Hi there all

this finally jumped into cuttlefish after losing my first cuttlefish awhile back by a dumb coral beauty ....

a friend (collector) was able to get a female tropical cuttle fish north of perth Western australia which laid some viable eggs in his aquarium. so i decided to try some of them i was given 5 viable ones which are around 1.5week or 2 weeks old (unconfirmed laid date)
the other eggs have yet to inflate so i dont think they are viable. anyway a big suprise after leave the egg in the tank for few hours 3 of them hatched ... i dont know if this kinda early for them ? but they around 1cm big and look well developed. the other 2 are in their eggs still.

once i find my phone cable i post some pictures of the little ones.

the aquarium is a 78x68x58 aquarium with alot of liverock and mysid running :P

i think my biggest worry atm if this a premature hatch ?

http://photos-600.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v287/111/45/577105600/n577105600_3344165_929.jpg
http://photos-600.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v287/111/45/577105600/n577105600_3344168_1876.jpg
http://photos-600.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v287/111/45/577105600/n577105600_3344169_2196.jpg

how big was your friend's adult?

he said roughly 10cm
before he released her back into the wild
i think he said she was about half grown ? or more ...
i dont even know which sp of cuttle it is >.<

Good luck with your guys. How many gallons is your tank, Im bad with figuring it out from the dimensions

Im not sure about the ID since we dont have a picture of the adult, but 1cm newborns and white eggs are not traits of any commonly kept cuttlefish in the US.

If the hatchlings were born premature, you would have seen an egg yolk still attached to them.

i think 74 gallons roughly ?

here a picture of an adult it should be the same there was a picture of the real adult but its removed off his website so i see if he still has it. i been trying to find out it is but very hard since they always talk about the gaint cuttlefish in australian waters

i did see a round ball very small but wasnt attached to them so i guess thats a good sign ? anyway we see how we go this is the first time i raising cuttle fish from eggs last time the cuttle fish was a juv. any info on my sp would be great
thanks in advance

http://www.oceanarium.com.au/images/cuttle%20fish.JPG

If the round ball was the yolk and is significantly smaller then the baby cuttle, they may be ok. Ive had many premature births with Sepia Bandensis. If the yolk sac is pretty small in comparison to the cuttle, they often survive fine. If the yolk was still large in comparison to the cuttle, the cuttle is still very under developed and will usually die.

i pretty sure it is the yolk as i can see the same thing in the unhatched eggs. compared to the one where i was able to take a picture by himself its kinda small but to the other 2 it seems kinda big maybe 1/2 of their body size but i had a look again i was only able to find 2 yolks not 3 so possible that one of them is not premature or maybe it didnt see it >.>
here some pictures of the yolks which i slowly moved next to them

http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v287/111/45/577105600/n577105600_3346466_3174.jpg
http://photos-e.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v287/111/45/577105600/n577105600_3346468_3527.jpg

:welcome: to TONMO, and good luck!

I'll be very curious how the experts ID the adult pic, it's a great looking cuttle, but I certainly can't guess without a book... maybe I'll get Norman and Nesis out later...

just confirm with my friend it is the same type so if anyone is able to id that adult picture that would be great ^^
he also going to send me a video once he gets back up north as he has on his other computer up there

add some live mysid today plus some tiger pods haven't had much reaction i even place a semi dead in front of the cuttle fish but nothing. i hope they start eating...

Try larger live prey, maybe shore shrimp or tiny crabs.

well these are kinda same size to their size these are only around 1 cm big roughly. dont think we have shore shrimps in aus but we have glass shrimps and i guess i can go hunting for small crabs on my collection trip if it stops raining !

It is common for the hatchlings to not eat after being born for up to a week. However, I would still offer them food everyday.

well i been flooding the breeder net with live foods once i get them its been a bit slow though since its raining in perth atm but tomorrow its pose to be sunny so i hopeful will have a nice calm ocean to harvest from. will have a look for small crabs on the rocks but i don't think they get as small as i would like but i have a guy who sending me some marine yabbies (fish bait used in the eastern states) so i don't need to worry about food once they get older.

on another note just wonder is possible to get late development in an egg as i just noticed one of the thought to be non viable eggs slowly inflating but i still cant see clearly inside i guess i wont be throwing out those other eggs for awhile.

My experiences are all derived from S. Bandensis, but Im sure much of this carries over.

I have definetely had some eggs from the same batch develop much later then others. Eggs that I almost discarded because I was sure they were duds ended up inflating later and hatching a perfectly healthy cuttle.

