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Cuttlefish Eggs!

Reef Geek

O. vulgaris
Registered
Joined
Oct 14, 2008
Messages
98
So my 2 cuttlefish eggs from NYAquatics came in yesterday. I got them home and in my refugium. Both eggs appear to have a cuttle inside when I hold a flashlight to them, so hopefully both will hatch healthy.

As for pics, I thought my 8mp camera was pretty nice until I tried zooming in on these little guys. I see a new camera in my future!
 
From what I've seen and read they appear to be sepia bandensis. I checked them this morning and no change.

Very pleased with the service I got from NYAquatic.com btw.
 
I struck gold in that my LFS got in what appears to be sepia Bandnesis eggs. I picked them up Saturday and they appear to be in excellent condition. 10 eggs for $25!!!
 
Ok, so my first 2 eggs arrived on June 22nd. The other 10 I got on the 26th. The first 2 are a bit smaller, say 2/3 the size of the "newer" eggs. The smaller eggs are also not as black as the larger ones. More of a tan color. So far I haven't been able to see any activity in any of the eggs. Seems I can make out a shape inside the smaller eggs, but who knows for sure.

I'm so impatient, I check the eggs like 3 times a day expecting to see a change. Isn't there a 'speed bake' option on these things? :smile:
 
The eggs appear to get lighter and semi-transparent as the embryo develops. Have seen 2 - 4 week incubation. Water temp may have something to do with incubation time, but I am not 100% sure of that.
 
On the 8th just before I left for the karate U.S. Open I check on the eggs and the 2 from N.Y. had turned white. Not really 'turned' white I guess. It looked more like a layer of dirt had sluffed off and left the egg clean looking and white. This got me a bit excited as flamboyant eggs are white, but this morning I checked again and one egg has all but melted and the other isn't looking much better.

The other 10 are looking good with one egg getting considerably larger than the others, so there's still hope!!!
 
Took a closer look this evening and I can definitely see movement inside the bigger egg. The rest of the bunch certainly don't look as healthy. Odds aren't looking good. But if even the 1 survives, I'll be thrilled.
 
I just checked the eggs and we have a cuttlefish!!! He's SO tiny it's rediculous. He was kinda behind the eggs so I moved them a bit and he just sat there. My wife thought he was dead when he suddenly did a little hover to the side to get back behind the eggs.

SO COOL!!!!!
 
My single cuttle is still doing well though he hasn't eaten anything yet (that I've seen). Though he seems to have gotten notably larger even just in a few days.

I went out this morning looking for food in the ICW. I was able to catch a couple hundred baby shore-shrimp but even the smallest are twice the length of a mysis shrimp and a good bit bulkier. I threw a small one in with the cuttle to see what he'd do. Yesterday I threw in a frew brine-shrimp to give him something to chase. So far I haven't seen him eat anything. But he still happily buzzes around in the breeder net every time on I turn on the lights so maybe he's just not hungry yet.

I'd still like to find a source for live mysis without having to order them online. Any ideas?
 

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