., Andries, J. C., Dhainaut, A. (eds.) Advances in invertebrate reproduction, Vol. 4. Elsevier Publishers, New York, p. 379–389

    Google Scholar 

  • Boletzky, S. v. (1987). Fecundity variation in relation to intermittent or chronic spawning in the cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis L. (Mollusca, Cephalopoda). Bull. mar. Sci. 40: 382–387

    Google Scholar 

  • Boletzky, S. v. (1988). A new record of long-continued spawning in Sepia officinalis (Mollusca, Cephalopoda). Rapp. P.-v. Réun. Comm. int. Explor. Scient Mer Méditerr. 31: 257–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Chun, C. (1913). Cephalopoda from the “Michael Sars” North Atlantic deep-sea expedition 1910. Rep. scient. Results Michael Sars N. Atlant. Deep Sea Exped. 3(1): 1–21

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebersbach, A. (1915). Zur Anatomie von Cirroteuthis umbellata Fischer und Stauroteuthis sp. Z. wiss. Zool. 113: 361–483

    Google Scholar 

  • Eschricht (1936). Cirroteuthis mülleri, eine neue Gattung der Cephalopoden bildend. Verh. Kaiserlichen Leopoldinisch-Carolinischen Akad. Naturf. 18: 627–634

    Google Scholar 

  • Harman, R. F., Young, R. E., Reid, S. B., Mangold, K. M., Suzuki, T., Hixon, R. F. (1989). Evidence of multiple spawning in the tropical oceanic squid Stenoteuthis oualaniensis (Teuthoidea: Ommastrephidae). Mar. Biol. 101: 513–519

    Google Scholar 

  • Healy,J. M. (1990). Ultrastructure of spermatozoa and spermiogenesis in Spirula spirula (L.): systematic importance and comparison with other cephalopods. Helgoländer Meeresunters. 44: 109–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, S., Nixon, M. (1981). A comparative study of protein composition in the chitin-protein complexes of the beak, pen, sucker disk, radula and oesophageal cuticle of cephalopods. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 68: 535–546

    Google Scholar 

  • Kubodera, T., Okutani, T. (1986).New and rare cephalopods from the Antarctic waters. Mem. natn. Inst. polar Res., Tokyo, Spec. Issue 44: 129–143

    Google Scholar 

  • Mangold, K. M. (1983). Octopus vulgaris. In: Boyle, P. (ed.) Cephalopod life cycles, Vol. 1. Academic Press, London, p. 335–364

    Google Scholar 

  • Mangold, K. M. (1987). Reproduction. In: Boyle, P. (ed.) Cephalopod life cycles, Vol. 2. Academic Press, London, p. 157–200

    Google Scholar 

  • Masó, M. (1987). Preliminary hydrological results of the ‘Spanish Namibian Environmental Cruise’ SNEC-II. Coll. scient. Pap. int. Commn. SE. Atl. Fish. 14: 113–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, W. T. (1906a). Die Anatomie von Opisthoteuthis depressa (Ijima und Ikeda). Z. wiss. Zool. 85: 183–269

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, W. T. (1906b). Über den männlichen Geschlechtsapparat von Opisthoteuthis depressa (Ijima und Ikeda). Zool. Anz. 29: 758–760

    Google Scholar 

  • Nesis, K. N. (1987). Cephalopods of the world. (Translated by B. S. Levitov.) T. F. H. Publications, Neptune City, USA

    Google Scholar 

  • Pereyra, W. T. (1965). New records and observations on the flapjack devilfish Opisthoteuthis californiana Berry. Pacif. Sci. 19: 427–441

    Google Scholar 

  • Robson, G. C. (1932). A monograph of the recent Cephalopoda, Part II. The Octopoda (excluding the Octopodinae). Bull. Brit. Mus. nat. Hist., London

    Google Scholar 

  • Rodaniche, A. F. (1984). Iteroparity in the lesser Pacific striped octopus Octopus chierchiae (Jatta, 1889). Bull. mar. Sci. 35: 99–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Roper, C. F. E., Brundage, W. L. (1972). Cirrate octopods with associated deep-sea organisms: new biological data based on deep benthic photographs (Cephalopoda). Smithson. Contr. Zool. 121: 1–46

    Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez, P. (1988). Systematics and distribution of the cephalopods of Namibia. Monogr. Zool. Mar. 3: 205–266

    Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez, P., Guerra, A. (1989). A new species of cirrate octopod Opisthoteuthis vossi from the southeast Atlantic (Cephalopoda: Octopoda). Bull. mar. Sci. 44: 1159–1165

    Google Scholar 

  • Sasaki, M. (1920). Report on the cephalopods collécted during 1906 by the United States Bureau of Fisheries Steamer Albatross in the northwestern Pacific. Proc. U.S. natn. Mus. 57: 163–203

    Google Scholar 

  • Sasaki, M. (1929). A monograph of the dibranchiate cephalopods of the Japanese and adjacent waters. J. Fac. Agr. Hokkaido Univ. 20: 1–357

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, P. A. (1988). Seasonality in the deep-sea. Oceanogr. mar. Biol. A. Rev. 26: 227–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Vecchione, M. (1987). A multispecies aggregation of cirrate octopods trawled from north of the Bahamas. Bull. mar. Sci. 40: 78–84

    Google Scholar 

  • Verrill, A. E. (1883). Supplementary report on the Blake cephalopods. Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harv. 11: 105–124

    Google Scholar 

  • Verrill, A. E. (1885). Third catalogue of Mollusca recently added to the fauna of the New England Coast and the adjacent parts of the Atlantic, consisting mostly of deep-sea species, with notes on others previously recorded. Trans. Conn. Acad. Arts Sci. 6: 395–452

    Google Scholar 

  • Villanueva, R., Guerra, A. (1991). Food and prey detection in two deep-sea cephalopods: Opisthoteuthis agassizii and O. vossi (Octopoda: Cirrata). Bull. mar. Sci. 49: 288–299

    Google Scholar 

  • Voss, G. L. (1955). The Cephalopoda obtained by the Harvard-Habana expedition off the coast of Cuba in 1938–1939. Bull. mar. Sci. Gulf Caribb. 5: 81–115

    Google Scholar 

  • Voss, G. L. (1967). The biology and bathymetric distribution of deep-sea cephalopods. Stud. trop. Oceanogr., Miami 5: 511–535

    Google Scholar 

  • Voss, G. L. (1988a). Evolution and phylogenetic relationship of deep-sea octopods (Cirrata and Incirrata). In: Clarke, M. R., Trueman, E. R. (eds.) The Mollusca: paleontology and neontology of cephalopods, Vol. 12. Academic Press, London, p. 253–291

    Google Scholar 

  • Voss, G. L. (1988b). The biogeography of the deep-sea Octopoda. Malacologia 29: 295–307

    Google Scholar 

  • Voss, G. L., Pearcy, W. G. (1990). Deep-water octopods (Mollusca; Cephalopoda) of the northeastern Pacific. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 47: 47–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, J. Z. (1977). Brain, behaviour and evolution of cephalopods. Symp. zool. Soc. Lond. 38: 377–434

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar, Paseo Nacional s/n, E-08039, Barcelona, Spain

    Roger Villanueva

Authors
  1. Roger Villanueva
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

Communicated by O. Kinne, Oldendorf/Luhe

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Villanueva, R. Continuous spawning in the cirrate octopods Opisthoteuthis agassizii and O. vossi: features of sexual maturation defining a reproductive strategy in cephalopods. Marine Biology 114, 265–275 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00349529

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00349529

Keywords

Search

Navigation