To do a complete bio would likely bore you to tears. SO, suffice it to say, I've been involved with aquariums for 59 years and strictly marine for the last 34 years. I set up my first marine aquarium in 1966 by 1972 I'd sold all my freshwater aquariums and have been strictly salt ever since. To say I'm captivated by marine critters would be an understatement. I've always been a hobbyist but have also sold them retail and wholesale, installed and maintained aquariums for bars, restaurants and private individuals. In 1992 I began an attempt at growing coral fragments. By 1994 I was having some success and as the lighting requirements became better understood my success grew.

In the mid to late 1970's my interest in Cephalopods lept into the forefront when an Atlantic pygmy octopus layed a clutch of eggs in her aquarium. That did it for me. The eggs hatched and I had some success growing out the young. Back in those days there wasn't a clear understanding of the Nitrogen cycle and the role Nitrate played in the total picture. There wasn't a clear understanding of how to controll Nitrate either. Nitrates in the range of 50 ppm, if memory serves me correctly, did them in. However the youngsters lived and grew for 3 or 4 months. Kept various other octos over the years with varying degrees of success. In the '90s my interests changed to corals and haven't had an octo for quit some time. Never lost my love/fascination for them though.

In January 2004, my name was given to two professors at the Univ of Hawaii, Drs. Ned Ruby and Margaret McFall-Ngai, head professors in the Dept. of Medical Microbiology and Immunology. Their research involved the pygmy bobtailed squid, Euprymna scolopus and it's symbiotic relationship with the luminous bacterium, Vibrio fischeri. The professors worked as a team and had accepted positions at the Univ of WI, Madison, where I lived at the time.

You can imagine my surprise when they told me they bred the squid in captivity regularly and their research was conducted on the young before they picked up the luminus bacteria.

I was fascinated with the prospect of accomplishing this project for the professors and accepted the challange. If you are interested in reading my blurb of the events here's a link to it on my website - Squid System (http://www.theculturedreef.com/squid.htm).

Today, I reside in FL, retired from 40 years of pipefitting, (yes, in addition to the aquarium business). I'm setting up a coral fragging business with related sales in live rock, live sand, clams and who knows maybe cephalopods. The professors want me to try growing out some bobtailed squid because my system produces more eggs than they can use and the eggs ship very well.

If you've read this far, you've had enough of me for one night. Very happy to have stumbled into you guys. Looking forward to learning from the experts and contributing where I can.

Dick

:welcome: I enjoyed reading your history! Sounds like you have had many experiences we would all like to know more about!

Carol

Dick: GREAT to have you on board! Thank you for joining! Please make yourself at home.

:welcome:

:welcome: to Tonmo.com!

Nice to meet you, Dick.

How long did you live in Madison? There are at least two UW alumni here.

Dan

Welcome to Tonmo ! Neat stuff...

greg

:welcome: to Tonmo, cant wait to see what you do with the bobtails

:welcome: I wonder, is there much difference between keeping the bottom living squid and the cuttles?

A big hello and :welcome: to you Dick.

:welcome: sounds like you've got a lot of valuable experience to share!

:welcome: !!! Can't wait to hear all you have to contribute to the wonderful world of cephs... :grin:

WOW!!! Never have I been greeted with such enthusiasm. Thank you! :cool:

bobwonderbuns, monty, My experience is limited to hobbyist level with a bit of intense research. I believe we are obligated to do diligent research on the critters we are about to keep so as to provide more than adequate housing. We take them from an ocean world, even captive bred are pre-programed for a world size view of things, and contain them in watery closets. I'm happy I found this forum to direct me to updated information and sources.

CapnNemo, cthulhu77, erich orser, cuttlegirl, tonmo, Thank you all, looking forward to getting to know you.

bigGdelta, I wonder, is there much difference between keeping the bottom living squid and the cuttles? Well, that's going to be an interesting comparison. I know little about cuttles and their habits/needs/requirements. E. socolofi, the Bobtailed squid is pretty kewl but boring. It buries in the sand/gravel all day, comes out at night and searchs for food (shrimp) and buries itself at dawn. One interesting habit at dawn is they expel 90% of the luminous bacteria, V. fischeri they carried from the day before. The reason is, since they breed year around there are hatchlings daily and this insures there is abundant populations of V. fischeri in the surrounding waters for the youngsters to pickup.

i need cuttle, cant wait to see what you do with the bobtails Me too, because there is a small but growing demand for them for research purposes. Right now all are collected in Hawaii by the reseachers themselves as they need to replenish their stock. In the lab the girls are put through a pretty laborous ritual of breeding and laying with little rest. They keep a minimum breeding population of 16 females and 4 males but have had as many 75 squid at one time. (lucky males) The stress level leads to early aging and death for the girls. More recently, the lab staff has reduced the numbers and frequency of mating because they were producing more eggs/hatchlings than needed, by hundreds. The last time I visited the lab, July '05, I counted egg clutchs and estimated the average number of eggs per clutch and came up with 2,800 possible hatchlings. Pretty impressive.

We were out-producing the system the Profs had in Hawaii with circulating fresh sea water continously. They were extatic with the system I designed and began doing this, :notworth: , when ever I was around. Not literally you understand but, they would call me to the lab for a meeting with their staff and students from time to time and introduce me as the "squid system guru". It was a very humbling experience coming from the leading researches of their field in the world. Both Ned and Margaret are considered in the highest esteem and travel extensively speaking at universities and conventions world wide.

