Pearly Jawfish eggs

[SueAndHerZoo]

Hi there.
My male pearly jawfish has got a mouthful of eggs. I know even if I remove him from the tank now (which I couldn't successfully do without destroying the tank) that he wouldn't do well in a separate tank as he needs to dig his burrow and get comfortable, but.... what if I could just get the eggs out of the tank? He often spits them out to improve his burrow and if I could net them, would they hatch in a separate tank or do they need "Dad" to hatch? I've raised seahorse fry and clownfish fry, but never had a jawfish breed before. Anyone know?
Sue

 

[ThRoewer]

If you catch him he would just spit the eggs out. With Jawfish it is best to use a larval trap to collect the larva. You could use this one or build yourself one. For Jawfish a funnel design (could be improvised from a couple of 2 liter bottles, some fine screen, and an air pump) placed above the burrow of the male could work well to get pretty much all larvae.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

So just getting the eggs wouldn't do any good... they have to hatch while they're still with the parent and THEN I try to get whatever fry I can?

 

[ThRoewer]

So just getting the eggs wouldn't do any good... they have to hatch while they're still with the parent and THEN I try to get whatever fry I can?

If you can steal the eggs then you can incubate and hatch them in a tumbler. It's how I have done it with Marine Bettas before. The problem with Jawfish is that they retreat into their burrow as soon as something smells fishy and because of that it is really hard to steal their eggs.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Hmmmmm, interesting. Tonight while I was doing some minor re-aquascaping and I got close to his burrow, he kept spitting out the mass of eggs and then picking them back up again. I was thinking if I had had a net in the tank at that time I might have been able to confiscate them. But I didn't know if they would be viable if I took them away at this stage... do they have to stay with the parent till a certain stage in their development?

 

[Jaebster]

If you catch him he would just spit the eggs out. With Jawfish it is best to use a larval trap to collect the larva. You could use this one or build yourself one. For Jawfish a funnel design (could be improvised from a couple of 2 liter bottles, some fine screen, and an air pump) placed above the burrow of the male could work well to get pretty much all larvae.

Let's see pics!!! I love jawfish!!!

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

It's 1:50 in the morning here and the lights are out on that tank, sorry. I'll see if I can get some video or pics tomorrow.
Sue

 

[ThRoewer]

... do they have to stay with the parent till a certain stage in their development?

The longer they stay in the care of the parents the better. I usually try to steal eggs the evening of the hatch night, maybe a day earlier.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

The longer they stay in the care of the parents the better. I usually try to steal eggs the evening of the hatch night, maybe a day earlier.

Thanks.... time to go look up what average incubation period is for jawfish. And then try to remember when I first saw the eggs. But I'm definitely ordering the fry trap you steered me to. It may not make it here on time for this hatch but it will come in handy the next time they breed, and it might work for my seahorse fry, too!

 

[ThRoewer]

Let's see pics!!! I love jawfish!!!

Will a video do?
Mating display of Bluespot Jawfish:

 

[ThRoewer]

Thanks.... time to go look up what average incubation period is for jawfish. And then try to remember when I first saw the eggs. But I'm definitely ordering the fry trap you steered me to. It may not make it here on time for this hatch but it will come in handy the next time they breed, and it might work for my seahorse fry, too!

With seahorses, I found it most effective to just capture the male and let him release the fry in the larva tank.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

That's good advice, I may try that next time I suspect he's pregnant. This time the male went into hiding upon conception and I never knew he was pregnant till I saw him releasing fry into the tank!

 

[Jaebster]

Will a video do?
Mating display of Bluespot Jawfish:

I apologize to OP... dont mean to highjack thread.
@ThRoehow thick is sandbed? And what temp is water? I prefer the blue spots but they come from cooler waters (about 72F) and raising them in their native temp is optimal. I heard they dont do that well in 78F water... thus I'm leaning towards the pearlys. I've raised both, plus a dusky... I think the dusky had the best personality and was quite bold compared to the bluespot and pearly.

