Although hyperplasia was not demonstrated in O. maya, we can assume that a similar growth process occurs in this species and that this process has a high demand for nutrients and energy for protein synthesis. In cephalopods, as in other invertebrates, glycogen is mainly derived from dietary proteins, via amino acid metabolism ( Miliou et al., 2005 and Rosas et al., 2002). In this sense and according to the present results, we can hypothesize that the CrSq diet used in the present study has nutritional characteristics (i.e. AA content) that improve the use of protein and their metabolic pathways to improve the muscle synthesis and hyperplasia mechanisms involved, allowing a higher growth rate than observed in the rest of the treatments.