315
Chapter 17
Sepioteuthis lessoniana
Jaruwat Nabhitabhata and Yuzuru Ikeda
J. Iglesias et al. (eds.), Cephalopod Culture, DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-8648-5_17,
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
J. Nabhitabhata ()
Excellence Centre for Biodiversity of Peninsular Thailand (CBIPT), Faculty of Science,
Prince of Songkla University, Hatyai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand
e-mail: jaruwat.n5@gmail.com; jaruwat.n@psu.ac.th
Y. Ikeda
Department of Chemistry, Biology and Marine Sciences, Faculty of Science,
University of the Ryukus, Nishihara, Japan
e-mail: ikeda@sci.u-ryukyu.ac.jp
Abstract Sepioteuthis lessoniana is a demersal neritic species that inhabits coral
and rock reefs, seaweed, sea grass beds, and estuaries. Due to its wide distribution
range in the Indo-Pacific region, S� lessoniana is an economically important resource
of many countries. S� lessoniana has been successfully cultured through multiple
generations since the 1960s in both open and closed seawater systems in Thailand,
Japan, and the USA. The objectives of aquaculture studies are the production of
human food in tropical countries and experimental animals in temperate countries.
S� lessoniana hatchlings are larger than other loliginid squids, which enables good
adaptation to culture conditions and a very high growth rate through the entire life
cycle. In tropical waters, individuals can grow to 500 g in less than 150 days. This
rapid growth results from a high feeding rate and requires a massive supply of live
feed organisms during the early phase of life. The grow-out phase begins after S�
lessoniana can accept dead feed. Further studies of artificial feed or mass production
of live feed is required in order to make aquaculture of S� lessoniana economically
viable on a large scale. The method and studies of S� lessoniana culture in tropical
and temperate waters are reviewed.
Keywords Sepioteuthis lessoniana · Tropical waters · Temperate waters · Open
seawater system · Closed seawater system
17.1 Importance of this Species in the Market
The fins of Sepioteuthis lessoniana are very large and broad compared to those of
other loliginid squids. This has led to its common names, the bigfin reef squid, the
bigfin squid, and the oval squid. The fin length (FL) of this squid is 90–100 % of
Chapter 17
Sepioteuthis lessoniana
Jaruwat Nabhitabhata and Yuzuru Ikeda
J. Iglesias et al. (eds.), Cephalopod Culture, DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-8648-5_17,
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
J. Nabhitabhata ()
Excellence Centre for Biodiversity of Peninsular Thailand (CBIPT), Faculty of Science,
Prince of Songkla University, Hatyai, Songkhla 90112, Thailand
e-mail: jaruwat.n5@gmail.com; jaruwat.n@psu.ac.th
Y. Ikeda
Department of Chemistry, Biology and Marine Sciences, Faculty of Science,
University of the Ryukus, Nishihara, Japan
e-mail: ikeda@sci.u-ryukyu.ac.jp
Abstract Sepioteuthis lessoniana is a demersal neritic species that inhabits coral
and rock reefs, seaweed, sea grass beds, and estuaries. Due to its wide distribution
range in the Indo-Pacific region, S� lessoniana is an economically important resource
of many countries. S� lessoniana has been successfully cultured through multiple
generations since the 1960s in both open and closed seawater systems in Thailand,
Japan, and the USA. The objectives of aquaculture studies are the production of
human food in tropical countries and experimental animals in temperate countries.
S� lessoniana hatchlings are larger than other loliginid squids, which enables good
adaptation to culture conditions and a very high growth rate through the entire life
cycle. In tropical waters, individuals can grow to 500 g in less than 150 days. This
rapid growth results from a high feeding rate and requires a massive supply of live
feed organisms during the early phase of life. The grow-out phase begins after S�
lessoniana can accept dead feed. Further studies of artificial feed or mass production
of live feed is required in order to make aquaculture of S� lessoniana economically
viable on a large scale. The method and studies of S� lessoniana culture in tropical
and temperate waters are reviewed.
Keywords Sepioteuthis lessoniana · Tropical waters · Temperate waters · Open
seawater system · Closed seawater system
17.1 Importance of this Species in the Market
The fins of Sepioteuthis lessoniana are very large and broad compared to those of
other loliginid squids. This has led to its common names, the bigfin reef squid, the
bigfin squid, and the oval squid. The fin length (FL) of this squid is 90–100 % of