Aspetti biologici di Eledone cirrhosa (Cephalopoda Octopoda) nei mari circostanti la Sardegna

CUCCU, DANILA;DAMELE F;FOLLESA, MARIA CRISTINA;MURENU, MATTEO;CAU A.

2003-01-01

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Abstract

Data on the biology of Eledone cirrhosa (Cephalopoda Octopoda), collected in the Sardinian Sea during 9 trawl surveys carried out from 1997 to 2001, are presented. In relation to the sexual maturity, reached in spring-summer as in the rest of the Mediterranean basin, we found that when eggs were at their maximum size and lost the reticular system Eledone specimens were far from the fishing areas. Furthermore, even if the most part of individuals spawns at summer at the age of two years, we found a variable percentage of individuals that did not fully develop their gonads until the next year, forming a third group of bigger-sized 3 years old specimens. This finding is in accordance to and supported by the growth curves for the Eledone of large size that attribute to them an age of 3 years instead of two as for the mean adult population which spawn and dead at the age of 22 months.