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Provides information on a study which examined the symbiotic association in the sepiid species Sepia officinalis collected in the English Channel. Situ hybridization of the collected sepiid species; Results of the study; Discussion and conclusions.

Respiration and nitrogen excretion rates of mature adult Loligo forbesi were investigated at the Roscoff Laboratory (North Brittany, France) during individual short-term incubation experiments in January 1986. The squids were in post-digestive condition and not actively swimming. Both oxygen uptake and nitrogen excretion are continuous processes. The metabolic rates of this active nektonic species (145 ml kg h oxygen uptake, 18.56 μg g h ammonia excretion) are distinctly higher than those of benthic cephalopods. Proteins constitute the main metabolic substrate for energetic needs. Besides ammonia, urea is also continuously released, in amounts ranging from 5 to 16% of ammonia-excretion values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the benthic octopus Octopus cyanea Gray, acclimated to high temperature (30°C), digestion takes 12 h. Animal weight and food intake do not influence the duration of digestion. By regulating the rate of food passage in the alimentary canal, the quantity of digested food (as a percentage of ingested food) is kept constant at a particular time. A comparison with other cephalopod species and with different fish species, leads to the conclusion that the mode of life is the main factor determining the duration of digestion and its efficiency. For a given species, the duration of digestion depends on temperature. For a similar mode of life and at equal temperatures, digestion is more rapid and more efficient in cephalopods than in fishes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]