Science Research project

[cuttlegirl]

You'll just have to wait and see.

 

[DWhatley]

I could NEVER see into the ones I got from Blue Zoo. They were totally opaque until they hatched. When they did hatch there was a clear jelly in the egg casing and it remained slighly full for quite some time (but exterior was torn where the cuttle had exited). 5 of the 6 hatched with no remaining yolk sack. The sixth never hatched. The four (I lost one of the 5 through bad judgment) survivors are doing well. This is quite a bit different than other reports but I am confident they are bandensis.

 

[thatfishnerd]

How long after the shipping process did they hatch? A couple of the eggs I got in today seemed to have shed the outer membrane of the egg so now they are kind if grey and I assume the next step in the process is for the eggs to swell a bit... Right?
Thanks!
~Sean

 

[DWhatley]

You can get an idea of my groups timing looking at their thread but this is not necessarily going to resemble your own hatching experience. These are wild collected eggs and the timing is wholly unknown.

 

[A. Cuttlefish]

Have the eggs hatched/swelled yet?

 

[thatfishnerd]

They have been getting bigger for a while now and losing the black membrane progressively, now a few eggs have these bubble like things coming out the side of them, do you know what that would be. I've attached a picture.
~Sean

 

[cuttlegirl]

Can you see anything moving inside the egg?

 

[DWhatley]

The bubble looks a lot like the clear jelly I saw in all the eggs. No one seems to have noticed this in the past (mine also remained opaque for the full incubation also considered an oddity). I am relatively sure mine are bandensis so I don't know what it means. I would start watching for hatchlings. I would also guess that the one in the upper left (and possibly the two other small ones) will not hatch but don't discard them on that thought.

 

[thatfishnerd]

Hello,
Sorry to be so slow with a response, soccer try-outs and icing have been a big part of what I have been doing. But I have some cool things to discuss, the bubble from the egg is getting larger, the egg part is getting smaller, there are 4 or more eggs with bubbles coming out of them, and only 6 from the 25 have decided to shrivel up and appear to begin to decay. Should I remove these? The eggs from the first shipment are starting to swell, 3 of which are deflating. I have attached a picture of the egg farthest along, you can see the cuttlefish, he looks like a little tic-tak, he is starting to move around a lot more.
More detailed update coming after my soccer scrimmage.
~Sean

 

[A. Cuttlefish]

Certainly looks like a cuttlefish, I think it might be hatching soon. Thatfishnerd, can you see a yolk?

 

[thatfishnerd]

Hello,
This morning, I woke up to a nice little surprise. THE CUTTLEFISH HATCHED!!!! I first found one laying on top of a few other eggs, then it moved to the corner of the net breeder and I was granted another surprise, two of them hatched!!! So now I have two newborn baby cuttlefish. What does a yolk look like? Where on the cuttlefish should I look for the yolk? Should I remove the eggs that look like they are duds?

 

[DWhatley]

The yolk sack (which you DON'T want to see as it means they are premature and rarely survive) will be a yellowish ball seemingly attached to the mouth (in the center of the arms).

The is no real harm in leaving the apparent duds in the net unless they are clearly rotting. You might want to put them in a separate breeder net just to see the rest more clearly. Can you find the eggs of the two hatchlings? Is there a clear jelly in these eggs and can you get a photo if you see it?

 

[A. Cuttlefish]

Have you ordered any baby cuttle food like mysis shrimp? If not you should order them by the end of this week. Baby cuttles don't usually eat for the first weeks. The cuttle in the second photo looks like it has not hatched prematurely as I see no sign of a yolk sack.

 

[thatfishnerd]

I have not yet ordered anything ion the way of food. I do have a brine shrimp culture set up and running. Yes, I do understand hat brine shrimp are not the ideal food for cuttlefish but is what I have now and my parents won't let me order mysis, they want me to see what happens with the brine shrimp. I know this probably won't get a good response from this site because everyone is "gung-ho" about not feeding brine shrimp to newly hatched cuttlefish. Do you think that freeze dried mysis shrimp would work (my teacher has that)? I will attach the pic of the egg that I know hatched, there does not seem to be any clear jelly in it or any other egg. Is it alright to have an led fixture over the tank, I'm getting tired of the darkness in the tank. Also, I have nauplii in the tank with the brine shirmp, read it is a good food for fish, what about cuttles? Any body have experience with nauplii? School starts on Monday, not sure when I am moving the tank in, I will give you guys an update when that happens and let you know how it goes.
Thanks
~Sean

 

[cuttlegirl]

I know that you are a student and you don't have much money, but those babies are not going to survive on brine shrimp and then you are not going to have a research project. See if you can get frozen mysids to try, you can get them at any big box pet store. Make sure the eyes are on the mysids and see if you can hand feed them. This is your best shot if you cannot get live mysids. If you have a local fish store near you, call them and see if you can get any 'pods out of their refugiums. I don't remember where you are located but maybe some other Tonmo member could donate some 'pods for you to try.