Monthly Archives: October 2014

Floaty Slug

I have no idea if this is a natural behavior, but it happens quite regularly in the Box of Slugs.  This slug is perfectly healthy, she just seems to have decided to drift in the water column for a little while before going back to feeding.

It probably explains why they never seem to survive very long in reef aquaria, which have strong currents and plenty of pumps to suck in a floating slug and chop it to bits.

The rest of the Family

There is a total of five ponies in the tank, and I introduced two of them a few days ago.  The other three were feeling neglected, so here they are.

From a distance, this male does not look all that interesting,  A closer look shows just how handsome he is.

Male 2 among Halimeda 10/22/14

Male 2 among Halimeda 10/22/14

This female is not as colorful as the others, but is larger and more robust than her girlfriends.

Female 2 10/22/14

Female 2 10/22/14

Last, but absolutely not least, is this little green beauty.  She is still small and skinny, but is an amazing yellow-green that does not show up very well in this photo.  Like the rest of the cohort, she spends a lot of time hanging quietly in awkward positions, with occasional sprints to new locations.

Female 3 hunting 10/22/14

Female 3 hunting 10/22/14

Yes, this is a blog about slugs.  Not much news at the moment about them, though.  One of the students is helping me work out protocols for raising some babies for anatomical studies.  Mostly, though, they sit on the Bryopsis like a herd of legless aquatic cows.  They have taken on a wonderful deep green color.

Herd of grazing slugs 10/22/14

Herd of grazing slugs 10/22/14

Too Many Isopods? Add Seahorses!

The populations of ‘pods (iso-, cope-, but not so much amphipods) have been growing astonishingly.  As mentioned below, I am becoming concerned that the isopods may be eating eggs and larvae of the slugs.  I muttered to myself “What species of small fish could I add to eat some of the little bugs?” A species that stays small, but has an appetite for small, moving creatures?  Seahorses, of course.

More specifically, dwarf seahorses (Hippocampus zosterae).  They stay tiny, and a small group should be sustained indefinitely on the mounds of live food growing in the Box of Slugs.  There is a nice little outfit called Seahorse Corral that breeds the little guys, plus H. erectus, so I ordered two males and three females to give my idea a try.

Although Fedex mangled the address here, the guy who runs the loading dock at the institute next door was able to call Beth at Seahorse Corral and figure out where I was, and I got my delivery.  They seem to be settling in well, and doing what seahorses do best, mostly sitting in one place and waiting for food to swim by.

Here is one of the little males, looking pretty.  He is one of the more adventurous, having traveled from one end of the tank to the other.

Male Hippocampus zosterae 10/21/14

Male Hippocampus zosterae 10/21/14

This little female is the real daredevil, having zoomed all over the tank.

Female H. zosterae.  Little, green, and fearless.

Female H. zosterae. Little, green, and fearless.

So far so good.  We’ll see what they are doing tomorrow morning.

Good Luck, Little Veligers!

The clusters on the Udotea are gone, and one hopes that some of the little guys will stay alive and settle.  In an effort to improve their chances, I got rid of the old circulation pump (a low-flow Hydor Ekip pump/heater combination with screen over the intake) for a potentially more plankton-friendly airlift system.  The idea was to use an air pump to generate flow, but to contain the bubbles to reduce salt creep from the splash.

Here is the unit, being assembled.  Just some 2″ PVC pipe and fittings.

airlift unit, in pieces 10/19/14

airlift unit, in pieces 10/19/14

Insert the air stone, and there it is:

Airlift version 1

Airlift version 1

Here it is in the tank.  The good news is that it does indeed move water and minimize fizz in the tank.

Airlift version 1 in operation

Airlift version 1 in operation

The less optimal aspect is that, when you think about it, a chamber with bubbles rising in it is….. a protein skimmer.  I am still working on keeping glop from being ejected from the top of the unit.  Also, I hope little planktonic guys are not being extracted by the process of foam fractionation.

Nonetheless, we will still have some larvae to work with.   We have at least three egg masses still developing, including this rather spectacular coil of eggs.  Anyone care to count them?

Egg mass laid 10/18/14 or 10/19/14.

Egg mass laid 10/18/14 or 10/19/14.

Stay tuned for a few more exciting developments over the next few days.

Embryos are alive and wiggling!

Things got a little slow during lab today, so I put some eggs on a slide and took some pictures and video.  Looking at a still photo, they look fine.  It looks like it has its father’s eyes.  Not sure what all the other parts are.

Elysia clarki embryo 11-12 days old.

Elysia clarki embryo 11-12 days old.

But that doesn’t tell us whether they are still alive, does it?  Well, here is a little video.  Not all of them were moving, and it is still not clear whether they are hatching or getting eaten, but at least some are wiggling energetically.  After their brief moment of fame, all went back into the Box of Slugs.

 

Hatching or Getting Eaten

The number of eggs seems to be decreasing, but it’s hard to know if they are hatching or getting eaten by the massive number of isopods in the system.  If I have time, I will have a look at a few eggs tomorrow and see if there are signs of life.

Eggs 10/15/14

Eggs 10/15/14

Not hatched yet

Egg masses 10/13/14

Egg masses 10/13/14

They are still there, but the embryos must be itching to hatch.  Lots of Bryopsis waiting for them to settle on.

Busy, exciting week

Happy Friday Everyone!

It has been an action-packed week here among the slugs.

Most importantly, at least if you live in the Box of Slugs, is the arrival of yet another large quantity of Bryopsis from Justin’s big ol’ tank.  I only brought half of the mass he siphoned from the 500 gallon tank, and only added about 1/3 of that to the Box.  The rest is sitting in small tanks, testing whether the algae are being destroyed by the slugs or simply dying from either being ripped from its moorings or starving for nutrients.  As this guy is demonstrating, it is a very welcome addition.

E. clarki enjoying the new batch of Bryopsis.

E. clarki enjoying the new batch of Bryopsis.

The eggs have not hatched, but a cursory glance suggests that the embryos are developing.  Will we see veligers and/or baby slugs next week?

2164eggs101014

Egg masses photographed 10/10/14

The site continues to develop, and links are beginning to connect to useful information.  There are now pages for Biological Control, Natural History, Horizontal Transfer of Genes and there are rudiments of an entry for Elysia grandifolia.  Inch by inch.

More Eggs!

In case one mass was not enough, someone laid a second mass on the same plant between last night and this morning.

More sluglets on the way?

More sluglets on the way?

In other news, the first pass through the collection of papers is complete. As a result, pages have been added for Natural Products and Behavior& Neurobiology, and some of the species pages have been fleshed out a little more.

First Batch of Eggs!

I have no idea what triggered it, but someone has laid the first cluster of eggs.  Cassic spiral form, right where they can be photographed.  We’ll see how long they take to develop, and whether any of the little veligers settle, but for now it’s fun to see them.

2132eggs

 

Nearby a proud parent or auntie.  Which brings up the question of how to refer to a mommy/daddy or uncle/aunt who is a hermaphrodite.

2128_slug&eggs