Effects of temperature fluctuations on cuttlebone formation of cuttlefish Sepia esculenta

The morphological characteristics and the cuttlebone formation of Sepia esculenta exposed to different water temperature fluctuations were investigated under laboratory conditions. Temperature fluctuation cycles (15 cycles, 60 d in total) consisted of the following three regimes of 4 d duration: keeping water temperature in 26°C for 3 d (Group A), 2 d (Group B), 0 d (Group C, control); then keeping water temperature in 16°C for the next 1, 2, 4 d. No significant difference in the survival rate was observed between the control and temperature fluctuation groups (P >0.05). Lamellar depositions in a temperature fluctuation cycle were 2.45±0.02 for Group A, 2.00±0.02 for Group B, and 1.78±0.02 for Group C (P< 0.05). The relationship between age and number of lamellas in the cuttlebone of S. esculenta under each water temperature fluctuation could be described as the linear model and the number of lamellas in the cuttlebone did not correspond to actual age. Group A had the highest cuttlebone growth index (CGI), the lowest locular index (LI), and inter-streak distances comparing with those of control group. However, the number of lamellas and LI or CGI showed a quadratic relationship for each temperature fluctuation group. In addition, temperature fluctuations caused the breakage of cuttlebone dark rings, which was considered a thermal mark. The position of the breakage in the dark rings was random. This thermal mark can be used as supplementary information for marking and releasing techniques.