Cephalopods during their early life stages resemble miniature adults, but their planktonic mode of life differs from that of adults, and, by convention, are called “paralarvae”. We investigated the prey-capturing behaviour of the loliginid squid
Uroteuthis (
Photololigo)
edulis paralarvae under culture conditions. Paralarvae hatched at a mean size of 2.1 mm in mantle length (ML). Prey-capturing behaviour was first observed on 1 day after hatching. Although paralarvae were fed a mixture of five types of prey (
Artemia nauplii, copepods, amphipods, crab megalopae and mysids), capturing behaviour was only observed for crab (Decapoda: Grapsidae) megalopae, even when other organisms were present in greater numbers. These results suggest that this species specific-feeding preference generate variability in the paralarval survival rate and may be a cause of growth fluctuation in
U. (
P.)
edulis in captivity.
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