ATPase ACTIVITY IN Octopus vulgaris (Cuvier, 1797) (MOLLUSCA, CEPHALOPODA) NEWBORN PARALARVAE Pozuelo I. and BRUZN, M.A.

IFAPA Centro El Toruo. Camino Tiro Pichn s/n. El Puerto de Santa Mara (Cdiz) Spain 11500. First author email address: ignacio.pozuelo.ext@juntadeandalucia.es Presenting author email address: mariaa.bruzon@juntadeandalucia.es The common octopus Octopus vulgaris (Cuvier, 1797) fishery is currently exploited to such an extent that an adequate management with specific restrictive measures is strongly needed. This would undoubtedly help to optimise sustainable fishery exploitation. On the other hand, O. vulgaris aquaculture has proved unfeasible on commercial scale. Transition from plankton to benthos seems the bottleneck for the whole life-cycle culture, due to insufficient growth and high mortality rates of reared-incaptivity paralarvae. Nutritional deficit of paralarvae during planktonic stage has been regarded as the most important factor causing mortality (Iglesias et al., 2007). The study of biological phenomena during early-life-stages ontogeny is a good instrument to enhance O. vulgaris aquaculture development, since knowledge of life-history traits is an important criterion for effective management of natural resources (Young et al., 2006). We have studied ATPase activity during the early days of O. vulgaris paralarvae with the aim to contribute to the knowledge of some nutritional requirements in this species, which enhances the development of profitable diets. Octopuss paralarvae born in captivity were cryopreserved either immediately after egg hatching (0-days-old paralarvae), or after three days maintained under starving conditions (3-days-old starving paralarvae), or after being fed with Artemia salina (L., 1758) during three days (3-days-old paralarvae fed with A. salina). Cryosections were subjected to ATPase activity assay (Garca del Moral, 1993; Bancroft, 2002). ATPase assessment was carried out according to the following activity scale: (-) absence; (+) moderate; (++) high; (+++) very high. ATPase activity showed different patterns of expression at pH 9.4 and pH 4.6. At pH 9.4, activity was moderate in liver, pancreas, posterior salivary glands, stomach, and caecum of the three paralarvae types. Activity (moderate) in crop and hepatopancreatic duct was only found in 0-days-old paralarvae and 3-days-old paralarvae fed with A. salina. At pH 4.6 high levels of activity were recorded in posterior salivary glands, liver, pancreas, caecum, intestine, and crop (the latest not observed in 0-days-old paralarvae). The stomach showed moderate activity in the three types of paralarvae. Although ATPase activity showed similar spatial-temporal pattern of expression at acid and alkaline pH, activity was clearly higher at acid pH, except for the hepatopancreatic duct. The highest levels of activity were recorded in liver, pancreas, and caecum, probably linked to transport processes related with nutrient absorption (caecum and liver), and fluid absorption (pancreas). Activity in pancreas seems to be related to ionic equilibrium regulation (Wells and Wells, 1989). This work was supported by INIA project RTA04-122-C2 (MCyT-Spain)