DHyslopHow long did you live in Madison? I was born and raised in Madison until our move to FL in Sept '05, so about 68 years. Miss the old gang back home but, this was a good move for us. We designed our home, searched the area for two years trying to find a lot bigger than a postage stamp and wound up with 5 1/2 acres in the country, close to everything, for a great price, just before prices went skyward two years ago. We love it here. Our house has survived three hurricanes, one with me in it. What an experience!

Okay, I think that covers everyone. Thanks again, for the great welcome.

:welcome: Dick, nice to have you around!
As you might have guessed from my pseudo, I really like this species!
So how was your success in culturing the v. small babies?

eups

RA!!!
thats Mizu for hi

:welcome: Really glad you found us.
sorseress

EuprymnaAs you might have guessed from my pseudo, I really like this species!Yes, you rather startled me when I saw your pseudo. What's your experience with them???

So how was your success in culturing the v. small babies?I haven't had the facility to culture the youngsters yet. I have been in FL only six months and with moving, unpacking, settling-in and all that goes with moving 1500 miles, I'm just now setting up my first reef tank. culturing Euprymna is in the future. A few students of Ned and Margaret's have tried with limited success. Now that I've found this forum, you will be the first to know of my attempts.

Mizu, Ra, to you too, Mizo!!! :yinyang:

sorseress, I'm glad, too, Sorseress!!!

Thank you, everyone for the warm welcome.

:welcome: from down under Dick.

I work mainly with ommastrephid squid (absolute sods to keep!) but in our public aquarium we have held Sepioloidea pacifica and hatched them successfully. Don't have the luminescent bacteria tho'

J

Originally posted by Amphibious
One interesting habit at dawn is they expel 90% of the luminous bacteria, V. fischeri they carried from the day before.

I was wondering how the babies acquired the bacteria. How do they expel the bacteria? Do they store them in some sort of sac?

So many questions...

Thanks for joining Tonmo!

I was wondering how the babies acquired the bacteria. How do they expel the bacteria? Do they store them in some sort of sac?

So many questions...

Thanks for joining Tonmo!

I can sort answer the last question but how exatly they acquire the bacteria, I don't know!
I know that they store them extracellularly in a bilobed light organ that lies in the centre of the mantle cavity (below the ink sac), where it is continuously bathed in seawater as a result of normal ventilatory activity.
So this complex "light organ" is "open" to the environmnent and contain a complex set of tissues supporting the culture of the luminescent bacteria. It is also composed of accessory tissues (thick reflector, lenses...) that allows control and direct the light produced by the bugs so the squid can perfectly match the downwelling light thus eliminating their shadows.

I suppose that the formation of the light organ is only accomplished at the end of the paralarval stage and only then, some sort of cue must trigger colonisation by the bacteria...??

It's very interesting that every morning they expel the bacteria to reduce energetic cost and acquire them at every sunset when they go out foraging! Apparently the bacteria do not contribute metabolically towards the squid, it only serve for light production.
I would like to know how exactly they manage to attract the bacteria every day!

Fascinating little squid! they can change colour, burry in the sand very effectively, squirt ink, produce light...all this to live for maximum 8 months!
wow!

eups

Well Dick...it looks like you got a freakin parade in your welcome...lol you have quite a resume...its great to have you here

A paper was presented at CIAC about the Vibrio mutualism with Euprymna scolopes, E. tasmanica and E. hyllebergi, with some discussion of when the babies acquire the bacteria. Can't remember the particulars but the paper, when it comes out, should be:

Nishiguchi, M.K.; Jones, B.W. Population dynamics of a sepiolid squid-Vibrio mutualism from the Indo-west Pacific.

Hello from a fellow Floridian, scuba diver, and ceph enthusiast! Just wondering what size tank a small group of these guys might need? I'm sure others would be interested to know!

Tonmo, its your future, I see a... I see....... a Squid Care subforum!!!!!!

You guys have me a bit overwhelmed with the welcomes. Thank you, from my heart.

Jean, from down under. incredible!!! I've always dreamed of going there some day. You've got me dreaming again. :sun:

cuttlegirl, Euprymna did a great job explaining that phenomenon. Better than I could. Thanks, Euprymna.

aNmLlUvR09Well Dick...it looks like you got a freakin parade in your welcome...lol you have quite a resume...its great to have you here I don't know how to respond except to say thank you, each and every one of you. I am so happy i found this forum.

I have had a love affair with Cephs for 30 plus years and I just found a group of wonderful fellow cephalopodicmaniacs. Hmmm, I think I just added a word to the english cryptic language. :lol::belemnit:

Tintenfisch, I'll contact the Professors I worked with at the U of WI and see if they know about the paper. Thanks.

Roctopus, It turns out they can be kept in rather small quarters. Our adult female systems were 100 gallons plus a sump area of about 30 gallons. The holding system consisted of an Acrylic aquarium, the dimensions of which were 72x32x12 with a water depth of 10". Each tank was devided equally into 8 compartments, each measuring approximately 18" x 16" with water depth at 10". so they don't need a lot of room. However, males and females must be kept seperate. You know those darn males, all they have on their mind is breeding so they must be kept seperately. The females, if kept and feed properly could be housed together in small groups. But, keep in mind they are territorial and if conditions are not met there will be cannibalism.

Again, thank you for the great welcome.

Dick