Octopus hubbsorum Berry 1953 occurs in a wide region of the tropical eastern Pacific. It is the principal target species in the octopus fisheries, but no information is available with regard to embryonic and larval development. The objective of this study was to describe O. hubbsorum eggs, embryos, and paralarvae under laboratory conditions. One O. hubbsorum female with egg clutch was collected (15°39′N, 96°31′W) on 26 October 2012. Embryonic development lasted from 20 to 30 days. The newly hatched paralarvae are planktonic; morphologically, this feature is expressed by a relatively small arm-length, 3 suckers per arm, and mean mantle length of 1.27 ± 0.14 mm. This article provides a detailed survey of O. hubbsorum, embryogenesis from organogenesis through hatching under laboratory conditions; including detailed descriptions of externally visible morphological features that are easily distinguished in either live or freshly fixed organisms under a dissecting microscope.
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1 February 2014
First Description of Eggs and Paralarvae of Green Octopus Octopus hubbsorum (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) under Laboratory Conditions
María del Carmen Alejo-Plata,
Sac-nicté Herrera Alejo
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