Abstract
The common octopus, Octopus vulgaris Cuvier, is of great scientific and commercial importance and its culture is becoming an area of increasing interest. In this study, the combined effects of temperature (T) and body mass (M) on the routine oxygen consumption rate (R) and ammonia excretion rate (U) in O. vulgaris were quantified. The experiments were conducted in a closed seawater system, and great care was taken to reduce handling stress of the animals. Temperature, salinity, pH and ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate concentrations were monitored and controlled during the experiment. The following predictive equations were evaluated: \( {\text{ }}R\;(\mu {\text{mol}}\;{\text{h}}^{{ - 1}} ) = {\text{e}}^{{25.24 - 6952.8/T_{a} }} \times M^{{0.901}} \) at temperatures between 13°C and 28°C and \( U\;(\mu {\text{mol}}\;{\text{h}}^{{ - 1}} ) = {\text{e}}^{{14.77 - 4324.7/T_{a} }} \times M^{{0.896}} \) at temperatures between 15.5°C and 26°C (Ta is degrees Kelvin and M in gram). O/N ratios showed that O. vulgaris has a protein-dominated metabolism. No significant relationship between the O/N ratio and body mass or temperature was found. Sex had no significant effect on the oxygen consumption rate or on the ammonia excretion rate. For other octopod species, the dependence of metabolic rate on temperature does not differ with that for O. vulgaris.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by a scholarship from the Hellenic State Scholarships Foundation of Greece to the first author. It was also partially funded by the Industrial Research Development Program of the General Secretariat for Research and Technology of the Hellenic Ministry of Development, under a contract with Nireus Aquaculture SA (code 00BE407) and by the Research Committee of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their very helpful and valuable comments. The experiments of this study fully comply with the current laws of Greece and EU.
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Communicated by O. Kinne, Oldendorf/Luhe
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Katsanevakis, S., Stephanopoulou, S., Miliou, H. et al. Oxygen consumption and ammonia excretion of Octopus vulgaris (Cephalopoda) in relation to body mass and temperature. Marine Biology 146, 725–732 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1473-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1473-9