GSP Spawning?

mikejurney · #1 02/17/2007, 10:48 AM

I have always been under the impression that coral doesn't spawn in captivity, but I woke up this morning and looked in my 12-gallon NanoCube DX and saw my GSP covered in a mass of pink eggs.

The only fish in this system is a yellow clown goby, but I've never heard of fish spawning when kept alone either. Did my GSP really release eggs?

Ken668 · #2 02/17/2007, 10:11 PM

All I can say is wow. If it is a spawning, that's probably a once in a lifetime event to witness. Very cool. I have LOADS of GSP and never seen anything like that.

Anyone know what time of year corals in the wild spawn? I think it's a one week event, once a year.

Conky · #3 02/17/2007, 10:23 PM

Nice photo. Congrats. Honestly, someone might want to use that in a book or publication. Might want to forward this to someone like Eric Borneman. My guess is that they are gonochoric (separate sexes), but I really have no idea. It'd be nice if you could get a male.

Did you do anything different to precipitate this event? What does your water chem look like? Did the presence of eggs foul you tank?

mikejurney · #4 02/18/2007, 01:20 AM

Conky: I havn't done anything special lately, the water runs at a pretty steady 1.025sg, 8.2 pH and fluctuates between 80f and 82f. The only thing that's recently different is that the system has been getting an hour or so of direct sunlight per day through a south-facing window.

I didn't get to witness the actual event, so I don't know if any sperm was released concurrently with the eggs. It will take a couple of days to see if the release affects water quality, though I did notice that a sinularia in this system was shriveled and sulking all day. It opened back up in the late afternoon, but that's been the only adverse affect so far.

Giovanni · #5 02/18/2007, 02:43 AM

Very interesting. Looks like you have two colonies. Is that correct?

mikejurney · #6 02/18/2007, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Giovanni
Very interesting. Looks like you have two colonies. Is that correct?

No, there's only one. It's spread a bit onto other rocks which is intentional, as I try to let it grow out so I have frags for trade.

Giovanni · #7 02/18/2007, 09:49 AM

How long did the event last?

redox · #8 02/18/2007, 10:58 AM

heres a pic of gsp in my gh
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Ken668 · #9 02/18/2007, 11:39 AM

Once again, very cool. I'm still curious if anyone knows what time of year wild colonies spawn. I know I've witnesses my RBTA spawning at the same time others around the country have spawned. Might be a biological clock kind of thing.

mikejurney · #10 02/18/2007, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ken668
Once again, very cool. I'm still curious if anyone knows what time of year wild colonies spawn. I know I've witnesses my RBTA spawning at the same time others around the country have spawned. Might be a biological clock kind of thing.

I realized when I got off the train this morning in Chinatown that I should check the lunar calendar - Turns out that the event coincided with the night of the new moon.

mikejurney · #11 02/18/2007, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Giovanni
How long did the event last?

I'm pretty sure that the actual release was over before I saw, so I'm not sure. The released eggs stayed in a thin, clear mucus around the GSP for a couple of hours before the flow dispersed them all, but I have no idea how long the actual event lasted.