Worms as cuttlefish food?

[K1ngW0rm]

I've been culturing grindal worms and microworms for my freshwater side of the hobby. I just recently learned that both species survive up to 12 hours in marine conditions and have been feeding them successfully to my mixed reef tank. My question is has anyone heard of any studies done with these types of feeders for young cuttlefish? I know of several that have confirmed the success of gammarus amphipods but I've never heard of anyone trying any type of worm.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I've been culturing grindal worms and microworms for my freshwater side of the hobby. I just recently learned that both species survive up to 12 hours in marine conditions and have been feeding them successfully to my mixed reef tank. My question is has anyone heard of any studies done with these types of feeders for young cuttlefish? I know of several that have confirmed the success of gammarus amphipods but I've never heard of anyone trying any type of worm.

I haven’t heard of any studies studying this exactly, but I do know that some worms (black worms and white worms specifically - grindal worms, while in the same genus as white worms, seem to be less popular, and I don’t know anyone using micro worms) are used by some ornamental marine fish breeders as fat/protein supplements to get healthier eggs from their broodstock. I don’t know if they would work as first foods (if that’s your question here), and I certainly wouldn’t suggest using them as the primary source of food, but I imagine they would work just fine as supplements for cuttlefish.

 

[K1ngW0rm]

I haven’t heard of any studies studying this exactly, but I do know that some worms (black worms and white worms specifically - grindal worms, while in the same genus as white worms, seem to be less popular, and I don’t know anyone using micro worms) are used by some ornamental marine fish breeders as fat/protein supplements to get healthier eggs from their broodstock. I don’t know if they would work as first foods (if that’s your question here), and I certainly wouldn’t suggest using them as the primary source of food, but I imagine they would work just fine as supplements for cuttlefish.

I suppose my question would be about first foods. All the studies I've read are trials on amphipods or other small crustaceans. Would any of these worms be a good substitute for mysis during the first week

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Protein content wise, the grindal worms look fairly promising, as they have about the same amount of protein as mysis shrimp, but fat content wise I’d be a bit leery of trying it since it has almost double the amount of fat as mysis. Whether that would be a problem or not, I don’t know with cuttlefish and particularly not with juvenile cuttlefish that may potentially benefit from the extra fat - so hopefully someone with more cuttlefish specific knowledge can chime in.

Long term, I’d assume the extra fat would be detrimental (as too much fat in the diet of predatory marine fish causes fatty liver disease and premature death), but - given cephalopods’ short lifespans and rapid growth - I don’t know how big of a concern that it is.

Aside from the fat, the only other things I can think of are whether or not the grindal worms would be nutritious enough in other ways (vitamins, minerals, etc.) for the cuttlefish, and whether or not the cuttlefish would take them (I’d assume they would, as cuttlefish do eat worms in the wild, but - again - some marine fish larvae are very particular about only taking live foods that move in certain ways, so I don’t know for sure).

The micro worms seem substantially different enough (protein and fat content wise) from mysis shrimp that I wouldn’t advise trying it (~1/2 the protein and ~2.5x the fat).

Again, hopefully someone with more cuttlefish specific knowledge will chime in, but the grindal worms seem like they might be worth a shot if you don’t have mysis available.