Cuttlefish Hatchlings

[snowmaker]

About 7 to 10 days old. There is normally more algae and a couple coral skeletons (perches) but I took them out to film.
After dark, I can usually spot 8 - 10. They come up and find a perch on algae or dead coral and pick off mysids.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icobJmK4aQA

[DWhatley]

:thumbsup:

[snowmaker]

I accidentally bumped the return tubing and the eggs have been doing this ever since:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LG0u8d2YU9Y

[rryyddeerr]

that poor worm is freaking out.

[DWhatley]

You certainly have live hatchlings in the eggs but I wonder if that is too much motion. It would not be for octos but the mother does not tend cuttle eggs.

[snowmaker]

Yea,
I moved the tubing back. I personally do not think tumbling is good, and it's certainly not natural. Cuttlefish obviously have a sense of balance / equilibrium. My guess is that tumbling may annoy or stress them.

[DWhatley]

Odd when you think about it. The last thing I saw on octo eggs determined that if they were not move around the ones in the center of the clutch did not survive because they basically got squashed as the ones on the outside grew so Octo mom's frequent (at least with briareus it is not 100% of the time) movement of the eggs allows the inner ones growing room. It was interesting to see the three different way Kooah would move the eggs. I expected the siphon blowing and gill intake (she only did this when they were first laid) but placing her mantle under the clutch and using her breathing to move them was not something I had read about. I wonder if the pear shape vs the round makes a difference (but then squid eggs are pear shaped and unattended). Another difference is that the octos flip twice (I did not see it) but don't have swimming room inside the eggs.