Breeding Journal, Species: Metaspeia spp

General
Species:  Metasepia ssp (pfefferi or tullbergi)
Social Structure:  Pair
Size of Individuals:  Male 2 inches, Female 2.5 inches
Age of Individuals:  Wild caught, assumed to be between 6 months and 10 months
Date added to Tank:  May/June 2010

Broodstock Tank Details
Size of Tank:  120 gallons back of house at the Steinhart Aquarium in the California Academy of Sciences
Substrate Details:  Fine sand
Filtration Details:  Part of a larger system approx 500 gallons, biological filtration (live rock), ASM G4x skimmer
Water Changes:  As need in regards to water quality
Water Temperature:  76-80
Lighting:  Ambiant and Fluorescent shop light
Lighting Cycle:  Room lights on from 7 am until 8 pm
Other Tank Inhabitants:  None

Broodstock Feeding Details
Food Types:  Crangnon spp bait shrimp, live freshwater ghost shrimp
Feeding Schedule:  4-5 times daily, 1-2 prey items per feeding

Spawning Details
Date of First Spawn:  6/22/10
Spawn Time of Day:  10:52 am
Dates of Consecutive Spawns:  unknown
Courtship Details:  See video below - male keeps head pointed towards females as he swims around her, elongating his head and arms while showing white coloration, mate head to head, mating lasts less than 20 seconds (frist eggs discoverd July 12, 2010)
Egg Size:  4mm when laid, expands during development to approx 1cm
Egg Color:  white
Egg Count:  100+ laid over several weeks

Hatch Details
Hatch Date:  August 18th, 2010
Hatch Time of Day:  unknown
# Days after Spawn:  approx 60 days after spawn, approx 4-5 weeks 'incubation'
Larvae Description:  3-4 mm copy of adult


Larval Tank Details
Temperature:  76-80
Size of Larval Tank:  5 gallons, part of a larger system approx 500 gallons 
Other Tank Decor:  none
Filtration Details:  biological filtration (live rock), ASM G4x skimmer
Substrate Details:  fine sand
Lighting:  Ambiant
Lighting Cycle:  Room lights on from 7 am until 8 pm
Water Changes:  As needed as per water quality

Larval Feeding Details
Food Types:  Live mysis
Feeding Schedule:  4-5 times a day, 2 mysis introduced per animal per feeding

Metamorphosis/Settlement
Date of Settlement Start:  na
Days after Hatch:  na
Date of Settlement End:  na
Description of Fry:  na

Grow-Out Tank Details
Temperature:  76-80 
Size of Grow-Out Tank:  5 gallons
Substrate Details:  fine sand
Other Tank Decor:  Coco hut
Filtration Details:  Part of a larger system approx 500 gallons, biological filtration (live rock), ASM G4x skimmer 
Lighting:  Ambient
Lighting Cycle:  ambient lighting on 7 am -8 pm
Water Changes:  As needed due to water quality
Size at Transfer:  5 mm (but really no transfer)
Age at Transfer:  na (eggs moved)

Grow-Out Feeding Details
Food Types:  Mysis shrimp, live
Feeding Schedule:  4 times daily, 2 mysis per feeding

Additional Information

(No Pictures or Videos in the Section Please)
Miscellaneous Information: 

3 hatchlings from this paring. Mechanical failure resulted in their death at approx day 30. Sadness. But happiness in success what may be the first captive breeding of these animals.
Currently working on a new group - single mother from the same wild caught batch as the above pair was sent to Atlantis Marine World where she laid eggs. Those offspring mated. I have 3 males and 1 female from that offspring. Currently have observed mating and the laying of over 30 eggs. When they hatch they will be F2 or F3 depending on where you start counting.

You will be required to provide photographic or video evidence in this thread of each event submitted for the MBI Program.
If your thread does not contain these photos the MBI Committee will not be able to approve your reports. PHOTOS AND VIDEO S MUST BE PLACED IN ADDITIONAL POSTS, NEVER IN THE FIRST POST IN A JOURNAL.

 
http://reefbuilders.com/2...amboyant-mating-video/
 

 
Hatchling

 

Eggs

 

Still in the egg, yolk sac visible 
 
Spermatphore microscope shot
   

Spermataphore
 

Insertion

Like it !

