Invertebrate reproduction class

["Umm, fish?"]

This is an unabashed attempt to get people to sign up for a class titled: INVERTEBRATE EMBRYOLOGY AND LARVAL BIOLOGY FOR REEF AQUARISTS being offered by Dr. Ron Shimek. Part of the proceeds will be used to benefit Project DIBS. In order to have the class, there need to be ten students.

You hear all the big names talking about it: Aquacultured coral sexual reproduction is the wave of the future. Yes, you can farm corals with asexual reproduction techniques and get a few hundred or maybe thousand of frags a year. But, corals have the possibility of releasing millions of gametes in their lifetimes. In the wild with heavy predation, corals may only just manage to replace themselves before they die. But in systems designed for them, some corals have shown 70-80% survival rates of settlers from sexual reproduction (Petersen, p. 146, let me know if you'd like the full reference). If marine aquarists are ever to wean ourselves from collection from the wild, we are going to have to tap this potential.

That's just the corals. I believe that Dr. Shimek is going to address larval care needs of various other types of invertebrates, too. We are in this hobby with all type of weird, funky interests. Expand on your interest and try to include the animal's complete lifespan, including seeding new generations. (Project DIBS is currently conducting research into captive breeding of many types of invertebrates. See http://www.projectdibs.com/ for more information.)

The sales talk is mostly over . The cost of the course is $150. About the cost of two corals from the LFS. $25 of each registration goes to Project DIBS to help purchase new equipment and to further research in other ways. A really good way to spend $25.

In the interest of full disclosure: I will benefit immeasureably from you signing up for this class and have a huge selfish interest in promoting it, as I am signed up, too. I do not, however, benefit monetarily in any way. In fact, I'll be $150 poorer if I take the class.

Here's the thread with class information:

http://www.projectdibs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=738

Thanks!

[Clown-N-Around]

I wish I could take it with you, Andy. (See house for sale thread- the whole 2 mortgages things makes finances pretty tight!)

Sounds awesome!

["Umm, fish?"]

And the class will be much less lively without you. Maybe you can come play next time!

Thanks!

["Umm, fish?"]

By the way, if anyone has any questions about this coral reproduction being viable in aquaria, Eric Borneman is participating in the Project DIBS challenge to sexually propagate Pocillopora damicornis. Other participants in the challenge have also already had success.

Eric's comments about the success rate he's seen (http://www.projectdibs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=650 ):

These are incredibly productive corals. If had 100% survival and enough room, I could probably provide half the country with these corals out of the one tank.

and

Add another 78 babies.

I now have 1/3rd of the breeding tank done, with approximately 150 juvenile colonies in culture. I figure by time I finish picking them off the eggcrate and existing tiles, it will be time to start all over. This time, I put the broodstock on small 12" tiles of acrylic, hoping the babies can be easily scraped off the acrylic and only entailing removing the few brood colonies on top of them.

This could literally be a full time job if one were to have a couple hundred gallons of Pocillopora.

Now, Pocillopora is an easy coral. Other corals (and other invertebrates) will take more effort to get the larvae through settlement. That's where I hope this class will help.

["Umm, fish?"]

No one has any questions? No interest at all? A faint inkling of curiosity, perhaps? Anyone?

Okay, a cheap way to bump a thread. I admit it.

[Zooid]

LOL....yeah I have an interest....just don't have the extra cash....still need to buy tons of sand for my 200 and need to buy a closed loop pump...doh!

["Umm, fish?"]

Sorry, Zooid. I'll let you know the next time it comes up. Good luck on the sand and pump! In the meantime, why not sign up at DIBS? Lots of great information over there and a great group of people.

["Umm, fish?"]

Time is creeping by on this. If anyone else is interested in signing up, now is pretty much the time to do it.

Remember, this is a class but there are no grades. You can put into it whatever effort you are interested in and take out of it whatever you can get. I think that there'll be a lot there to take with you.

Thanks!