Hawaiian Bobtail Squid

[Reef Geek]

They're here!!!

Just got home with the two newest additions to the family. Two male Hawaiian Bobtail Squid! Was hoping for a male/female pair, but when was life ever perfect.

They're acclimatizing at the moment but I did grab a couple of quick pics.



These guys were brought in from Hawaii as part of the next NASA shuttle launch. The project had a couple of extras so my LFS hooked me up. Unfortunately he does not have more and does not have a connection to get more.

I'll have them in their new home soon and want to try to get some luminescence shots if my camera is up to it. I'll be keeping them in a 24g nano-cube that's tied to my 110g reef system. That way they keep good water but I can find them easier.

I'll update after I have them in the tank.

(Did I pick the right forum for this?)

 

[DWhatley]

Did I pick the right forum for this?

We can keep you here or I can move you to the octo or cuttle journals if you would prefer but because these are so unusual to obtain, this is likely the most obvious forum. We see so few opportunities for these and most squid are not home aquarium survivors so we don't have a squid journal forum. To my knowledge there are no ecological considerations to collecting these and they do well for scientists in a proper environment. I am not sure if I ever got a clear answer when I asked if they were more squid, more octopus or more cuttlefish. Correct me if I am not seeing clearly it appears that the head is attached at the front to the webbing, a distinction usually made for octos and cuttles. However, reading says they have two tentacles (octos have none and is a distinction of octopuses) and fins that don't make a skirt (a distinction between squid and cuttles). Being benthic, however, is usually reserved for octopuses and a couple of the unusual cuttles. It seems we keep finding exceptions whenever we try to enumerate features to define species.

Many pictures are requested!

 

[asid61]

AWESOME! You're so lucky! Has anyone else kept these before?

 

[Reef Geek]

Well they immediately buried themselves in the sand (being nocturnal) so I don't have more pics yet.

Not sure about the head/webbing part. I'll try to get a closer look ASAP. They are eating well already having 2-3 shrimp each pretty much immediately. They do have two tentacles (saw them snapping up shrimp with them) and non-skirt type fins.

My kids think they're awesome and like to watch them bury themselves since they use 2 arms to keep piling sand on top of their head. Very cute.

I need to find a source for live zooplankton. I'm hoping to encourage the person with the rest of the squid for the project to raise the young when they hatch to help get some more available for the rest of us. Anyone have any first-hand experience with this?

 

[DWhatley]

I would be one of the ones in line to try to raise more for distribution if the project can get off the ground. Keep after them!

 

[skywindsurfer]

Sign me up as well. Right now I'm saving up some money so that I can get a custom built cylindrical squid tank, and as large as it will be I could keep a lot of them in it.

 

[DWhatley]

Since these are not a palegic animal, a round tank is not a requirement for keeping them alive. Any graduate students looking for a project? Tank shape benefits would be a highly appreciated study for the whole range of cephs.

Edit: I left out the most important "NOT" word

 

[Neogonodactylus]

Euprymna scolopes have been kept by biologists working on their symbiotic bacteria for years. They are easily collected in Kaneohe Bay at night using a hand net and a dive light. They don't ship particularly well, but they are easy to keep as long as you have relatively non-abrasive sand for them to bury in and a supply of live shrimp. Frankly, they are pretty dull creatures. The most interesting behavior one sees is their burying activity.

Roy

 

[neurobadger]

Euprymna scolopes is benthic, I think. They're sepiolids, not squid.

I wish I had a tank and a Euprymna tasmanica. They're colorful.

 

[DWhatley]

Can anyone distinguish (in non-invasive terms) how one would identify a sepiolid vs squid? Is it the only benthic non-octopus, non-cuttlefish of the cephalopods?

 

[neurobadger]

Well, this is extremely informal and should in no way be taken as anything approaching authoritativeness on the identification of sepiolids, but sepiolids tend to be round and squat and look like cuttlefish a bit except without the cuttlebone and w-shaped pupils. I seem to remember they're also mostly benthic. Here's a page with the diagnostic characteristics:

Sepioidea

Granted, there are a few species one could confuse for squid.

Euprymna scolopes is a good example for the typical sepiolid look.

 

[skywindsurfer]

Aren't they also lacking any kind of internal shell?

 

[Reef Geek]

Well whatever they are I think they're cool! My wife complains because she never sees them. That's just because she doesn't do midnight fridge-raids like I do. I just tell her to go play with the octopus (Slinky as the kids call him) and leave me squids alone!

Not sure why I get so giddy about these guys (or any ceph in general really) but there's talk of another trip to Hawaii to get more. I'll keep you guys posted. Yay!

 

[skywindsurfer]

Please do! I really look forward to it. Let us know if we're able to get ahold of some as well.

 

[DWhatley]

Your spouse might learn to like them more if the two of you got to be squid couriers