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Growth and Biochemical Composition of CommonOctopus (Octopus vulgaris) Fed Prey of Low MarketValueE. Prato, F. Biandolino, G. PortacciInstitute for Coastal Marine Environment, CNR, Taranto, Italylinda.prato@iamc.cnr.itAbstractOctopus vulgaris is considered a possible candidate for industrial culture, interms of its biological and market potential: easy adaptation to captivity conditions,high growth rate and high market price.The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of diet on growth and biochemicalcomposition of cultured O. vulgaris. Wild animals used as control were sacrificedimmediately after capture, to provide the biochemical composition. The feeding triallasted 30 days. Three fresh diets were evaluated: Group I (a mixture of crab Carcinusmediterraneus, bogue fish Boops boops and mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis),Group II (monodiet of B. boops) group III: (monodiet of M. galloprovincialis). Ingestion,growth and feed efficiency indexes of O. vulgaris, at the end of the feedingtrial were determined. The best results were obtained with the monodiet based onbogue, that gave a weight gain (Wg) of 390.65±37.54 g, an absolute growth rate(AGR) of 13.02 g·day −1 and feed efficiency (FE) of 44.79 ± 0.96.In respect to biochemical composition, the mussel-fed and bogue-fed groups showedthe highest protein content. Animals fed on bogue showed the highest carbohydratescontent, while the lowest value was observed in the mussels-fed group. The lipidcontent was found to be very low in all dietary groups. The highest value was obtainedfrom the wild octopuses and the bogue-fed group. All the octopuses were richin phospholipids.1 IntroductionCephalopods represent an importantseafood, according to FAO [1, 2], they contributeto approximately 14% of the worldfisheries. The market demand throughoutdifferent regions of the world and the pricefor O. vulgaris is increasing, due to the excellentpalatability, quality attributes of thisseafood. Due to some interesting biologicalcharacteristics and high market price,O. vulgaris represents an ideal candidatefor aquaculture diversification [3, 4, 5, 6].The main characteristics of O. vulgaris,which favour its potential for culture, are ashort life cycle (12-18 months), high fecundity,rapid growth up to 13% body weightper day [7] and high food conversion [8, 9].Furthermore, O. vulgaris may be easilykept in captivity, showing a rapid and easyadaptation, good acceptability of low-valuenatural or frozen foods and high survivalrates (even 100%). Additional advantagesare the social and economic relevance ofthis species, representing an importantseafood for human consumption.