Brief Squid (Lolliguncula brevis)

[RoFlores]

Here are some pics, I'll take some of the actual squid in a while. My new underwater camera was a flop. I could not make it focus and then the flash made it all white. So the first pic is the fishermen's bucket then of the place I foud them the night before and then of me apparently looking for my doom.

 

[RoFlores]

Ok, here are some pics of the actual squid. They are alive, swimming and eating. Mantle 2 inches long and arms 1 inch.

 

[skywindsurfer]

Very nice specimens. I must say though that I am jealous. I would kill to get my hands on some small squids. I had a guy say that he would try to get me some Caribbean Reef Squid, but he never came through. I see no problem with you trying. These squid reproduce like rats so three or four are nothing like you said to those caught for bait. Again good luck and keep us posted. I'd love to see your progress. It's a great sign that they are eating, but I would still find a larger circular container to transport them in on a seven hour drive. Also when you get home it would be a great idea to rearrange most of the things in your aquarium to maximize their swimming space. Adding some fake grasses to simulate a marsh environment might not hurt as well. What are the dimentions of your home aquarium and do you have anything else in it?

 

[RoFlores]

I don't remember the dimnetions of my tank but it's a 120 and right now has water and some live rock... I set it up before I left for the beach knowing I would return with some new pet.

 

[skywindsurfer]

That brings up another question. How long has your tank been running with some form of biological load in it? Squid are very sensitive to water quality. All most all systems need a few months to fully cycle before they are ready to be stocked with fish and inverts.

 

[OB]

So crucify me if you must but this 3 are coming home with me.

Wouldn't dare, there's little wrong with your attempt; "we" are only trying to tell you it is nigh to impossible to keep a pelagic species in an enclosed environment. Give it a go and chronicle accordingly, so that others might learn

 

[cthulhu77]

Do you really want me to chime in on this one? REALLY ?

 

[neurobadger]

My concern here is for the animals. Yes, there are gobs of brief squid out there, but replace 'brief squid' with 'cat' or 'dog' and you'll see my point. I believe it is nigh-abusive to keep an animal in an environment where you have already been informed that it is entirely too small for these animals and given justification as to why, along with previous accounts and data from peer-reviewed articles. If we did not have this data, my response would be different and aware of the experimental nature of the squid-keeping, but there is enough precedent to suggest that sticking a pelagic animal in a sixty-gallon tank and, specifically, a squid, which is prone to jetting and experiences exposure of the gladius ('butt-burn') from slamming into walls it can't see (most squid tanks must have non-clear walls with some kind of pattern on them), goes beyond folly into abuse. Keeping one in a 120 -gallon tank is bad enough, but three? That's not even big enough for three small benthic octopuses!

 

[skywindsurfer]

Do you really want me to chime in on this one? REALLY ?

Do it, you know you want to. Give in to the mindless ranting of the collective and embrace the dark side.

 

[RoFlores]

All right folks, I guess there is no need for rants and such. One of the little guys stopped eating around noon and started to look not so good so I decided to let them all go. I'll go back home and prepare for next year's trip and set up a nice large tank (with curved walls) and a large tub for transportation, at least now I know where to find them, ha ha. Tonight is my last night here and it's a full moon so I went back to let them go and to see if I could spot some more. I found a few of them, all in groups of 3. I guess I can curb my desire for the well being of those awesome little cephs. Now you don’t know me but letting go of an absolutely awesome catch such as this, I nearly popped a vein.

 

[skywindsurfer]

That sounds like a mature responsible plan of action. Though I must say I was really looking forward to reading your progress, or failure, which ever it would have been. Since you have a year, take your time and plan it out. Rember though they are small they are still paleagic animals and reqiure A LOT of unrestricted swimming space. Well better luck next year.

 

[OB]

Please, people,

This, is why you don't even consider! And I'm not being cynical.

 

[DWhatley]

I found that post interesting in that Dr. Gilly had such a rough time getting Humbolts back to the lab alive. These obviously are not going to live long but they did make it to the tank and I wonder how they were transported. It may be that Dr. Gilly was much further out at the time of the film I watched (but can't put my finger on at the moment).

 

[skywindsurfer]

lol I just watched that this afternoon on my lunch break. There are more like that of the same species I think in even smaller tanks. I believe there were in asain fish markets though. Do you know what species these squid are? It is kind of sad to watch them just bob back and forth slamming into each other and the tank. That one has some really bad injuries.

 

[neurobadger]

Humboldts? Alive? LOL

Honestly, what the Gill-meister does is he chucks it straight in the freezer. I think.

Now baby Humboldts his grad students have managed to keep alive for a few days.

Oh, Asian fish market story: I went to one of the local Chinese grocery stores.

I about screamed at the condition the animals were in. The crawfish were scrambling over each other in a box. There was a frog whose bones were exposed on his head.

My mother told me to not even look at the squid.