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Bathymetric range, density and reproductive biology of the deep-sea cirrate octopus Opisthoteuthis calypso in the Portuguese continental slope

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2008

Rui Rosa*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Rhode Island, 100 Flagg Road, Kingston, RI 02881, USA
João Pereira
Affiliation:
Departamento de Recursos Marinhos, IPIMAR, Avenida de Brasília, 1449-006 Lisboa, Portugal
Ana Moreno
Affiliation:
Departamento de Recursos Marinhos, IPIMAR, Avenida de Brasília, 1449-006 Lisboa, Portugal
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Rui Rosa, Laboratório Marítimo da Guia, Centro de Oceanografia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada do Guincho, 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal email: rrosa@etal.uri.edu

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to provide the first analysis of depth distribution and reproductive biology in the deep-sea cirrate octopus Opisthoteuthis calypso along the Portuguese continental slope. We used 77 specimens obtained in 7 research cruises between 1996 and 2003. Catch rates and biomass, weights, lengths, sex and maturity stages, and a morphometric description of the beak are detailed. Specimens have been collected from 553 to 960 m depth, south of 39°N, in approximately 1:1 sex-ratio. Females are larger (80:75 mm mantle length) and heavier (622:346 g total body weight) than males and both sexes have been caught in all stages of maturity in equal proportions.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

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