An analysis of ontogenetic phenotypic change of Watasenia scintillans beak
WANG Zixin
LIU Bilin
Abstract：As the important hard tissues of cephalopods,the beak has the characteristics of stable struc-ture and corrosion resistance,and stores a wealth of growth information.In northwest Pacific,Watase-nia scintillans is not only important in terms of commercial value,but also the food of marine mam-mals and fishes.The studies on the characteristic parameters such as the morphology and pigmentation area of beak should aid to the further studies of growth rhythm and feeding behavior transformation.In this study,156 species of W.scintillans collected in northwest Pacific in July,2021,were selected as experimental samples.Morphological length,pigment deposition area and individual mantle length were measured,and the phenotypic change was studied.The results showed that the external morpho-logical data and the proportion of pigmentation of beak increased with the increase of mantle length.Morphological parameters increased significantly when the mantle length was 22,27 mm,especially the upper hood length,upper crest length,upper lateral wall length and lower lateral wall length.The pro-portion of pigmentation of upper and lower beak saltated in 26 mm.The phenotypic change of beak be-tween three mantle length groups showed a significant difference(P＜0.05).
Keywords：Watasenia scintillansbeakWestern Pacificgrowth rhythmpigmentation
Publication Date：2025-06-30
Online Publishing Date：2026-05-22(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：10( 147-156 )