After passing the first hurdle, getting them to eat, everything should be easy, right?  Well, there are plenty of things that can go wrong.  Predators can sneak in with the food algae (you don’t have to be too big to eat a lot of hatchling slugs), and pathogens can decimate a whole brood.  Nonetheless, a few of the first batch have grown, sprouted rhinophores, extended parapodia, and look like teeny Elysia!

Miniature E. clarki, about 10 days after first meal. 2/5/18

They are currently living in a modified specimen container (like they use to catch fish at the pet store).  I drilled a few big holes in it, and covered them with fine nylon mesh to keep the babies in.  They get a constant, slow flow of UV-sterilized artificial seawater, and have a variety of algae to choose from.  They still seem to prefer Bryopsis plumosa for the moment, although they may be sneaking tastes of B. pennata.

Teeny E. clarki at about two weeks after first meal. 2/8/18.

It has been hard to get a proper measurement at this point, but they are about 2 mm long, are somewhat visible to the naked eye, and can be easily observed with a simple magnifying glass.  The photos above were shot with the macro setting of a digital point-and-shoot camera, so they are rapidly leaving the microscopic world!

Fingers crossed that they continue to grow.