My watchman gobies had babies!!!(High powered microscope pics!)

[cbrennan4]

I woke up last night around 12:30 AM and decided to check on the tank. Once I turned the lights on, I immediately noticed my male Yellow Watchman Goby shaking around a what looked like a large silver egg sack . It burst open and all the babies started to swim out and fill the tank. It was so cool! I did some quick research online to see what it would take to raise them and it was apparent that finding the starter food(day old clam or oyster larvae) would be really hard and expensive to obtain,

I'm a Larval Fish Taxonomist so I had to bring some of the fry to work to get some pictures My clownfish have a clutch that should hatch any day now and hopefully I can get some pics of their fry as well.

 

[dgphelps]

That's awesome! How likely they'll be able to mature in the tank? Could use use some finely crushed cylcopeeze or something to give them a fighting chance?

 

[woodnaquanut]

That's awesome! How likely they'll be able to mature in the tank? Could use use some finely crushed cylcopeeze or something to give them a fighting chance?

In a tank with other fish? Zero. Free coral/fish food!

The other issue is most larvae need live food. They are attracted to the motion.

@Colin...

Cool pics. From the scale they seem to be about 1500 microns long. Have you taken any pics of CF larvae? Just wondering how big they are.

 

[cbrennan4]

haven't got any pictures of the clown fish larvae yet. It looks like the eggs should be hatching the next few days and hopefully I'll be home when they hatch so I can collect a few. If I can I'll post pics in this thread.
With how often the clown fish lay eggs I should look into raising the young. The rock that they lay the eggs on is really easy to pull out. Plus I have an 8 gal biocube right next to my main tank that's empty and needs a purpose.

 

[Dragonvale]

Colin, are you saying your going to have breeding tanks now? LOL If so you have already have watchman and clown pairs

 

[Reef Bass]

Very cool. Good job!

 

[crispyreef]

That's awesome. Thanks for sharing. I heard CF larvae float to the top so you have to be quick before they go down the overflow, or get eaten. James used to breed them.

 

[woodnaquanut]

Your post got me interested in a little research. I found out these are atypical of marine fish because the eggs hatch when exposed to light! I didn't find any successful breeders but a few bringing them to 10-15 dph.

The reason I asked about CF size was to get a feeling for the larvae size vs food size. CF are normally started with rotifers (Reed L-type, 160 microns). Reed also had S-type at 90-150 microns. I wonder if they would work as a first food for the Gobies?

Are these Gobies:
Cryptocentrus pavoninoides
Valenciennea puellaris
Cryptocentrus leptocephalus
or something else????
(I hate common names!)

 

[1kwksvt]

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-12/ft/index.php
This one a good read

 

[cbrennan4]

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-12/ft/index.php
This one a good read

Great article!! I actually read it the night I found the babies because I was so excited. The whole ordeal they went through to find the right starter food is crazy. Where would you even find Clam/Oyster Trochophore's locally and at a reasonable price?

 

[cbrennan4]

Your post got me interested in a little research. I found out these are atypical of marine fish because the eggs hatch when exposed to light! I didn't find any successful breeders but a few bringing them to 10-15 dph.

The reason I asked about CF size was to get a feeling for the larvae size vs food size. CF are normally started with rotifers (Reed L-type, 160 microns). Reed also had S-type at 90-150 microns. I wonder if they would work as a first food for the Gobies?

Are these Gobies:
Cryptocentrus pavoninoides
Valenciennea puellaris
Cryptocentrus leptocephalus
or something else????
(I hate common names!)

I did some quick research online and found that Pacific Oyster Trochophore's are 50 microns(http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/w3732e/w3732e0z.htm). I
wonder if a company makes a food that small?

Those three species above are all watchman gobies:
Cryptocentrus pavoninoides-Bluespotted Watchman Goby
Valenciennea puellaris-Diamond Watchman Goby
Cryptocentrus leptocephalus-Pink Spotted Watchman Goby

Here's mine-Cryptocentrus cinctus-Yellow watchman goby

 

[woodnaquanut]

I did some quick research online and found that Pacific Oyster Trochophore's are 50 microns(http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/w3732e/w3732e0z.htm). I
wonder if a company makes a food that small?

Those three species above are all watchman gobies:
Cryptocentrus pavoninoides-Bluespotted Watchman Goby
Valenciennea puellaris-Diamond Watchman Goby
Cryptocentrus leptocephalus-Pink Spotted Watchman Goby

Here's mine-Cryptocentrus cinctus-Yellow watchman goby

In the article Robert linked:thumbsup: , they talk about using s-type rotifers successfully. Reed carries it.

Common names! booo! LA calls them Yellow PRAWN gobies or Yellow prawn watchman gobies! :headwalls:

Thanks for clearing that up. Beautiful little fish.

 

[cbrennan4]

I was able to collect a few of the clownfish eggs right before they hatched. Here's 3 of them with a watchman goby at the bottom for size reference.

 

[woodnaquanut]

Cool. Watchman is tiny compared to the CF!

What's up with the top one? Looks like a 'Minion'