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A Descriptive Ecology of Eledone Cirrhosa (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) in Scottish Waters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

P.R. Boyle
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Aberdeen, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB9 2TN

Extract

A survey of the ecology of the octopus Eledone cirrhosa in Scottish waters is compiled from structured interviews with fishermen, records of occurrence in traps (for lobster and crab), and a research vessel survey. This species is widespread and common throughout the inshore waters covered by fishing activity (shoreline- 140 m) on bottom types ranging through rock, stones, sand and mud. It is caught in all months of the year but is especially common inshore in the summer (July-September) and further offshore on trawling grounds in October-December. The octopus is a normal and regular predator of large Crustacea (Hotnarus, Nephrops, Cancer) caught in commercial traps but gut contents yield little identifiable dietary remains.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1986

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