468
Í. Uriarte and A. Farías
(DAH) under controlled conditions (Uriarte et al. 2009, 2010). Cannibalism among
paralarvae siblings has recently shown a shift mainly by managing rearing density
among other factors (Miranda et al. 2011). Ontogenic changes on the digestive system of paralarvae have also been studied (Pereda et al. 2009).
R� fontaniana is not currently a fishery resource in South America (Ibáñez et al.
2009). However, its potential for being exported to the Asian “baby octopus” market
has been analyzed with interesting commercialization levels and prices (González
et al. 2008).
Juvenile individuals of the Patagonian red octopus Enteroctopus megalocyathus
have been captured jointly with adults of R� fontaniana for fisheries research, given that both are sympatric species along the Patagonian coastline of the Pacific
Ocean, and also the fishermen do not necessarily discriminate between them. The
abundance of paralarvae of this species could represent 85 % of octopus paralarvae
sampled in the far south channels of southern Chile (43°S), ranging between 4 and
164 paralarvae 1,000 m (Vega et al. 2000), so it may be more abundant than E�
megalocyathus. Recent advances in the biology of R� fontaniana planktonic phase
(González et al. 2008; Pereda et al. 2009; Uriarte et al. 2010, 2011b) have been
well documented, with promising advances successfully reaching the benthic phase
(Uriarte et al. 2010) for a possible artificial juvenile production. Because of the difficulty in developing the controlled culture of E� megalocyathus (see Chap. 19), R�
fontaniana was considered as an alternative to develop the juvenile production of a
merobenthic octopus species (Uriarte et al. 2008, 2011b).
25.1.2 Geographic Distribution
R� fontaniana is an endemic benthic resource from the subantarctic region of South
America; it is distributed along the Pacific Ocean from Peru (6°S) to Tierra del
Fuego (55°S) and along the Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Saint Matias (41°S) to
the South. It bathymetric distribution is from coastal zone and up to 225 m, mainly
over hard substrates and in caves (Ibáñez et al. 2008; Ortiz and Ré 2011).
25.1.3 Catching Methods
Based on field and experimental evidence, Ibáñez et al. (2009) suggested that R�
fontaniana has a selective hunting behaviour and a specialized diet with a narrow
trophic niche breadth, showing a high preference for crustaceans as food items
when compared with their null preference for molluscs. This characteristic allows
for baits to be chosen to capture them effectively without the use of hooks, the
most common method among intertidal shellfish gatherers. R� fontaniana is caught
along with Octopus tehuelchus (similar in size) in the Atlantic zone of Argentina
(Ré 1998). Among the techniques used to catch baby octopuses in the Argentine
fishing areas, the most prominent are subtidal traps with and without bait, and the
intertidal harvesting with hooks or by hand (Narvarte et al. 1996; Ré 1998).
Í. Uriarte and A. Farías
(DAH) under controlled conditions (Uriarte et al. 2009, 2010). Cannibalism among
paralarvae siblings has recently shown a shift mainly by managing rearing density
among other factors (Miranda et al. 2011). Ontogenic changes on the digestive system of paralarvae have also been studied (Pereda et al. 2009).
R� fontaniana is not currently a fishery resource in South America (Ibáñez et al.
2009). However, its potential for being exported to the Asian “baby octopus” market
has been analyzed with interesting commercialization levels and prices (González
et al. 2008).
Juvenile individuals of the Patagonian red octopus Enteroctopus megalocyathus
have been captured jointly with adults of R� fontaniana for fisheries research, given that both are sympatric species along the Patagonian coastline of the Pacific
Ocean, and also the fishermen do not necessarily discriminate between them. The
abundance of paralarvae of this species could represent 85 % of octopus paralarvae
sampled in the far south channels of southern Chile (43°S), ranging between 4 and
164 paralarvae 1,000 m (Vega et al. 2000), so it may be more abundant than E�
megalocyathus. Recent advances in the biology of R� fontaniana planktonic phase
(González et al. 2008; Pereda et al. 2009; Uriarte et al. 2010, 2011b) have been
well documented, with promising advances successfully reaching the benthic phase
(Uriarte et al. 2010) for a possible artificial juvenile production. Because of the difficulty in developing the controlled culture of E� megalocyathus (see Chap. 19), R�
fontaniana was considered as an alternative to develop the juvenile production of a
merobenthic octopus species (Uriarte et al. 2008, 2011b).
25.1.2 Geographic Distribution
R� fontaniana is an endemic benthic resource from the subantarctic region of South
America; it is distributed along the Pacific Ocean from Peru (6°S) to Tierra del
Fuego (55°S) and along the Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Saint Matias (41°S) to
the South. It bathymetric distribution is from coastal zone and up to 225 m, mainly
over hard substrates and in caves (Ibáñez et al. 2008; Ortiz and Ré 2011).
25.1.3 Catching Methods
Based on field and experimental evidence, Ibáñez et al. (2009) suggested that R�
fontaniana has a selective hunting behaviour and a specialized diet with a narrow
trophic niche breadth, showing a high preference for crustaceans as food items
when compared with their null preference for molluscs. This characteristic allows
for baits to be chosen to capture them effectively without the use of hooks, the
most common method among intertidal shellfish gatherers. R� fontaniana is caught
along with Octopus tehuelchus (similar in size) in the Atlantic zone of Argentina
(Ré 1998). Among the techniques used to catch baby octopuses in the Argentine
fishing areas, the most prominent are subtidal traps with and without bait, and the
intertidal harvesting with hooks or by hand (Narvarte et al. 1996; Ré 1998).