Reproductive Aspects of Two Octopus Species, Amphioctopus Aegina and A. Membranaceus in the Gulf of Suez, Northern Red Sea, Egypt

Ahmed Et Al., Ayman S.

doi:10.21608/ejabf.2023.307493

Reproductive Aspects of Two Octopus Species, Amphioctopus Aegina and A. Membranaceus in the Gulf of Suez, Northern Red Sea, Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Ayman S. Ahmed et al.

10.21608/ejabf.2023.307493

Abstract

The reproductive characteristics (sex ratio, maturity stages, gonado-somatic index and length at first sexual maturity) of Amphioctopus aegina and Amphioctopus membranaceus were reported from the Gulf of Suez, northern Red Sea, Egypt. A total of 833 individuals of A. aegina and A. membranaceus were dissected and examined between September 2017 and April 2018. The sex ratios (males: females) were 1: 1.03 and 1: 1.46 for A. aegina and A. membranaceus, respectively. Five maturity stages for both sexes of A. aegina, four maturity stages for males and five maturity stages for females of A. membranaceus were recorded. Two peaks of spawning have been recorded, the first occurred in March-April and the second peak was in September-October for both species. Dorsal mantle length at first sexual maturity (L_m) was estimated at 6.4 and 7.0 cm for males and females of A. aegina, respectively, while for A. membranaceus, it was 3.7 and 3.9 cm for males and females, respectively.

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