Measurement of aerobic scope during the whole embryonic development of a cephalopod

In the context of global warming, the present study aimed to identify at which stages the embryos of the holobenthic species Octopus maya are the most sensitive to temperature. We used temperature as a tool to induce minimum (TIMR-min: 11°C) and maximum metabolic rates (TIMR-max: 30°C) on embryos that came from three wild females caught off Sisal harbor (21°10'N, 90°02'W; Yucatán, Mexico) in March 2016. Higher metabolic rate values were recorded at stages XV and XVI, when the three hearts start beating, compared to stage X, when organogenesis begins. The factorial metabolic scope (FMS = TIMR-max ? TIMR-min) was higher at stages XV and XVI than the more mature stages, establishing stage XVII as the most vulnerable. High temperature exposure applied only during the earliest developmental stages (until stage XV) could have adaptive advantages if spawning occurs during hot waves in tropical coastal zones where the embryos are incubated or used for aquaculture purposes by shortening the time before hatching without physiological costs.