creators_name: Doubleday, ZA
creators_name: Semmens, JM
creators_name: Pecl, GT
creators_name: Jackson, GD
creators_id: Zoe.Doubleday@utas.edu.au
creators_id: Jayson.Semmens@utas.edu.au
creators_id: Gretta.Pecl@utas.edu.au
creators_id: George.Jackson@utas.edu.au
type: article
datestamp: 2008-05-28 23:57:26
lastmod: 2008-07-18 10:58:19
metadata_visibility: show
title: Assessing the validity of stylets as ageing
tools in Octopus pallidus
ispublished: pub
subjects: 270500
full_text_status: restricted
keywords: Age validation; Cephalopod; Growth; Octopus; Octopus pallidus; Stylets
note: The definitive version is available at http://www.sciencedirect.com
abstract: A method to age octopus was determined through the quantification of growth increments within the stylet structure (highly
reduced internal shells). To validate the periodicity of the increments, stylets were analysed from known-age laboratory-raised
Octopus pallidus. The animals, which ranged from 3 to 8 months old, were exposed either to a simulated natural or to constant
temperature regime. Transverse stylet sections were embedded in thermo-plastic cement and ground until a thin section was
achieved. A pre-hatch region and first post-hatch increment was identified in the stylet microstructure. The number of increments,
across all ages and temperature treatments, was in remarkably close agreement to age (number of days), clearly demonstrating that
stylet increments are deposited daily throughout the lifecycle of O. pallidus. Morphometric analyses of the stylet indicated that
increments were laid down regularly during stylet growth and that stylets grew in concert with body size, further supporting daily
periodicity. This study successfully validates daily increments in stylets and thus demonstrate a method to age octopus, therefore,
potentially having critical implications for future octopus research and the effective management of stocks worldwide.
date: 2006-10
date_type: published
publication: Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
volume: 338
number: 1
pagerange: 35-42
id_number: 10.1016/j.jembe.2006.06.027
refereed: TRUE
official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2006.06.027
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citation: Doubleday, ZA and Semmens, JM and Pecl, GT and Jackson, GD (2006) Assessing the validity of stylets as ageing tools in Octopus pallidus. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 338 (1). pp. 35-42.
document_url: http://eprints.utas.edu.au/6449/1/offprint.pdf