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A practical staging atlas to study embryonic development of Octopus vulgaris under controlled laboratory conditions
Deryckere, A.; Styfhals, R.; Vidal, E.A.G.; Almansa, E.; Seuntjens, E. (2020). A practical staging atlas to study embryonic development of Octopus vulgaris under controlled laboratory conditions. Bmc Developmental Biology 20(1): 7. https://hdl.handle.net/10.1186/s12861-020-00212-6
In: Bmc Developmental Biology. BIOMED CENTRAL LTD: London. ISSN 1471-213X, more
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Keywords
    Cephalopoda [WoRMS]; Octopus vulgaris Cuvier, 1797 [WoRMS]
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    Cephalopod; Octopus; Embryo; Development; Atlas; Stand alone; Light sheet fluorescence microscopy

Authors  Top 
  • Deryckere, A., more
  • Styfhals, R., more
  • Vidal, E.A.G.
  • Almansa, E.
  • Seuntjens, E., more

Abstract

    Background

    Octopus vulgaris has been an iconic cephalopod species for neurobiology research as well as for cephalopod aquaculture. It is one of the most intelligent and well-studied invertebrates, possessing both long- and short-term memory and the striking ability to perform complex cognitive tasks. Nevertheless, how the common octopus developed these uncommon features remains enigmatic. O. vulgaris females spawn thousands of small eggs and remain with their clutch during their entire development, cleaning, venting and protecting the eggs. In fact, eggs incubated without females usually do not develop normally, mainly due to biological contamination (fungi, bacteria, etc.). This high level of parental care might have hampered laboratory research on the embryonic development of this intriguing cephalopod.

    Results

    Here, we present a completely parameter-controlled artificial seawater standalone egg incubation system that replaces maternal care and allows successful embryonic development of a small-egged octopus species until hatching in a laboratory environment. We also provide a practical and detailed staging atlas based on bright-field and light sheet fluorescence microscopy imaging for precise monitoring of embryonic development. The atlas has a comparative section to benchmark stages to the different scales published by Naef (1928), Arnold (1965) and Boletzky (2016). Finally, we provide methods to monitor health and wellbeing of embryos during organogenesis.

    Conclusion

    Besides introducing the study of O. vulgaris embryonic development to a wider community, this work can be a high-quality reference for comparative evolutionary developmental biology.


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