Anderson.

If that isn't the coolest thing….

How long is their lifespan, Thales ?

Anderson.

Estimated at 12 months, but may be longer in captivity. 

Hey Rich, Your sticky cricket links aren't working. It appears that they are being cut off.
 

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

I think they worked until he edited them.  I saw the images shortly after he posted them on Friday.  I've seen this behavior before on this site.  Funky things happen to links when you edit a post.  Let me see if I can reproduce the problem:
 
http://www.google.com/img...amp;ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0
EDIT:  I had to cut and paste the link while editing it to make this happen:
http://www.google.com/img...amp;ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0
 
 

I've contacted the software author about this issue. Hopefully a fix will be in plasce soon.
 

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

I just spent 10 minutes putting photos into the second post in this thread (for the second or third time). Copied and pasted the URL and they appeared in the edit window. Hit save and nada. The urls are not even in the post anymore. 
 
Please tell me what to do, I don't want to dig through photos again if its not going to work.
 
Photos are located in this gallery in the meantime:
http://stickycricket.com/...emId=657&g2_page=1

OK I see what the problem is. Those are loaded by a script which is why they are being remove. I thought I had made a change to our BBCode a while back to get around that issue but it is either broken or was removed in the last software update. I'll get it fixed and get back to you shortly.
 

Chad Penney - MBI Council
Agis quod Adis

Wow... that is amazing!!!!! Great pics too!

-Adam

Thanks Chad! Let me know and I'll update the pics. 
 
Right now I have about 40 eggs developing. So much fun! 

Rich, are these strictly expert only, or are they reef safe? Will you be selling them?

Absolutely expert only, and need a species specific tank. These will be going to public aquaria to help establish distributed broodstock. Here is my take on these getting these guys.
 

Ok - I can add photos when editing a post by using IMG tags instead of the forums photo button. Weird, but at least it works!

Hatchling at 10 days with mysis in background

 
a different 2 day old hatchling than the one above

 

Stunning!

Awesomely fantastic! 

Doni Marie~

Courting and competing

Too cool Rich!  Man are those some amazing creatures!

-Adam

Rich,
 
It's been 8 weeks since I became the proud owner of a female Metasepia sp. She has laid many eggs but no life until two days ago. One of the eggs drifted out of the coconut shell. I could see a small white spot attached to the yoke and all of a sudden it moved! Needless to say I was very excited. I sent the video to Allison Petty. She figured it would not survive as mom is probably not taking care of it anymore. But she did agree with what I was thinking and that is that she must have spermatiphores! 
I took a peak under the 4 coco shells but nothing seemed to have life? They all look like they always do just white little blobs that shrink in a few days. Is there a tell tale sign of a fertile egg (beside movement)?
I noticed lately she is paying a lot of attention to the eggs.
 
One more question, have you ever noticed your flam's kind of like scratching their backs with their tentacles
 
Since I last spoke to you on MR I have moved her to a 80 gal frag tank.
 
Thanks,
Walter

Here's a pic of Mom.
 

 
Allison seems to be the only one having success with letting the female tend the eggs. Everyone else I know is having the same experience you are having with the female around the eggs or not. A low percentage of fertility and extended development times. I have some information I am working on about this for the MBI workshop. 


 
If the egg is fertile it will develop. Sometimes they stall for a while though. 


I think I know what you are talking about. I have seen it sometimes, but it is their arms not their tentacles.


Nice!
 

wow just beautiful!

RLTW

180 Gallon Mixed Reef

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8

I was going to try moving the eggs to an isolation container in the same tank, what do you think?
 

Yes yes eight arms two tentacles... it was late ;-)
Thanks for getting back to me!
P.S. If you have any ideas on where I can get a male let me know.

Here is a link to the video of the egg. You see movement at about 1:30 mins.
 
http://s841.photobucket.com/albums/zz337/walnats/?action=view&current=VIDEO0071.mp4