S. Lessoniana/Sepioidea

Joined
Aug 13, 2009
Messages
1,740
To my knowledge there is not a forum for squid, so I am posting this under the Cuttlefish Journals and Photos as they're closer to cuttlefish than octopus. I have been trying for quite some time to acquire either Sepioteuthis Lessoniana(Bigfin Reef Squid) or Sepioteuthis Sepioidea(Caribbean Reef Squid) for my home aquarium. Well I think I may have found someone that can get them for me. I've decided that the best approach will be to get some eggs and hatch them out. Since I am now down to only one octopus that is 'on her way out' I have the perfect opportunity to try with squid. I have set up three individual tanks for each stage of growth. I have a ten gallon with a small psuedokreisel for hatching the eggs and maturing the small squid. Then I will move them into a fourty gallon that I have blackened the back and side walls as well as placed four large fake plants in for the squid to hide amongst. And lastly I have a two hundred and fifty gallon for the adults. The only animals I have left is a small stingray, moray eel, and blue crab. All of which I can play musical chairs between these tanks and the fifty five gallon sump as the squid mature. All three tanks share the same water so I will be able to just collect them and move them with no acclimation. I have taken a short video of each of these tanks and the animals inside of them. I'm still tweeking them a little here and there to get them perfect for when I get some eggs. Wish me luck...I might have to bribe them to get the eggs for me lol:wink:.

PS;

I know this is a bit premature and that I'll probably look like an fool for posting if I cannot acquire some eggs, but I am just so excited.
 
So I have great news. I just recieved an email from one of the people I was asking about eggs or juveniles, and they said they have seen a lot of small S. Sepioidea above the reefs and that he would see what he could do and email me again next Wednesday or Thursday. Does anyone have any tips on how to improve the quality of shipping these animals. I assume that if they are small enough that putting loose plant matter for them to hide amongst will keep them calm and still during shipping since the juvenile stage hides amongst plant matter in the wild.
 
My guess is not only would hatchling not survive shipping, they will not survive long enough to be shipped. I've not handled squid but I have had a couple of experiences with octopus hatchlings. The little one week old briareus I tried to bring home did not make it for the car trip and baby squid are more sensitive to the need for continuously moving water.
 
I don't know that it is known. Steve found with the giant squid hatchlings that they would perish just putting them in a rectangular tank for photographing. My uneducated and unscientific GUESS is something to do with breathing.
 
I see your point. Do you know of any studies that have been done on newly hatched cephalopods concerning internal development and/or environmental interaction?
 
No, as I said that is an uneducated guess. However, even larger squid have to be kept moving, something you can't do by shipping them. One correspondence I had from an outside interest mentioned that he was unable to keep them alive for a rather short car ride from the ocean to the aquarium. His desire to keep them also resulted in an egg search but I don't believe he has found eggs todate. One of Dr. Gilly's specials reported on his attempts to keep the larger jumbo squid alive from boat to lab. At least one survived to the lab but died shortly there after.
 
Well to update everyone, I have not yet heard back from my contact about the squid. They said they would email either Tuesday or Wednesday so i'm keeping a close eye on my email account. My family and I are currently on our way to Rockport, TX for the weekend. I'm going to try and catch some small fish and inverts to bring back as food for any squid that I may get. I'm not gretting my hopes up, but I still want to be prepared.
 
Ok well I finally get to go fishing. I decided to do it at night on the off change that I can net an unwary ceph. We are either leaving tonight after I'm done or first thing in the morning. Still no email about the squid. I'll list my catch and hopefully some pictures tomorrow. Wish me luck.
 

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