Mat Ing Behavior of the Atlantic Bobta Il Squid Sepiola Atlantica (Cephalopoda: Sepiolidae) M
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Mat ing behavior of the Atlantic bobta il squid Sepiola atlantica (Cephalopoda: Sepiolidae) M. Rodrigues, M. E. Garci, A. Guerra, J. S. Troncoso To cite this version: M. Rodrigues, M. E. Garci, A. Guerra, J. S. Troncoso. Mat ing behavior of the Atlantic bobta il squid Sepiola atlantica (Cephalopoda: Sepiolidae). Vie et Milieu / Life & Environment, Observatoire Océanologique - Laboratoire Arago, 2009, pp.271-275. hal-03253744 HAL Id: hal-03253744 https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-03253744 Submitted on 8 Jun 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. VIE ET MILIEU - LIFE AND ENVIRONMENT, 2009, 59 (3/4): 271-275 MatING BEHAVIOR OF THE ATLANTIC bobtaIL SQUID SEPIOLA ATLANTICA (CEPHALOPODA: SEPIOLIDAE) M. RODRIGUES 1*, M. E. GARCI 2, A. GUERRA 2, J. S. TRONCOSO 1 1 Departamento de Ecología y Biología Animal, Universidad de Vigo and Estación de Ciencias Marinas de Toralla (ECIMAT-UVIGO), 36331 Vigo, Pontevedra, Spain 2 Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas (CSIC, Vigo) * Corresponding author: [email protected] REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR ABSTRACT. – The mating behavioral pattern of the bobtail squid (Sepiola atlantica) was MatING SEPIOLA ATLANTICA observed and described for the first time in laboratory conditions. A total of five matings were CEPHALOPODS recorded. No courtship was noted in any of the mating events. In all the cases, the male moved quickly towards the female holding her by the middle of the ventral region of the mantle with his arms. The male, situated below the female, introduced his dorsal arms (the left dorsal arm is hectocotylized and passes the spermatophores) into the mantle cavity of the female, while grasp- ing her by the ventral region with his laterodorsal arms and by the neck with his lateroventral arms, sometimes introducing them into the female’s mantle cavity. The male showed the same pattern of coloration during the entire mating process, whereas the female changed slowly and successively her chromatic pattern. The duration of the mating varied between 68 and 80 min- utes. A comparison of the mating pattern of this species with other members of the family Sepi- olidae is made. INTRODUCTION era Euprymna and Sepiola, “male to female neck”, seems to be a shared strategy in sepiolids (Moynihan 1983, Han- Mating in all cephalopod species consists of the male lon & Messenger 1996, Nabhitabhata et al. 2005) perhaps passing spermatophores to the female. The mating posi- linked to the position of the hectocotylus and the arrange- tion, the mode of transfer of spermatophores by the male ment of the bursa copulatrix (Norman 2000, Hoving et al. to the female and chromatic changes varies significantly 2008), a large pouch lying on the visceral mass that allows from species to species (Mangold 1987, Hanlon & Mes- the spermatangia to become attached. senger 1996). Knowledge of the mating behavior in mem- Until now, intraspecific differences in the way of copu- bers of the family Sepiolidae is scarce, perhaps due to the lating observed in other cephalopod groups (Mather 1978, nocturnal activity habits of many members of this family Hanlon & Messenger 1996 for a review) have not been (Shears 1988). Studying individual animals in small tanks noticed in any sepiolid species where this behavior has has its limitations for investigations of intraspecific rela- been studied, at least under laboratory conditions. tionships, both for the difficulty of reproducing natural Male cephalopods use various means to reduce compe- conditions in the laboratory, hindering us from determin- tition between their sperm and those of other males. One ing the “normal” mating behavior (Hanlon et al. 1997), of these is prolonged mating (Hanlon & Messenger 1996, and also for intraspecific differences, like those found in Hanlon et al. 1997). The duration of mating in sepiolids Octopus joubini (Mather 1978). varies greatly. For example, Moynihan (1983), Singley From laboratory observations, copulation was first (1983) and Hanlon et al. (1997) reported 25 minutes, reported in the family Sepiolidae for Sepiola rondeletii 45-80 minutes and 30-50 minutes for Euprymna scolopes and Rossia macrosoma by Racovitza (1894). Later it was respectively. Racovitza (1894) reported 8 minutes in described for other species of Sepiola, Sepietta and S. rondeletii, which is the only known mating time for this Euprymna (Mangold-Wirz 1963, Bergström & Summers genus. 