Reproductive biology of the lentil bobtail squid, Rondeletiola minor (Cephalopoda: Sepiolidae) from the eastern Mediterranean

Abstract

A total of 208 Rondeletiola minor were sampled from the eastern Mediterranean with the depth contours of 150, 350 and 550 m. Body sizes of 32 mature females ranged from 11.8 to 19.5 mm dorsal mantle length (ML), that of mature males were 11.1–19.1 mm ML. Potential fecundity varied between 192 and 315 eggs in maturing females, and ripe egg sizes were 1.1–3.0 mm. Ripe egg amount did not exceed 15% of the fecundity. The average number of spermatophores was 176 with two extreme individuals that had 557 and 674 spermatophores, respectively. Spawning occurs continuously with an asynchronous ovulation pattern. Mature animals were found throughout the year with a peak in gonadosomatic index in spring. The life cycle of R. minor was estimated to be 10 months with different cohorts in reproduction depending on how temperature affects the hatching.