Mysids have always been the best first food for Bandensis at least. You do not need to flood feed. Just place a few in the tank and see if there is interest. Often too many mysids at once may intimidate newborns.

It may be related to the size of crab vs the cuttlefish, but Bandensis will not eat crabs until after a couple months. A bandensis will attack a crab differently. Instead of using feeding tentacles, they will swim behind it and crab it with all tentacles. This is probably due to an instinctual knowledge of the crabs pincers being a possible threat.

well i guess they be going in the food tank which i setting up to hold all the live foods.

thanks for all your info even though its a different sp i am sure most of the info will be the same or similar.

is there a website or can anyone help id my cuttle fish yet ?

you can try http://www.cephbase.utmb.edu/

Im sure theres other resources as well.

I just looked through Norman and a couple other sources and came up empty with the ID. I look forward to the video as the photo on the last page may be a 'resting' posture which makes ID even harder.

I would suggest not flood feeding. I have had much better success with newly hatch cuttles by feeding one or two food items than lots. I think lots may seem overwhelming to cuttles who have to learn how to hunt. :D

I should make a video, but my current 2 week olds act as if they have a super short attention span when there are too many mysids in with them. They cant decide which one to chase!

i cant seem to get enough of my cuttle fish even though i using my phone i seem to get some nice macros :D
the mysid are hiding at the top of the breeding net but i was able to catch alot of amphipods this collection trip so there a few them running around the bottom but not that many as advised.

one of the eggs like like they ready to hatch as the yolk is quite small now compare before maybe in a few days ...

http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v287/111/45/577105600/n577105600_3365465_9877.jpg
http://photos-f.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v287/111/45/577105600/n577105600_3365469_1181.jpg
http://photos-e.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v287/111/45/577105600/n577105600_3365468_845.jpg
http://photos-g.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v287/111/45/577105600/n577105600_3365470_1520.jpg
http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v287/111/45/577105600/n577105600_3365467_528.jpg
http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v287/111/45/577105600/n577105600_3365466_194.jpg

here a picture of the real mother
http://www.oceanarium.com.au/cuttly.JPG

That was collected in Western Aus? Hmmm. Not much that I can find, so it could be anything or something we don't know too well. I want to say Sepia plangon, but thats Eastern...

:grin:

yeah it was collected in Western Australia

Could be Sepia papuensis. Really hard to tell. More pics might help. :D

Try this link for some photos of cuttlefish.

http://www.starfish.ch/c-invertebrates/cephalopods.html

Does she look like any of them? Do you know how big she is?

from what my friend said she was 10cm

i cant say i good at iding

i looking at smithi, papuensis or latimanus but i never id a cuttle before

he said he try send me the video once he gets back up which will be a week or so

Any other distinguishing features, eyespots, coloration?

i cant say i know them as i never saw the mother. the only i seen her as a picture :P but i think might easier with the video.
unless we wait until the baby grow :D

none of them still chasing the food :( slowly getting worried

Sepia Papuensis is a good possibility.

seem the picture of the mother link got cut so here it is again
also my 4 egg has hatched no deaths yet *fingers crossed* the 4th is almost as big as my biggest one or maybe a bit bigger waiting for the 5th one to hatch
the mysid i had in breed net have released their egg in the net so there some baby mysid for them to eat :D
i looking at setting up a wireless webcam to my computer so i can view them where ever i am.

http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v287/111/45/577105600/n577105600_3418194_7577.jpg

the mother is pretty. :fingerscrossed: that the babies do well.

erin

well all of them hatched the last one is the biggest and is eating already :D
the others have started to eat too but a bit slower.

they on mysid and a.pods.

i also realized the heater was not on ... so the water been cold for who knows how long but now the heater is on they starting to move alot more are more active :D

i still looking into a small mysid farm for my cuttle fish and future babies if i get anymore ;) as there is no one doing this is australia and its very hard to find live foods unless you catch them yourself

false alarm .... they were hidding at the top but both are kinda float look like lack of energy i think they on the verge of death but i wont give up >.< !

:goofysca: :fingerscrossed:

ok now its a really sad day =(

after coming back and i bought them a new plastic breeding box so i can view them easier but i found one of the bigger one stuck under the net ... dead =( ....... i dont know if it was crushed it killed and just laying under there or just died ....

RIP

and just to make it worst the smallest one who i thought was just floating ... was really already dead .....

i guess this would of happened but 2 in one day just a bit hard :(

i wont give up with the rest i hope they can teach me for the next lot if i get another chance