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Optic gland enlargement and female gonad maturation in a population of the octopuseledone cirrhosa: a multivariate analysis

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Abstract

Eleven principal component analyses were performed on morphometric data from a series of monthly samples of the octopusEledone cirrhosa (Lamarck) collected from March 1978 through January 1979 in the Aberdeen (Scotland) area. This technique has allowed a partitioning of general growth effects from variation in the reproductive system. Optic gland size varies as a reproductive character together with ovary and oviducal glands. Optic gland size not clearly associated with other cerebral organs, the brain and optic lobes. The association between the reprountive characters developed during the onset of the main period of reproductive maturation in the early summer of 1978 and persisted for the remainder of that year. This result supports the experimental evidence linking optic gland enlargement with female gonad maturation and suggests that this process occurs normally in the field population.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Aberdeen, AB9 2TN, Aberdeen, Scotland

    P. R. Boyle & R. S. Thorpe

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  1. P. R. Boyle
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  2. R. S. Thorpe
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Communicated by J. Mauchline, Oban

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Boyle, P.R., Thorpe, R.S. Optic gland enlargement and female gonad maturation in a population of the octopuseledone cirrhosa: a multivariate analysis. Mar. Biol. 79, 127–132 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00951821

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00951821

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