Reproduction
Like many cephalopods the male can be distinguished from the female by an enlarged hectocotylus which occurs as the first left arm. Females lay 2 or 3 batches of round creamy orange eggs (25 - 170 eggs per batch) over a few weeks towards the end of their life. Females die between a week and a fortnight after laying eggs and males die a short time after mating multiple times. Females mate with many partners and may use the sperm of more than one partner for one batch of eggs. Depending on temperature incubation can take up to four and a half months, because of this the eggs must be comparatively large to provide enough yolk for successful embryonic development. If the females are underfed while producing eggs they tend to produce fewer and smaller eggs which leads to high embryo mortality rates. Parent Southern Dumpling Squid do not look after their young however the hatchlings are highly developed when born and are capable of catching prey up to twice their size. Young are not born with the needed bacteria for their light organ and must capture them from the water column before the light organ can develop.
Read more about this topic: Euprymna Tasmanica
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