Signs of multiple spawning in Graneledone pacifica (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae)

Abstract

The examination of five females of the deep-benthic octopus Graneledone pacifica—a large-egged species: mature ovarian egg length >20 mm—showed that their developing oocyte size-distribution was normal in two specimens at an early maturation stage (largest oocyte length=3 mm), bimodal in two specimens at a more advanced stage (largest oocyte length=6 and 8 mm, respectively), three-modal in the farthest advanced stage specimen (largest oocyte length=14 mm). According to the literature, the simultaneous occurrence of oocyte cohorts at different oogenic stages, including a distinct cohort of oocytes at an advanced maturing stage in one specimen, suggests that G. pacifica is a multiple spawner.