Peppermint Shrimp Spawn (Lysmata boggessi)

[DeneBanger]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

Is the 10-14 day hatch period widely described elsewhere? If that's how long it's supposed to go, it's nuts that they haven't hatched yet. I'm imagining my sister 9 months overdue...

From what I understand yes....the 10-14 day hatch period seems to be what is the norm, but here I am at DAY 23 (and yes it is like your sister being 9-months overdue). Another thing some of the breeders are saying that it is not possible for the shrimp to molt and still be carrying the eggs......yet I have this situation, the carapace and the shrimp ready to release.

She is HUGE and waddles with a sideways canter dragging her abdomen along the bottom.

[DeneBanger]

Here is a pic of the left over carapace from the molt that occurred at day 23 while the PS was still holding the eggs (this one has been holding eggs now for 23 days). Please note the reflectivity of the eggs which is caused by the formation of the eyes of the larvae and please note the formation of a new batch of eggs behind the head.

http://www.marinebreeder.org/phpbb/v...t=9474&p=83722

[Magma]

seems to be really close to the head to be eggs, I thought shrimp carried the eggs closer to there tail, also doesnt mating happen after a fresh molt?

[DeneBanger]

Originally Posted by Magma

seems to be really close to the head to be eggs, I thought shrimp carried the eggs closer to there tail, also doesnt mating happen after a fresh molt?

When the eggs first develop they develop behind the head and then are transfered down to the abdomen (more specifically to the swimmerets or pleopods) where they must be fertilized or else they will just drop off after a few days. In the pic of the PS you can see the eggs in the abdomen that are ready to be released, you can also see the new batch forming behind the head which will make their way down after the release. Yes you are correct that mating occurs after a fresh molt.

[DeneBanger]

Yesterday night the larvae arrived! Approximate count 20 at day 24-25! Their names are Sally, Susan, Robin, Brett, Marcus Apollius Mentis.......LOL! Just kidding! A small batch but the PS are still quite young.

These are doing the same as the first batch, they are attaching themselves to the sides of the nursery, for those that have attached themselves to the sides their positions are all the same, heads down and abdomens gently moving in the water column. Now it is time to feed the rascals.

[DeneBanger]

Day 2 the larvae seem to be doing very well, this morning I noticed that they have developed stalked eyes so now we are at zoeae 2. At day two this batch seems alot larger than the first, best guess is that they are approx. 2 maybe 3 mm long. Here's another observation, when I shine a flashlight into the nursery at night I've noticed hundreds of little copepods in the range of 100-200 microns feeding off the microalgae, these weren't there for the previous batch or at least they went unnoticed. I can't tell if they are feeding on them or not but for now I'm going to assume that the presence of the copepods is a good thing.

Another note the shrimp that just spawned is holding eggs again, and its mate is still holding....I've lost track of how long the mate has been holding so I'll just keep an eye on the egg development for now.

[asylumdown]

You lost the larvae on day 5 last time, is there something special that happens to them at that time the's extra risky?

[DeneBanger]

Originally Posted by asylumdown

You lost the larvae on day 5 last time, is there something special that happens to them at that time the's extra risky?

Yes it is the molt from zoeae 2 to zoeae 3, so we'll see what happens this time around. For this batch I have not changed the diet for the larvae, but depending on what happens with them I might change the diet for the next batch to NHBBS. Once you have PS spawning they seem to be machines so it looks like I will have alot of opportunities to experiment.