Morphology of the Mucous Pouches and Taxonomic Study of Cistopus sp. (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) from Taiwan

• Main Authors: Jian-Xiang Liao, 廖健翔
• Other Authors: Chung-Cheng Lu
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2003
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/72132684907559509868

碩士 === 國立中山大學 === 海洋生物研究所 === 91 === Cistopus sp. is a medium to large octopod and it is common in the fish markets of Taiwan. The diagnostic character of the genus Cistopus is the possession of eight mucous pouches in the web between the base of each arm. However, researches on this special structure were absent. This study is to describe the morphological characters of Cistopus sp. from Taiwanese waters and to examine the mucous pouch histologically. The mitochondrial COI gene sequences are used as a tool to analyze the phylogenetic relationships between Cistopus and other genera of the family Octopodidae. Based on the results of this study, the Cistopus of Taiwanese waters is different from the genuine C. indicus and the Cistopus of the Andaman Sea. Cistopus sp. is widely distributed from coastal Asia to India at least and presents sexual dimorphism in the openings of the mucous pouches. The inner wall of the mucous pouches is composed of columnar epithelial cells, and the mucus is secreted from the epithelial cells. The substance secreted from the inner wall is acid mucopolysaccharides. According to the phylogenetic analysis of the octopods COI DNA sequences, Cistopus is grouped with other members of subfamily Octopodinae to form a monophyletic group.