Look at My Jawfish DADDY :) - MORE EGGS!!!

[Europhyllia]

Noticed something different today.
The jawfish have started brooding. Check it out:
http://www.dominopads.com/jawfishbrooding.jpg

I am so happy they're doing so well :)

[txg8gxp]

WOW.....awesome. You must be excited

[Reefer4ever]

Congratulations! Do you plan to raise the fry? If so, I'll take a few when they're ready!

[BSJF]

That is a great pic! Congrats grandma!

[hobogato]

awesome!

[Scream311]

Nice . Great pic

[tebstan]

That is so cute, all those little eyeballs. Aren't larvae adorable? :P

[Europhyllia]

Thanks. I have no plans of raising the babies. I'd have to disturb the den to catch the jawfish and take it out and leaving it in there I am sure the fry will get eaten by the other fish. My excitement is just based on the fact that it makes me happy they all feel comfortable enough in my care to do their thing.
Right now all of the observable fish in my tank (clownfish, cardinal fish, mandarins and jawfish have spawned at least once) I also have pygmy gobies that are doing well but I have no idea if they spawn or not.

[FireWater]

Unbelievably awesome Karin.

[Europhyllia]

Here's a couple of observations:
yes, each egg does have a set of tiny eyes
and
he can leave the ball of eggs in his den, come out briefly looking normal and then dive back into his den to get the eggs back in his mouth. :)

[hobogato]

hmmm... if you think we might be able to catch the babies once they are released, i will have the food chain to raise them up and running in my classroom by early december. if not this batch, maybe the next?

[Europhyllia]

Sure. If I can scoop some up before they're gone you can have some. :)

[Kristy]

Awwww - some!

[jpond83]

jawfish are soo cool

[ErikH]

He has the same look in his eyes like when I found out my wife was preggers. :)

I hope you get some of those eggs out of there, would be cool to see them bred! Has it ever been done successfully in captivity?

[Europhyllia]

Oh yes. They're mouthbrooders so much easier to raise than smaller fry. The eggs hatch after 7-9 days of brooding. Then the fry would require 10 days or so of rotifers, after that baby brine. I think at 3 weeks old they actually already look like little tiny jawfish and would start looking for little tiny burrows.
Trick is to catch them before they are eaten or down the overflow...

[ramsey]

This is super cool. Tagging along.

[alton]

Way to go Karin and Congratulations!

[BSJF]

I wonder if you could put some type of net breeding container over the hole or some type of cylinder around it that they could swim up into...

[Europhyllia]

they way people usually catch them is to shine a light at the tank at night. The fry are attracted to the light and swim towards it when they get scooped up.
I was thinking of automating this with a little acrylic box with a grid on the bottom (fry can swim in but big fish can't get to them and eat them) and a small clip on light.
I don't think I will get this done in time though.
The eggs only take about a week until the larvae hatch and since my eggs already have eyes I bet we're already halfway through

[txav8r]

Too cool! Let us know if you need your baby catching contraption made. I'm sure several of us could have you something made overnight if needed. I'd be glad to whip something up for you.

[Europhyllia]

Thanks Jack. I think another point is the food supply. If I read Ace's post correctly he won't have the rotifers ready until beginning of December.
I bet the babies will hatch by the end of the week ... too soon.

[Kristy]

If you can get some babies, I may know someone with rotifers. I'll check and see Marcus' (tiger-eyed1) rotifer culture is doing.

When we did the shine the light trick for our clownfish fry, it worked like a charm. I'm positive we could have scooped up quite a few (25 - 50ish) before the other fish clued in and the buffet began. You would just have to have a place ready to put them for safekeeping until you could get them to the food source.

[Europhyllia]

I have a breeder basket (back from the days when I got the new mandarins) and 5 micron golden pearls if just by chance I catch one this go around.
Jawfish are super cool. The cardinals always hide when they have a mouthful but since the jawfish need to stay with the burrow and this one has his burrow right in the center front it is so easy to watch.
The eyes that used to be just black dots are now silvering up. :)
It would be exciting to have homegrown babies but I wouldn't have any room in my own tank left since I was so greedy and got 3 pairs to begin with thinking one might perish.
Ace would have to find homes for tons of jawfish if he managed to raise them!

[tebstan]

5 micron golden pearls

....what's this?

[Europhyllia]

probably too small but I figured I could try if I had to.
Here's info on it:
http://www.brineshrimpdirect.com/GP-Diets-Active-Spheres-c11.html

[ZeroHour]

I have a 6 gallon eclipse tank that I will gladly donate if you want something decent to separate them into.

