383
Chapter 20
Octopus maya
Carlos Rosas, Pedro Gallardo, Maite Mascaró, Claudia Caamal-Monsreal
and Cristina Pascual
J. Iglesias et al. (eds.), Cephalopod Culture, DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-8648-5_20,
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
C. Rosas () · P. Gallardo · M. Mascaró · C. Caamal-Monsreal · C. Pascual
Unidad Multidisciplinaria de Docencia e Investigación, Facultad de Ciencias,
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM),
Puerto de abrigo s/n Sisal, Yucatán, México
e-mail: crv@ciencias.unam.mx
P. Gallardo
e-mail: pedrogallardo2@gmail.com
M. Mascaró
e-mail: mmm@ciencias.unam.mx
C. Caamal-Monsreal
e-mail: caamons@hotmail.com
C. Pascual
e-mail: pascual.cristina@gmail.com
Abstract Octopus maya culture is being developed at the Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México at pilot scale. A closed culture system of O� maya is operating
at out of Yucatán facilities, in Sisal. Adult O� maya were obtained after 7 months
of culture. O� maya broodstock is renewed every year with adults from the wild
population. Spawns are artificially incubated at 25 °C during 45–50 days. Hatchlings pass through a post-embryonic phase that lasts approximately 10 days until
they reach the juvenile stage. During the first 15 days after hatch, territorialism and
cannibalism are absent and animals practically do not grow. After that age, increments on ingested food are observed together with an exponential growth rate. The
culture system has been organized in two steps: (1) ongrowing of hatchlings and (2)
ongrowing of juveniles. In the first step, hatchlings are cultured in indoor 7.5 m
2
tanks at a density of 50–60 individuals m
− 2
for 60 days. During this time, every
20 days animals are weighed and separated according to size to avoid cannibalism.
At this phase, survival varies between 75 and 80 %. The juvenile ongrowing phase
occurs in outdoor 6 m diameter tanks where juveniles are maintained at a density of
10–25 individuals m
− 2
, depending on whether a semi-intensive or intensive culture
is applied. Juveniles are cropped when they reach between 80 and 150 g in wet
weight (WW), and are sold to the gourmet market. Detailed seawater characteristics
and other useful data are included in the present chapter in an attempt to offer an
overview of O� maya culture.
Chapter 20
Octopus maya
Carlos Rosas, Pedro Gallardo, Maite Mascaró, Claudia Caamal-Monsreal
and Cristina Pascual
J. Iglesias et al. (eds.), Cephalopod Culture, DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-8648-5_20,
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
C. Rosas () · P. Gallardo · M. Mascaró · C. Caamal-Monsreal · C. Pascual
Unidad Multidisciplinaria de Docencia e Investigación, Facultad de Ciencias,
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM),
Puerto de abrigo s/n Sisal, Yucatán, México
e-mail: crv@ciencias.unam.mx
P. Gallardo
e-mail: pedrogallardo2@gmail.com
M. Mascaró
e-mail: mmm@ciencias.unam.mx
C. Caamal-Monsreal
e-mail: caamons@hotmail.com
C. Pascual
e-mail: pascual.cristina@gmail.com
Abstract Octopus maya culture is being developed at the Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México at pilot scale. A closed culture system of O� maya is operating
at out of Yucatán facilities, in Sisal. Adult O� maya were obtained after 7 months
of culture. O� maya broodstock is renewed every year with adults from the wild
population. Spawns are artificially incubated at 25 °C during 45–50 days. Hatchlings pass through a post-embryonic phase that lasts approximately 10 days until
they reach the juvenile stage. During the first 15 days after hatch, territorialism and
cannibalism are absent and animals practically do not grow. After that age, increments on ingested food are observed together with an exponential growth rate. The
culture system has been organized in two steps: (1) ongrowing of hatchlings and (2)
ongrowing of juveniles. In the first step, hatchlings are cultured in indoor 7.5 m
2
tanks at a density of 50–60 individuals m
− 2
for 60 days. During this time, every
20 days animals are weighed and separated according to size to avoid cannibalism.
At this phase, survival varies between 75 and 80 %. The juvenile ongrowing phase
occurs in outdoor 6 m diameter tanks where juveniles are maintained at a density of
10–25 individuals m
− 2
, depending on whether a semi-intensive or intensive culture
is applied. Juveniles are cropped when they reach between 80 and 150 g in wet
weight (WW), and are sold to the gourmet market. Detailed seawater characteristics
and other useful data are included in the present chapter in an attempt to offer an
overview of O� maya culture.