68
A. V. Sykes et al.
water quality was suggested to be maintained at the highest standards (lowest nitrogenous compounds concentrations as possible) by using protein skimmers to remove ink and addition of sodium bicarbonate to buffer pH. S� lessoniana as well as
Sepiella inermis and S� pharaonis were being cultured and studied in Thailand (at
the Rayong Coastal Aquaculture Station; Nabhitabhata 1996, 1997, Nabhitabhata
and Nilaphat 1999, 2000) with the purpose of mass culture and restocking related to
local stocks depletion (Nabhitabhata 1995). More details on the existing technology
associated with the culture of S� lessoniana and S� inermis are given in Chaps. 17
and 13, respectively.
Villanueva (1995) was able to rear O� vulgaris paralarvae to settlement, following a previous study (Villanueva 1994) on the suitability of decapod crab zoea
( Pagurus prideaux, Dardanus arrosor, Liocarcinus depurator, Artemia nauplii and
adult, mysidacean shrimp) as first food for both O� vulgaris and L� vulgaris paralarvae. The latter trials were performed in cylindrical plastic tanks, with very small
volumes (13–33 L) and low water flows (35–90 L h
−1
). Rearing temperatures for
L� vulgaris were ≈ 11 °C and 19 °C, while temperatures of ≈ 21 °C were used on O�
vulgaris. The culture of the common octopus had particular interest for Mediterranean countries from the mid-1990s onward. In this sense, several Spanish research
centres were dedicated to this task and some companies in Galicia (northeast region
of Spain) dedicated to the fattening of O� vulgaris subadults (García et al. 2004).
Details on these endeavours may be found in Chap. 9. On the other hand, Cagnetta
(2000) and Iglesias et al. (2000) revised some critical points and rearing strategies
for the species. These included capture and transport, acclimatisation, reproduction, feeding, the use of shelters, competition and aggressiveness and mortality of
animals that could be fattened onshore and inshore through the use of tanks in open
or closed seawater systems or in cages. The last report from 2000 was published by
Cagnetta and Sublimi (2000) and concerns the productive performance of the common octopus fed different monodiets ( Carcinus mediterraneus, I� coindetii, Mugil
cephalus and Sardina pilchardus), with crab attaining the best results. Chapters 23
and 24 detail the seawater systems and protocols developed at that time for the different life stages.
During this time, interest in octopus culture had risen. However, the existing
technology for cephalopods’ fattening was considered a high-risk activity with low
profits, due to the dependence on subadults collected from the wild and high prices
of natural prey used in feeding. Therefore, it was generally assumed by many researchers that an adequate nutritional programme was necessary to develop a profitable commercial diet. Hence, research on the use of artificial diets for cephalopods
started in this decade. Bernardino Castro and Ángel Guerra were pioneers on trophic studies that were used to design semi-purified diets for S� officinalis (Castro
and Guerra 1990). In that study, they found that the natural diet of the European cuttlefish was mainly crustaceans (80.8 %) and fish (15.2 %). The remaining stomach
content was represented by polychaetes (0.7 %) and unidentified materials (3.3 %).
From that point on, several studies were performed on the use of different raw
materials. Castro (1991) tested the acceptance of 2.5 cm cylindrical pellets weighing ≈ 1 g (20 % dry prawn powder, 4 % alginate and 76 % water) by S� officinalis
A. V. Sykes et al.
water quality was suggested to be maintained at the highest standards (lowest nitrogenous compounds concentrations as possible) by using protein skimmers to remove ink and addition of sodium bicarbonate to buffer pH. S� lessoniana as well as
Sepiella inermis and S� pharaonis were being cultured and studied in Thailand (at
the Rayong Coastal Aquaculture Station; Nabhitabhata 1996, 1997, Nabhitabhata
and Nilaphat 1999, 2000) with the purpose of mass culture and restocking related to
local stocks depletion (Nabhitabhata 1995). More details on the existing technology
associated with the culture of S� lessoniana and S� inermis are given in Chaps. 17
and 13, respectively.
Villanueva (1995) was able to rear O� vulgaris paralarvae to settlement, following a previous study (Villanueva 1994) on the suitability of decapod crab zoea
( Pagurus prideaux, Dardanus arrosor, Liocarcinus depurator, Artemia nauplii and
adult, mysidacean shrimp) as first food for both O� vulgaris and L� vulgaris paralarvae. The latter trials were performed in cylindrical plastic tanks, with very small
volumes (13–33 L) and low water flows (35–90 L h
−1
). Rearing temperatures for
L� vulgaris were ≈ 11 °C and 19 °C, while temperatures of ≈ 21 °C were used on O�
vulgaris. The culture of the common octopus had particular interest for Mediterranean countries from the mid-1990s onward. In this sense, several Spanish research
centres were dedicated to this task and some companies in Galicia (northeast region
of Spain) dedicated to the fattening of O� vulgaris subadults (García et al. 2004).
Details on these endeavours may be found in Chap. 9. On the other hand, Cagnetta
(2000) and Iglesias et al. (2000) revised some critical points and rearing strategies
for the species. These included capture and transport, acclimatisation, reproduction, feeding, the use of shelters, competition and aggressiveness and mortality of
animals that could be fattened onshore and inshore through the use of tanks in open
or closed seawater systems or in cages. The last report from 2000 was published by
Cagnetta and Sublimi (2000) and concerns the productive performance of the common octopus fed different monodiets ( Carcinus mediterraneus, I� coindetii, Mugil
cephalus and Sardina pilchardus), with crab attaining the best results. Chapters 23
and 24 detail the seawater systems and protocols developed at that time for the different life stages.
During this time, interest in octopus culture had risen. However, the existing
technology for cephalopods’ fattening was considered a high-risk activity with low
profits, due to the dependence on subadults collected from the wild and high prices
of natural prey used in feeding. Therefore, it was generally assumed by many researchers that an adequate nutritional programme was necessary to develop a profitable commercial diet. Hence, research on the use of artificial diets for cephalopods
started in this decade. Bernardino Castro and Ángel Guerra were pioneers on trophic studies that were used to design semi-purified diets for S� officinalis (Castro
and Guerra 1990). In that study, they found that the natural diet of the European cuttlefish was mainly crustaceans (80.8 %) and fish (15.2 %). The remaining stomach
content was represented by polychaetes (0.7 %) and unidentified materials (3.3 %).
From that point on, several studies were performed on the use of different raw
materials. Castro (1991) tested the acceptance of 2.5 cm cylindrical pellets weighing ≈ 1 g (20 % dry prawn powder, 4 % alginate and 76 % water) by S� officinalis