Cuttlefish

The increasing demand of fish products and the depletion of natural fish stocks rise the need to develop aquaculture and enlarge the variety of farmed species (fishes and molluscs principally). Among the Cephalopods, the scientific research focused on the common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris) and on the European Cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis). The present study analysed the behaviour of S. officinalis in captivity focusing specially on body patterning during alimentation and reproduction, in order to collect data regarding the behaviour of the molluscs and the possibility to consider this cephalopod among the marine organisms successfully farmable in the aquaculture industry. The experiments have been carried out using adult wild-caught specimens of S. officinalis to determine the adaptability of brood-stock to artificial controlled conditions of the tanks, and the possibility/strategy to use dead feed for cuttlefish alimentation. The results of our experiments provided important information in this field, especially in the body patterning showed by the specimens during all the phases of rearing, providing the occurrence of "natural" behaviours in captivity of the cuttlefish and amplifying the knowledge on S. officinalis optimal rearing conditions.

In this contribution the second find of remains of a Neogene
cuttlefish from the quarry at Plesko is discussed. They occur in grey Middle Miocene – Badenian sandy marlstone exposed in the quarries of Plesko above Trbovlje, central Slovenia. The remains of cuttlefish shell belong most probably to genus Sepia.

Background: Hydroxyapatite (HA) from bovine bone has been widely used as bone filler in many fractures cases. HA can also be made from cuttlefish bone (Sepia spp.) that has abundant availability in Indonesia and contains 84% CaCO3, which is a basic ingredient of HA. However, research on the effects of HA from cuttlefish bone on bone regeneration parameters has not been done yet. Aim: This study aimed to determine femur bone regeneration of white rats (Rattus norvegicus) through the use of HA from cuttlefish bone (Sepia spp.) as bone filler. Materials and Methods: HA was made using the hydrothermal method by mixing 1M aragonite (CaCO3) from cuttlefish bone and 0.6 M NH4H2PO4 at 200°C for 12 h followed by sintering at 900°C for 1 h. In vivo test was carried out in three groups, including control group, bovine bone-derived HA group, and cuttlefish bone-derived HA group. The generation of femur bone was observed through the number of osteoblasts, osteoclasts, woven bone, lamellar bone, ...

Cuttlefish is a key commercial species in the English Channel fishery in terms of landings and value. Age-based assessment methods are limited by time-consuming age determination with statoliths and the lack of stock assessment models tailored to this data-limited species. A two-stage biomass model is developed in the Bayesian state-space modelling framework that allows inferences to be made on the stock biomass at the start, middle and end of each fishing seasons between 1992 and 2014, while accounting for both process and measurement errors and to assimilate various sources of information. A method that uses ancillary length-frequency data is developed to provide an informative prior distribution for the biomass growth rate parameter g (E = 0.89) and its annual variability (CV = 0.1). The new model is a substantial improvement on the existing stock assessment method used by the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas. Taking into consideration a time-varying g parameter provides a more ecologically meaningful model with regard to the sensitivity of the cuttlefish population dynamics to environmental fluctuations and improves model fit. The model also provides predictions of the unexploited biomass in winter, which is based on survey data, and helps manage the stock in the event of strong depletion.

Metal levels (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb and Zn) in the gill, hepatopancreas, ovary, testis and mantle of male and female
cuttlefish Sepia officinalis in İskenderun Bay were investigated. All elements differ in accumulation in tissues and sex
significantly (p<0.05). Concentrations of Cd in the tissues of male and female cuttlefish samples ranged between 0.12-34.7
mg/kg. Cr levels in tissues of males and females ranged between 0.59-1.26 mg/kg. Cu concentrations in all tissues were found
and ranged between 8.83 and 1296 mg/kg. Fe concentrations in the mantle of female and male samples were found 0.35 and
0.36 mg/kg, respectively. Pb concentrations in the mantles of female and male samples were found between 1.74-1.79 mg/kg.
The highest Zn concentrations in hepatopancreas of male and female samples were found 181 mg/kg and 272 mg/kg
respectively (P<0.05). In the mantle tissue of S. officinalis, metal levels independent of sex were in the following order:
Cu>Zn>Cd>Pb>Cr>Mn>Fe. In accordance with limit values, the present study found out that the mantle tissue of cuttlefish,
S. officinalis, was overlimited with Cd and Pb