Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India

Some aspects of biology of Octopus defilippi Verany, 1851 from the northwest coast of India

Volume 52 Issue 1

Sujit Sundaram and V. D. Deshmukh

Abstract

�Lilliput longarm octopus�, Octopus defilippi Verany, 1851 has been reported for the first time from Mumbai waters, northwest coast of India. This species was observed in trawl catches off Mumbai during March-June from 2007 onwards and the dorsal mantle length (DML) ranged between 52 and 99 mm. The left arm ratio is 3>2>4>1 and the right arm ratio is 2>4>1>3. Relationship between DML and total body weight (TBW) was TBW = 0.01361 * DML 1.83443. Fish formed the major food item with 93.3% and 70.6% of individuals in the samples in mature condition.

Keywords

Octopus defilippi, Lilliput longarm octopus, Mumbai

Date : 20-09-2010