RESEARCH IN NEW ZEALAND (23 April 2003)

[Steve O'Shea]

the thread was totaled when it hit the deer.... which then ran off with the original subject. :P

This is all too apparent

 

[fluffysquid]

Steve-

So..... what's this about undergrad degrees in Marine Biology there in NZ? Just out of curiosity, really.

thanks,
Amber

There's some interesting stuff happening here in NZ, Amber, if you're interested in squid, octopus, systematics, culture/aquaculture, general deep-sea biology and marine invertebrates in general - and we can even throw in a little documentary work if you're so inclined (we're juggling 4 at this point in time ... as in the next couple of months). You should see some interesting squid stuff start hitting the screens early next year .... and beyond.

Thanks for the reply, Steve
ooooo..... so very tempting. I admit I even did take the time to look at school in the general area. From the sound of it, the happenings in NZ are right up my alley of interest. Well, at any rate, there is no way I would be able to make it to NZ until after the next two semesters at the very least. One can dream. I may have a particularly good job in the workings for next summer which could help with travel. I guess I will see what happens.

~Amber

 

[Jean]

1. I think we Kiwis are enamoured (big word!! Jean just had a Red Bull and is a little high!!) of Aussie animals espec the mammals cos we don't have any native ones of our own (well except for small very cryptic bats and ceph murdering marine mammals ) All the other mammals here are introduced (including yours truely!)


2. re research, Steve any chance of a Post Doc

or have you heard of any coming up say next year???????????


J

 

[myopsida]

A mature roo can do huge damage to a vehicle not to mention killing the animal, which is much more sad

Now possums are a different matter - they do little damage and if you can get a minimum of 25 with your Hire Car you get extra points towards your NZ citizenship/residency application

 

[Tentacular!]

they do little damage and if you can get a minimum of 25 with your Hire Car you get extra points towards your NZ citizenship/residency application

MEAN.... but funny. We've got a possum in our ceiling space at the moment. They're graceful and agile in the trees, but sound bloody clumsy when they're clambering over rafters directly above your head at three in the morning.

I'm posting off main thread topic again. Mea maxima culpa. Time for more flagellation.

 

[Jean]

Quote:
they do little damage and if you can get a minimum of 25 with your Hire Car you get extra points towards your NZ citizenship/residency application
MEAN.... but funny. We've got a possum in our ceiling space at the moment. They're graceful and agile in the trees, but sound bloody clumsy when they're clambering over rafters directly above your head at three in the morning.

Ah yes but it's one thing when the animal is a native, here in NZ possums're Noxious Pests!!! They tend to shred the native trees (& Kiwi's are the ultimate tree huggers!!) and they eat native birds eggs. Besides they compete with the Kea's for roof space

J

 

[Steve O'Shea]

A bit of an update here (it's been a while).

As of 2004 we'll have 2 x new Masters students working on squid and octopus research; one on the life history of commercial octopus species (rearing those larvae from eggs, reconstructing life histories), the other on a commercial squid species (broad squid, Sepioteuthis, similarly rearing larvae from eggs and reconstructing life histories).

I think we are close to securing funds for the whale diet, squid beak identification work, and we have someone lined up for this also, albeit for a 6-month post-grad diploma piece of contracted research.

Things are ticking along.
Me

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Kerry Hewitt (of the National Aquarium of New Zealand, and TONMO member) has just fired me through series of photographs of Sepioteuthis egg masses that they have in one of the acrylic cylinders at their aquarium. When the masses were first transported there this weekend several of the embryos hatched prematurely. Kerry, we hope to be down there soon to come say "Hi" and check out your new (imminent) baby squid.

Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World (a major aquarium in Auckland) has also just collected egg masses of the same species deposited in local waters, so it looks like we'll have live squid to show you in a few weeks. We'll be out in boats again soon enough (early next week), but we've been a tad preoccupied these past few days with stranded whales.

Attached pics of the squid-egg setup (thanks Kerry).

 

[Steve O'Shea]

.... and Nick from Kelly Tarlton's Underwater World in Auckland has just collected us this batch of Sepioteuthis eggs from local waters. The other pic is of one of two larval (now juvenile) fish that we caught ~ a month back, still alive and well; problem is we haven't a clue what it is yet .... (I think it is a foetal Megamouth shark ).

The eggs are 2-3 weeks from hatching (it's only a small batch), but the lads at Kelly's will collect us a ton more, at a cost of a dozen beers a batch; a good deal I say!

 

[fluffysquid]

The NRCC has lots of little sepioteuthis right now. Cute little guys. I know my way around that place by now and just sort of learning as I go about how to keep them and the other cephs alive happy and laying eggs. What kinds of equipment do you have on your egg setup, out of curiosity?

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Our equipment list (needs) are pretty basic - I haven't even got UV on that tank; there's just a biofilter and a chiller unit (constant temperature). One of the most important things to keep in mind with the eggs is that you need a jolly good current through the tank, to ensure the eggs get plenty of O2; unfortunately the larvae would not survive long in that turbulence, so you have to remove them from the tank immediately after they hatch (and ensure they go into a tank with a fine, large banjo screen attached to the water intake). Fortunately they tend to do this at two times of the day, morning and evening, so you don't need to be on larval patrol 24 hours/day.

At NRCC are you separating the eggs out into individual strands? I've read of this being done before, but have never had the need to do so myself.

When they hatch you must have an abundant supply of live food, preferably mysid shrimp or fish larvae, 1 to 1.5 times the size of the squid. Anything smaller and they'll reject most, and you'll also experience considerable mortality. Too much food in the tank and the mysids will turn on the squid, so just enough to keep them going on a day-to-day basis.

 

[Jean]

Steve, have you ever used UV on a larval tank?? I've heard of it being used with larval black foot paua (abalone) with disasterous results! The veliger larvae were very deformed. When the UV was removed the next batch were fine, UV back in=deformed larvae!

J

 

[um...]

Cool. Kinda like The Fantastic Four. Only there were probably more than four of 'em, and they don't sound like they turned out too fantastic.

 

[fluffysquid]

At NRCC are you separating the eggs out into individual strands? I've read of this being done before, but have never had the need to do so myself.

When they hatch you must have an abundant supply of live food, preferably mysid shrimp or fish larvae, 1 to 1.5 times the size of the squid. Anything smaller and they'll reject most, and you'll also experience considerable mortality. Too much food in the tank and the mysids will turn on the squid, so just enough to keep them going on a day-to-day basis.

No, I haven't ever seen the eggs of any cephs there separated. Generally, as they appear in the tank, they are moved to a floating basket in the same tank which allows free flow of water through it (but not eggs or hatchlings). As they hatch, one of the college interns (like me!) will put mysids in the basket to tide them over until someone moves them to a separate hatchling tank. Since there are three shifts a day covered by an intern, they do just fine for food.