ARTIFICIAL FERTILIZATION AND DEVELOPMENT THROUGH HATCHING IN THE OCEANIC SQUIDS - OMMASTREPHES-BARTRAMII AND STHENOTEUTHIS-OUALANIENSIS (CEPHALOPODA, OMMASTREPHIDAE)

A technique for routinely obtaining hatchlings of oceanic squids via a rtificial fertilization is not available at present. This paper makes a major advance in that direction. A technique for artificial fertiliz ation and rearing the resulting embryos through hatching for the ocean ic ommastrephid squids Ommastrephes bartramii and Sthenoteuthis oualan iensis is presented that emphasizes the importance of egg hydration an d methods of obtaining chorion expansion. Initial results comparing ha tching time against rearing temperature show an expected decrease in t ime with increasing temperature.