[Europhyllia]

Sorry guys. This batch is gone...

[Kristy]

Well at least you got some great photos! But I'm sorry you missed seeing the fry after the hatch, it's pretty amazing.

[cbianco]

Sorry guys. This batch is gone...

Any solid plans for the next batch? You gonna try and raise them if Ace has the rotifers?

That would be cool to see.

Christopher

[tiger_eyed1]

Wish I had read this thread earlier. I talked with Kristy and Mike last night. I've had rotifers going for a while. I have a corner of my garage setup for raising fry (Rotifers, brine, & grow out tanks.) Let me know the next time you have eggs.

[tonyydeee]

that is soo cool / cute! :D

[Europhyllia]

another batch already! These are still white - no eyes yet. They must be fairly new.

[hobogato]

cool!

[Europhyllia]

gone down the drain again. I took the filter sock off and I think I have a handful of live larvae but of course not in quantities worth pursuing.

I wonder why this gadget (link (http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=21244)) is so expensive? I always miss the release.

[Mr Cob]

wow! amazing Karin! I'm late but glad I found this thread anyways.

[Europhyllia]

here's what I think is last night's hatch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT-SMXgBq78
(see center above algae ball)

They swim but seem to prefer staying right under the water line.
Could this be jawfish larvae?

[tebstan]

Wow! Those are tiny!
Are you going to try to do anything with them?

[Europhyllia]

I just dumped them into the refugium.
If I could get more (I only counted about ten) I would give them to Ace to rear at school but for ten it's hardly worth trying.
The are released at night and of course I don't stay up with a flashlight waiting.

If I ever can get one of those larvae collector thingies used I might have more success in collecting enough to donate to Ace's program (or anybody else looking to adopt jawfish babies)

[hobogato]

ug! i would have come to pick them up if i had known. no batch is too small.

[Kristy]

I'm far from an expert, but I would say those tiny tadpoles look just like the fry that my clownfish produced the night we spied on the hatching!

[Kristy]

So, just for tracking purposes:
Monday the 20th - first noticed new white batch of eggs
Tuesday the 28th - late night hatch

About an 8 day gestation period, just like clownfish.

[Europhyllia]

I think it's supposed to be around 2 weeks if I remember right but obviously I don't notice things right away.

They did look suspicious yesterday though. I had a feeling it was near: all the little silver eyes were wide open and the whole ball of babies just looked anxious to go. lol

[Kristy]

Yeah, the silver eyes is a good way to know it is very near!

[Europhyllia]

UNBELIEVABLE!

That poor guy already has the next mouthful of brandnew white eggs in his mouth now. These jawfish girls are going to wear him out!

It's a good thing he's a jawfish, not a cardinal so at least he can still eat while brooding

[Kristy]

Ok, I guess we can call this Day One then! Poor little guy is going to need a break!

[Europhyllia]

I know. I just don't know how to get him a break?
He can still eat though. He deposits the egg ball in the burrow and comes out to eat.
But his jaw must be getting sore by now after weeks of holding it open all the time!

I don't know why all of the girls want to deposit with that one male. I have two more to choose from...

[Europhyllia]

Hey you were right!
7-9 days from laying the eggs to hatching:
http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=184&t=155

[Kristy]

Hey you were right!

No need to sound so surprised!!!

[Europhyllia]

LOL
I guess that will make it more likely I will actually be able to catch some.

:D

[Europhyllia]

I just got some info for a very affordable larvae trap on MarineBreeder. Hopefully the guy still sells them. I am getting on his waiting list :)
Check it out:
http://chadvossen.blogspot.com/2010/05/larval-fish-traps.html

I wonder what he means with air lift? Is that a type of pump?

[txg8gxp]

air lift- the same principle as the sponge filters. Looks like a cool setup

[Regric25]

+1 air lift- the same principle as the sponge filters. Looks like a cool setup

creates a gentile flow of water into the trap. The fry are too small to fight it so they just end up in it.

[Europhyllia]

Got a response from him. He says I am on the list but it could be months until he gets to my order :(

[BSJF]

You should talk someone (i.e., Ace) into making you one as part of our January meeting :)

[Europhyllia]

Yup, more eggs today. Lorraine also sent me a really good article on jawfish breeding.
My Minnesota guy says his work shop is still too cold for him to whip up more larvae traps so looks like it might be another batch down the drain...
What month does it thaw out in Minnesota?

[hobogato]

i can build one for you to use. after you are done it can become part of the maast equipment bank.

in fact, i think i will build two or three...

[BSJF]

I have the one Ace built already. I don't need it right now.