 

[ThRoewer]

I apologize to OP... dont mean to highjack thread.
@ThRoehow thick is sandbed? And what temp is water? I prefer the blue spots but they come from cooler waters (about 72F) and raising them in their native temp is optimal. I heard they dont do that well in 78F water... thus I'm leaning towards the pearlys. I've raised both, plus a dusky... I think the dusky had the best personality and was quite bold compared to the bluespot and pearly.

I'm going to make a dedicated BSJ thread in a while but to answer your question, I kept them before at room temperature (without AC or heating). Now they are in the garage (my "fish room") which is slightly warmer in the winter (at least this winter). In the summer I have a fan on their tank as forced-air evaporation chiller.
There is a big misunderstanding about the temperature requirements of these guys. The water temperature in the Sea of Cortez is not constant but rather fluctuates wildly with the season:

I kept these guys at 16°C in the winter and 32°C in the summer and they didn't have the slightest problem with it. If anything they didn't like the temperatures below 18°C - during that time they went into hibernation and hardly ever opened their burrows to peek out.
So temperature-wise there isn't an issue to put them in a tropical reef tank.
The issue is that they don't belong in a reef tank but rather in a rocky shore/sand zone biotope.
As for the sand bed - that's right now 3 to 4 inches but as soon as they go into their new tank they get more.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

No apology needed for changing the direction of this thread.... I love jawfish of all types! I strongly debated getting blue spots instead of the pearlies but when I checked the compatibility chart with seahorses, the BSJ was a huge "no no". The pearlies don't actively attack my ponies but at feeding time they are quite the aggressive pigs, so I imagine if I had gone with BSJ they might actually be nipping at the horses. But of course, next time I see a healthy one at my LFS I will be very tempted, although I'm thinking mixing the types of jawfish in a 72 gallon would not be wise.

I'm not seeing any eggs in my PJF this morning so they're either gone or he just "put them down" for a few minutes, which I've seen him do. And when I examined them last night they were pure white, and from the photos I've seen I suppose they should have been darker with eyeballs if they were close to hatching. I did contact the fry trap guy asking if he had any in stock - still waiting to hear back.
Sue

 

[ThRoewer]

No apology needed for changing the direction of this thread.... I love jawfish of all types! I strongly debated getting blue spots instead of the pearlies but when I checked the compatibility chart with seahorses, the BSJ was a huge "no no". The pearlies don't actively attack my ponies but at feeding time they are quite the aggressive pigs, so I imagine if I had gone with BSJ they might actually be nipping at the horses. But of course, next time I see a healthy one at my LFS I will be very tempted, although I'm thinking mixing the types of jawfish in a 72 gallon would not be wise.

I'm not seeing any eggs in my PJF this morning so they're either gone or he just "put them down" for a few minutes, which I've seen him do. And when I examined them last night they were pure white, and from the photos I've seen I suppose they should have been darker with eyeballs if they were close to hatching. I did contact the fry trap guy asking if he had any in stock - still waiting to hear back.
Sue

I have never seen my BSJ interacting with other fish and I kept them with tiny barnacle blennies and even a pipefish. I think they would go fine with seahorses, especially since they don't mind cooler temperatures.

 

[ThRoewer]

BTW, the BSJ are not mouth breeders like most other jawfish. Instead, the male keeps the eggs inside his burrow (sometimes he also eats them).

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Wow, that's really interesting about the BSJ NOT carrying the eggs in his mouth! I figured them and the PJF were very similar, but that's a huge difference. Really interesting!

So the next time I see a healthy BSJ at the LFS I may break down, BUT... I wonder if there would be territorial issues already having two pearlies.
Sue

 

[ThRoewer]

I have not tried keeping them with other jawfish. Among each other, they like stealing rocks and sometimes even whole burrows. Otherwise, I didn't find them to be particularly hostile to other fish.

 

[Jaebster]

When I mentioned that I kept pearlys, Bluespot and a dusky, they were all at separate times so I can't vouch for compatibility. Would love to have a huge tank with deep substrate (rocky sand that smooths out to fine sand). Rocky for the jawfish and fine for the garden eels!