Reproductive biology of the common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis Linnaeus, 1758) in Iskenderun Bay (Northeastern Mediterranean Sea)
Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences, vol.43, no.9, pp.1689-1694, 2014 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Volume: 43 Issue: 9
- Publication Date: 2014
- Journal Name: Indian Journal of Geo-Marine Sciences
- Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
- Page Numbers: pp.1689-1694
- Keywords: Levantine Sea, Sepia officinalis, Sex ratio, Sexual maturity
- Hatay Mustafa Kemal University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
Morphometric characters and reproductive biology were studied in S. officinalis collected at different seasons from the Iskenderun Bay, Turkey. A total of 2006 specimens (992♀, 1014♂) were sampled from September 2005 to August using a Mediterranean type deep trawl (22 mm mesh size). Mean mantle lengths for female and male were 9.83±1.66, 9.40±1.76 cm and the mean weights were 135.78±6.71g, 115.34±6.29g, respectively. Sexual maturity lengths were calculated as 12.04 for females and 10.30 cm for males. Mean diameter of eggs was measured as 5.367±9.12 mm per spawning period. Spermatophore lengths were estimated to range from 2.8±1.05 to 12.4±2.11mm. Population consisted of gonochoristic induviduals. Although, sex ratio of Sepia officinalis were not significantly different from the expected 1:1 ratio (p>0.05), a slightly male biased sex ratio was recorded.