221
five molecular clades (Anderson et al. 2011). The cultured offspring from spawners
collected from the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) tended to grow much faster, at similar temperature (28 °C) and ad libitum feeding, than those from the Gulf of Thailand (Pacific Ocean) by about two-fold in length and four- to five-fold in weight
(Nabhitabhata and Nilaphat 1999).
12.8 Conclusions
The culture process of S� pharaonis comprises broodstocks collected from the wild,
incubation of eggs, nursing of the young in the hatchery and growout phase. Cuttlefish broodstock collected from the wild and from cultured batches can reproduce in
captivity. Collected egg masses and young cuttlefish are nursed in concrete tanks.
Water quality is fully controlled in closed seawater systems and partially controlled
in open seawater systems. The young are fed with live prey organisms either collected from the wild (mysids) or produced from a hatchery (penaeid shrimp postlarvae) from the time of hatching to about 30 days. Density is area oriented because
the ritual habit of the cuttlefish is lying at the tank bottom. Initial density is 500
individuals m
−2
with a 25 % decrease through regular size grading over a 10-day
period. Survival is more than 90 % after 30 days. Training the pharaoh cuttlefish to
feed on dead food after about 30 days of age is the critical stage. The success in such
training will start the growout phase and also indicates the consequent success of
culture. The growout phase starts after the young are able to accept dead feed. Overall, daily growth rate is approximately 1.4 % by length and 3.4 % by weight. High
temperature (>25 °C) plays a key role in affecting higher growth, smaller final size
and shorter life span in culture conditions. The mean final weight and life span is
approximately 300 g, 150 days in open seawater systems at 28 °C and 1,000 g, 300
days in closed systems at 21–25 °C. Cultured cuttlefish have lower fecundity compared to wild ones. Innate feeding on specific live prey is the bottleneck for largescale aquaculture as in other cephalopods. Development of artificial feed could be
a solution and should be able to reduce the cost of production.
References
Anderson FE, Engelke R, Jarrett K, Valinassab T, Mohamed KS, Asokan PK, Zacharia PU, Nootmorn P, Chotiyaputta C, Dunning M (2011) Phylogeny of the Sepia pharaonis species complex
(Cephalopoda: Sepiida) based on analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data.
J Mollusc Stud 77:65–75
Anil MK, Andrews J, Unnikrishnan C (2005) Growth, behavior and mating of pharaoh cuttlefish
( Sepia pharaonis Ehrenberg) in captivity. Israel J Aquacult 57:5–31
Barord GJ, Keister KN, Lee PG (2010) Determining the effects of stocking density and temperature on growth and food consumption in the pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, Ehrenberg
1890. Aquacult Int 18:271–283
12 Sepia pharaonis
five molecular clades (Anderson et al. 2011). The cultured offspring from spawners
collected from the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) tended to grow much faster, at similar temperature (28 °C) and ad libitum feeding, than those from the Gulf of Thailand (Pacific Ocean) by about two-fold in length and four- to five-fold in weight
(Nabhitabhata and Nilaphat 1999).
12.8 Conclusions
The culture process of S� pharaonis comprises broodstocks collected from the wild,
incubation of eggs, nursing of the young in the hatchery and growout phase. Cuttlefish broodstock collected from the wild and from cultured batches can reproduce in
captivity. Collected egg masses and young cuttlefish are nursed in concrete tanks.
Water quality is fully controlled in closed seawater systems and partially controlled
in open seawater systems. The young are fed with live prey organisms either collected from the wild (mysids) or produced from a hatchery (penaeid shrimp postlarvae) from the time of hatching to about 30 days. Density is area oriented because
the ritual habit of the cuttlefish is lying at the tank bottom. Initial density is 500
individuals m
−2
with a 25 % decrease through regular size grading over a 10-day
period. Survival is more than 90 % after 30 days. Training the pharaoh cuttlefish to
feed on dead food after about 30 days of age is the critical stage. The success in such
training will start the growout phase and also indicates the consequent success of
culture. The growout phase starts after the young are able to accept dead feed. Overall, daily growth rate is approximately 1.4 % by length and 3.4 % by weight. High
temperature (>25 °C) plays a key role in affecting higher growth, smaller final size
and shorter life span in culture conditions. The mean final weight and life span is
approximately 300 g, 150 days in open seawater systems at 28 °C and 1,000 g, 300
days in closed systems at 21–25 °C. Cultured cuttlefish have lower fecundity compared to wild ones. Innate feeding on specific live prey is the bottleneck for largescale aquaculture as in other cephalopods. Development of artificial feed could be
a solution and should be able to reduce the cost of production.
References
Anderson FE, Engelke R, Jarrett K, Valinassab T, Mohamed KS, Asokan PK, Zacharia PU, Nootmorn P, Chotiyaputta C, Dunning M (2011) Phylogeny of the Sepia pharaonis species complex
(Cephalopoda: Sepiida) based on analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data.
J Mollusc Stud 77:65–75
Anil MK, Andrews J, Unnikrishnan C (2005) Growth, behavior and mating of pharaoh cuttlefish
( Sepia pharaonis Ehrenberg) in captivity. Israel J Aquacult 57:5–31
Barord GJ, Keister KN, Lee PG (2010) Determining the effects of stocking density and temperature on growth and food consumption in the pharaoh cuttlefish, Sepia pharaonis, Ehrenberg
1890. Aquacult Int 18:271–283
12 Sepia pharaonis