1983, Boletzky 1983, Moynihan 1983, Singley 1983, Cephalopods have highly variable and complex life Hanlon et al. 1997, Nabhitabhata et al. 2005) but never history traits related to reproduction (Hanlon & Messen- for the bobtail squid Sepiola atlantica (d’Orbigny, 1839- ger 1996). Knowledge about the process and behavior of 1842). According to these authors, mating in sepiolids is bobtail squid species, with comparisons to other studied rather violent, completed in a short period of time and species, provides information for understanding the evo- without an initial courtship. However, Norman (2000) lution of mating behavior. Biology and ecology of the suggested the existence of courtship behavior in wild small bobtail squid S. atlantica is poorly known, and its Euprymna tasmanica. reproductive behavior has not been investigated (Guerra The copulatory position observed in species of the gen- 1986, 1992, Yau & Boyle 1996, Reid & Jereb 2005). The 272 M. RODRIGUES, M. E.GARCI, A. GUERRA, J. S. TRONCOSO aim of the present study was to describe for the first time After mating occurred, the specimens were separated and the mating pattern for this species. maintained in captivity until their natural death, which occurred within a period of 2 to 30 days. Upon death, the sex was con- firmed and specimens were immediately measured: dorsal man- MATERIAL AND METHODS tle length (ML) and total length (TL) to the nearest 0.1 mm; total body weight (BW) to the nearest 0.01 g. In March 2007, ten adult specimens were obtained in two dives from the Ría of Vigo (NW Iberian Peninsula): eight indi- viduals off Area Milla (42º14’ N; 8º47’ W) and two individuals RESULTS off Toralla Island (42º12’ N; 8º47’ W). Depth of collection ranged from 5 to 6 meters and the seabed was sandy without External measurements and sex of the ten specimens seaweed. used in the study are shown in Table I. All males showed Immediately after being collected the specimens were trans- the hectocotylus as the dorsal left arm. All females ported to the Marine Station of the University of Vigo in Toralla showed a bursa copulatrix within the mantle cavity on Island. Each individual was placed in a 10.2 liters tanks (30 cm their left side. long x 18 cm wide x 19 cm deep) with an open sea water circu- In all matings observed in this study, after entering the lation system. All observations were made after ten days to specimens into the tank, they immediately went to the ensure acclimatization of the animals to captivity. After accli- bottom substrate and acquired a dark pattern. After a mean mation, specimens were paired together and transferred at the time of 47.6 min. ± 23.27 the females started swimming. same time to 20.2 liters tanks (30 cm long x 27 cm wide x 25 cm The copulatory position “male to female neck” was deep) on the same open sea water circulation system. Water tem- consistent in the five mating events observed. The subse- perature ranged between 14-17 ºC. The system received natural quent response of the male specimens to the female swim- photoperiod of 12:12 LD. The bottom of the tank was covered ming was immediate (mean 36.2 sec. ± 6.80) during all with a 2-3 cm layer of fine sand taken from the same location five mating episodes in the laboratory, four occurred dur- where the specimens were collected. Squid were fed daily ad ing daylight and one at night. libitum with mysid shrimp Siriella armata. No type of behavior that we could classify as male After consideration of small differences observed between courtship was noted in any of the mating events. The male sexes, mainly the relative size, position and coloration of the left the bottom of the tank and moved quickly toward the gonad, five couples were formed. These differences are easily female and initiated physical contact. When approached, observed through the musculature of the mantle when the chro- the female showed a general pale and translucent color- matophores are contracted. In females, the gonad is translucent ation, having only small points (non expanded chromato- orange and visible in the middle of the dorsal side of the mantle, phores) dark-brown in color, while the male showed a whereas the male gonad is in the dorsal posterior region of the cream-yellowish background with strong dark coloration mantle, opaque-white and smaller. Additionally, the posterior produced by a mosaic of expanded brown chromato- area of the female’s mantle is broadly rounded while it is more phores. Using all arms, the male initially grasped the angular in the male (cf. Singley 1983). The mating process was female in the middle ventral region of the mantle (Fig. 1a), photographed (Nikon D200 camera, lens Mikkor 60 mm), and then shifted his grasp to the female’s neck. During the filmed (Sony PD-170 with increase, 4x). The duration of the process, the male showed a different chromatic pattern mating was defined as the time elapsed from the first moment in than the female, with the chromatophores being more which the male and the female were in physical contact until expanded than those of the female, the latter producing a they separated.