Joseph M. Scimeca, Jr. DVM, PhD; Daniel Oestmann, DVM, PhD
Animal Resources Center and the Department of Pathology; Marine Biomedical Institute, University of
Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX
A brief overview of some of the common diseases encountered in cephalopod culture will be discussed.
The disease topics that are included are: trauma related injuries with subsequent bacterial infections, protozoa infections
in the two spotted octopus Octopus bimaculoides, fungal infection in the hood of a nautilus Nautilus pompilius, and toxin
induced midgut gland necrosis in the common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis. Necropsy procedures will be reviewed using the
cuttlefish as a model cephalopod. Tissue fixatives and tissue preparation related to cephalopod histology will also be
discussed.