[Video]: Sepioteuthis juveniles; 2 days +

[tonmo]

Please see links below for videos submitted tonight by Dr. Steve O'Shea. These are 2-day-old Sepioteuthis, no more than 5 or 6 mm total length. Per Steve:

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VIDEO 1 - An egg shot, to give an indication of the current flow required to aerate them.

VIDEO 2 - This is of a group of them huddled around the surface.

VIDEO 3 - Remarkable 45 degree angle the animal maintains itself at, even as a larva. The adults are more conventional, pretty much horizontal.
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Thanks Steve! I paricularly like the soundtracks.

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Sorry 'bout the pixels - the camera isn't quite up to filming such tiny things through a curved tank.

The soundtrack was courtesy of the workers in the background .... nothing intentional there.
O

 

[Colin]

Pink Floyd was it?

 

[joel_ang]

I tried to view all but they said I needed some _ _ _ _ _ decoder, which I was not able to download.

 

[Colin]

ahh was it the sharp codec it wanted?

 

[joel_ang]

I'm not too sure, I tried again but again..... it failed

 

[Jean]

awwwwwwww cute, I didn't get the sound but I got the pics.

So you keep a fairly fast flow on the eggs then? When we had Sepioloidea eggs we were worried about the water flows so 2 or 3 times a day i would gently squirt them with a Turkey Baster!!!!

That 45 degree posture seems to be typical d'y'think?. The Sepioloidea babies, the O. warringa babies and the juv Nototodarus we've had displayed it. Did you notice if the baby Archi's did the same thing??

Anyway great video!

Cheers

J

 

[Steve O'Shea]

More to come Jean; interesting that your larval octopus also suspended/oriented themselves at this same angle. I wonder why? Chemistry, balance, ionic distribution through the tissues, tissue density .... how bizarre that an octopus should do the same.

Yes, the larval Archi and Moroteuthis suspended themselves this way also.

Had a good hatching this morn; at least 50 additional larvae/paralarvae. About 10% of them fed on mysid shrimp within minutes of having the shrimp added to the tank; more (possibly 100's) will hatch tomorrow. Should have pics online soon. Wish I had a super-expensive (70+K) camera system. Discovery Channel have some truly dynamite footage of these things hatching (research several years ago) - they never used it

Me

 

[Jean]

Discovery Channel have some truly dynamite footage of these things hatching (research several years ago) - they never used it

Me

AAAAARGH they wasted it???

J

 

[Tintenfisch]

We've got about 80 larvae now, mostly 1-3 days old. They feed within seconds of being transferred from the hatching tank to the holding tank (are ravenous in fact), and are behaving in healthy-baby-squid-like ways.

 

[Tintenfisch]

A few more baby pics...

 

[Steve O'Shea]

AAAAARGH they wasted it???
J

... not wasted, not forgotten by any stretch of the imagination, just 'archived' for the most appropriate moment. It was so good that it will be used; if not in the last doco, and if not in the next, then sometime.

It's up to us to get the public interested enough in cephalopods to justify further documentaries. This is why I deal with the press so much, and wave my hands around on occasion; cephs are cool and unless we're excited by them then we'll not captivate others. Next step, ammonites!

Just checked on the squidlets this eve; changed the circulation around this morn (actually had them in a static body of water, with protein skimmer providing the only water movement, to a flow-to-waste). It's now ~ 120 litre/hour exchange in an ~500 litre tank. In the static environment the squid appeared fine, most hovering at the very surface to ~ 1cm subsurface; in the flow-to-waste they're more dispersed through the water column, though most still hover in the upper 10cm (and most of those in the upper few cm). They're doing fine, are eating well, and appear very healthy. Time will tell; although I've done this a 'few' times before, I'm always nervous this early in the piece - everything could turn to custard overnight.

... and they're eating us out of food at an alarming rate!

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Squid are fine and dandy; another 70'ish hatched this morn; have ~ 150 larvae now. Will get the tank setup on the tank database shortly.

 

[Jean]

... not wasted, not forgotten by any stretch of the imagination, just 'archived' for the most appropriate moment. It was so good that it will be used; if not in the last doco, and if not in the next, then sometime.

Yes........... but I seem to recall finding an archived Grimpoteuthis piccy after only 51 years!!!

... and they're eating us out of food at an alarming rate!

Well they're growing babies!

J

 

[Tintenfisch]

Here are the wee squiddies as of yesterday. They're doing well (very low mortality, eating well, sleeping through the night and learning to talk... I mean... ). The week-old ones are up to about 15 mm total length and noticeably larger than the new ones we introduce to the tank after they hatch.