Van Heukelem W F
Lab Anim Sci. 1977 Oct;27(5 Pt 2):852-9.
Eggs of the Yucatan octopus, Octopus maya, were collected at Campeche, Mexico, transported to Hawaii, and incubated in glass funnels. Benthic juveniles hatched from the large (17-mm) eggs and were reared on a variety of live and frozen foods. As many as 200 animals were reared for the first month in a 20-liter aquarium. No disease or parasite problems were encountered and nearly all well-fed juveniles survived to sexual maturity. The species was reared through four generations in the laboratory. Animals weighed 0.1 g at hatching and within 8.5 months attained an average weight of 3231 g. Mating was promiscuous and sperm were stored in the oviducts until spawning. Spawning occurred at 8-9 months of age. Up to 5,000 eggs were laid by large females and nearly 100% of fertilized eggs developed to hatching. Females brooded eggs during the 45-day period of development but artificial was as successful as natural incubation by the mother. Pos-reproductive senescent decline of both males and females was rapid and average life span was 300 days from hatching. Areas of biomedical research in which O maya could be a useful model were suggested and included neurobiology, comparative psychology, ontogeny of behavior, immunology, endocrinology, and studies of aging.
尤卡坦章鱼（Octopus maya）的卵于墨西哥坎佩切采集，运往夏威夷，并在玻璃漏斗中孵化。底栖幼体从大（17毫米）卵中孵出，以各种活饵和冷冻食物饲养。在一个20升的水族箱中，最初一个月饲养了多达200只动物。未遇到疾病或寄生虫问题，几乎所有喂养良好的幼体都存活至性成熟。该物种在实验室中繁殖了四代。动物孵化时体重为0.1克，在8.5个月内平均体重达到3231克。交配杂乱，精子储存在输卵管中直至产卵。产卵发生在8 - 9个月龄时。大型雌体产卵多达5000枚，几乎100%的受精卵发育至孵化。雌体在45天的发育期间孵卵，但人工孵化与母体自然孵化一样成功。雄性和雌性生殖后的衰老衰退迅速，从孵化起平均寿命为300天。文中提出了尤卡坦章鱼可能成为有用模型的生物医学研究领域，包括神经生物学、比较心理学、行为个体发生学、免疫学、内分泌学以及衰老研究。
