Sepia apama egg

[weather_nut]

Hi there I recently found an Australian giant cuttlefish egg, and I'm wondering if anybody has any hint's or tips in regards to hatching it. I found it washed in among seaweed on a beach north of Wallaroo (about 50km south-east of the well known Whyalla breading ground), in South Australia. It was quite warm from the sun so I thought it would have perished, however upon closer inspection, it was clear that it was moving inside. I've had it for about 2 weeks now, in a still water container that I change every second day, and it seems to be doing quite well still, and is becoming progressively more active inside the egg. I also have a 50L tank that I'm preparing to transfer it into.
Cheers,
Chris

[OB]

Wow Chris, hatching it would give you the responsibility of rearing an animal that will eventually require a tank of professional aquarium proportions, returning it to the wild at a certain ML is simply not an option according to common practice and eventual euthanasia unethical from my point of view... Quite a catch 22... Another option would be placing the egg back amongst the seaweeds where it came from (in the water, obviously)? I know, that's the "dull dull dull dull dull" option and gives no guarantees as towards the individual's survival, but I think you should at least take it into account? Keep us posted on your thoughts, much appreciated...

:welcome:, by the way, to our little corner of the web :smile:

[weather_nut]

Thanks for that OB. Unfortunately returning it to that location isn't really an option. The seaweed I found it on was well past the low water line, and drying rapidly in the sun, hence why I thought it had perished. The location is also the most seaward point of a large bay so it's exposed to 10-30ft swell most of the time. One thought I've had is talking to the local high school up that way. When I use to go there, they had quite an extensive aquaculture setup, and out of there 5 large ponds, no more than three ever seemed to be used at any one time. Even if they have nothing available right now, I should have a little time to wait for one of them to clear before it gets to big........ I hope.
Cheers,
Chris

[ossiecuttlefish]

Hi there I recently found an Australian giant cuttlefish egg, and I'm wondering if anybody has any hint's or tips in regards to hatching it. I found it washed in among seaweed on a beach north of Wallaroo (about 50km south-east of the well known Whyalla breading ground), in South Australia. It was quite warm from the sun so I thought it would have perished, however upon closer inspection, it was clear that it was moving inside. I've had it for about 2 weeks now, in a still water container that I change every second day, and it seems to be doing quite well still, and is becoming progressively more active inside the egg. I also have a 50L tank that I'm preparing to transfer it into.
Cheers,
Chris

Hi Chris

If you contact me with an email address, through this service I can forward you onto the leading AUTHORITY :grad: in Sepia apama for the state of South Australia.

Cheers ossiecuttlefish

[weather_nut]

Thanks ossiecuttlefish,
It's probably a little much though to alert specialists over one egg though. I've been talking to a couple of people up that way, who fish from that point quite regularly, and they said it's very common to find many of them washed up in one afternoon. They said they are actually used as bait when there available.