Babies, babies everywhere

[cschweitzer]

Okay, not necessarily babies, but pregnancies. My gold coral banded shrimp has been pregnant for a little while now and as of today the female jawfish went into the males burrow and the male is now holding a whole crap-load of babies in his mouth...he gets so fat-cheeked it is hilarious. Man, if I could get a good picture, you guys would crack up. His cheeks poof to about 2-3 times the normal size and he hides in the back entrance to the burrow instead of the front door(which is closed by shells and rocks or blocked by the female). They have such cute habits, because they will never share a burrow except when it's breeding time...that's how I always know to look the holding male. Now I'm wondering when my clowns will be spawning...once that happens, I will be doing some serious rearranging to set up my broodstock tanks for breeding. I will probably attempt to do my jawfish, my cleaner gobies, my PJ cardinals, my gold CBS, my clowns(all four pair), and a few other things as they come along.

This just gives me good hope of the possibility of my plans. It is so cool to see things breed under your care...

 

[chrisstie]

That's too cool Craig!!! If you do get some pics please share I've always wanted to see jawfish paired up

 

[cschweitzer]

They are sooo cute together. The big problem is that they are underground, so the pics would be nearly impossible. You can always come over and check them out sometime when they are holding babies...I can inform you whenever it occurs next...in fact, they are probably still holding, so I'll tell you guys after lunch if they still are. Don't know if it would be worth a trip to my house, but if you are interested, you're always more than welcome to come check them out.

Jawfish are quickly becoming one of my favorite fish...just feeding them is worth any amount of money you pay...they gobble at the food. Watching the male hold babies is just another benefit...his head gets so big. The male cardinal gets a bigger jaw when he broods, but nothing near the jawfish's whole face poofing up:celeb1:

 

[chrisstie]

Haha i'dl ove to see your tanks again sometime - maybe after I finish out the semester here.. almost done. one class finishes today! I'm also going to keiths tomorrow to help him frag some stuff and trade.

You're also more than welcome to come check our tanks out sometime. we're what 15 mins or so from you

If you actually get some of the babies to live sometime i'd love to have a pair of jawfish. 55g is a little crowded though so maybe down the line when the 125g is up and going and you've got bringing them to full term down pat ;p

 

[sytanek]

Wow, let me know if any of the babies survive

 

[Bacchus_fl]

Thats Awesome! I would love to see a few pics if you are ever able to get any. Let me know if they survive and you are ready to part with a couple.

Good Luck!

 

[cschweitzer]

Well, the male was very unshy today, sticking his bloated face right out of the hole...he was actually tumbling the eggs(which is definitely a sight to see!!). I got some good pics of his fat head that I'll be posting in a few minutes...yeah, christie, I gotta get out to see your tanks. I can't believe how he was just showing off today...he almost never does that when he's holding.

Not raising them yet...I still have a ways before my broodstock setup is ready.

 

[cschweitzer]

Speaking of babies(in a sense), my anemone just split overnight also...I'll start a new thread about that.

 

[cschweitzer]

Here they are:

 

[cschweitzer]

 

[Samala]

Wow. I think you should post this in the breeding forum! Not many people have the luck to establish a breeding pair of jawfish. I'm not sure that pearlies have been raised to full size by anyone so far. It would be quite the feat, and you're halfway there with a pair and a male that will gargle and clean his eggs.

Have you noticed any obvious behavioral cues that they are breeding? (Other than being in the male's burrow.) Are they spawning on a regular basis? Or is it more hit or miss?

>Sarah

 

[chrisstie]

That is SOOOOOO awesome thanks for taking so many pictures haha those are truly some of the coolest pics I have ever seen!

Samala has some great questions I would also like to know what goes on behind closed burrows

and just to note the guy ken i think his name is? that does sealifeflorida.com .. he has a few ebay auctions of tank raised jawfish so you might be able to contact him if he's the one breeding them to see if he truly is able to raise them with success.

I know from this time of year until the fall he is sometimes able to collect true mated pairs from the wild and its so tempting to get some but my tank just isn't big enough for them- i'd need to put them in the 125g so i could let them pick their burrows and build the reef around them ;p

 

[sytanek]

From the Sea Life Site:

Jawfish are easy to care for and will eat most prepared foods. If you\'re hoping to get them to spawn, make sure that they are fed some sort of high quality conditioning food, and keep them on a long day (14hr) photoperiod.

 

[cschweitzer]

They do fine spawning in my conditions...they came in as a pair from the wild and have just now been comfortable enough to show himself during brooding. The trick is a good sandbed that they can move to their liking, no corals on the sandbed(they tend to cover them up??), and a stable housing.

They show definite signs(besides poofy face and closed hole). The biggest sign is the fact that the female will not be in her den. She does not stay with him and she is actually more open than the male...when it comes to breeding time, she goes in his hole, shuts the door behind and then stays with him for a couple days...she won't always stay for the whole term, but when she's in with him, chances are good that they are breeding. She also gets a lot thinner afterwards. They do swim together whenever they come out of their respective areas, but they never go more than about 8" away from their habitats and they always jet back into their separate dens when spooked(once in a while, they try to retreat too fast and end up in the same hole).

On top of that, the coral banded shrimp that are breeding just chill upside down right next to the female's layer...

 

[lifesworksataol]

i want to buy some babies if you end up selling any. let me know = congrats