amphipod Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 Can they be kept in captivity? Link to comment
seabass Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 No, they won't live long in captivity. Link to comment
amphipod Posted December 7, 2014 Author Share Posted December 7, 2014 No, they won't live long in captivity. why wouldn't they? They don't migrate, they filter feed but so do our corals. Link to comment
seabass Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/chordata/cephalo.html According to Tampa Bay Saltwater, they don't fare well in captivity: http://www.tampabaysaltwater.com/thepackage/organisms.html Link to comment
amphipod Posted December 7, 2014 Author Share Posted December 7, 2014 There has to be some sort of reason though. Has anyone tried the lancelets? Link to comment
amphipod Posted December 8, 2014 Author Share Posted December 8, 2014 We need more replies, for the sake of aquariums. Link to comment
seabass Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 I assume that it's a feeding issue, but that's speculation. You see occasional posts about people finding them in their tank, but you really don't see them for sale in the trade. Since they aren't that rare in nature (but you still can't buy them), it makes me believe that they don't do well in captivity (which is what Tampa Bay Saltwater reports). Link to comment
amphipod Posted December 9, 2014 Author Share Posted December 9, 2014 I assume that it's a feeding issue, but that's speculation. You see occasional posts about people finding them in their tank, but you really don't see them for sale in the trade. Since they aren't that rare in nature (but you still can't buy them), it makes me believe that they don't do well in captivity (which is what Tampa Bay Saltwater reports). come to think of it why couldn't they feed off some of our planktonivourous coral feeds? Link to comment
Dr.Brain Coral Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 They are plankton feeder but they eat much more than our corals would. Thats the same reason you dont see things like feather stars surviving long in our tanks. They difference in how much plankton a coral would eat vs how much a lancelet would eat is huge. One other thing, dont be so quick to disregard the insight of experts on marine biology when they say they do not do well in captivity Link to comment
amphipod Posted December 9, 2014 Author Share Posted December 9, 2014 They are plankton feeder but they eat much more than our corals would. Thats the same reason you dont see things like feather stars surviving long in our tanks. They difference in how much plankton a coral would eat vs how much a lancelet would eat is huge. One other thing, dont be so quick to disregard the insight of experts on marine biology when they say they do not do well in captivity how much do they eat? Their metabolism must be quite fast, also they don't have many defenses, no poisons, speed, agility, shells etc. How is it their populations stay so high? Also if I came off as rude to the years of insight of marine biologists sorry I'm trying to encourage more comments and answers to this subject. Link to comment
Dr.Brain Coral Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Oh I didnt think you came off rude, I was making sure you knew not even the best have had much success. BUT that doesnt mean you cant try for your self. I think your best bet would be to have a large tank with only sand and the lancelets and have a sump with live rock and a refugium. The reason for the sump is because you would need to dose large amounts of phyto and zoo plankton so they dont starve Link to comment
amphipod Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 Do they make a preference to phyto or zooplankton? Like the whales make preference to krill. Could they feed off coral feeds in huge dosages? Link to comment
Dr.Brain Coral Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 I dont know to be honest. After a little more research it seems they feed on alot of detritus. Also phyto Link to comment
amphipod Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 That's interesting, what sort of natural defenses do they actually have other than quick growth? Link to comment
Dr.Brain Coral Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Well being that they are nocturnal for the most part and they bury them selves in the sand or hide in rocks I would say they are pretty well protected. They are pretty quick from what I have heard Link to comment
amphipod Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 Just thought of another question kinda weird but worth asking. When the lancelet decides he needs to take a poop, is he going to leave it in the substrate and make a new burrow later or be civilized and drop it out in the water? Serious question. Link to comment
Dr.Brain Coral Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Your right strange question, but they would just go where ever. They arent smart enough to do it somewhere else Link to comment
amphipod Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 So how can you keep the fine substrate clean with a messy little lamprey? I've noticed with fireworms they will leave their burrow just to relieve themselves, so it probably wouldn't be their lack of intelligence. Maybe their immune systems are quite powerful? Link to comment
Dr.Brain Coral Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 I doubt it. I dont think they would go to the same spot each time they leave there burrows I just realized you said the same thing earlier Link to comment
amphipod Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 Wait, I said what earlier? Link to comment
Dr.Brain Coral Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 That they leave it in the burrow and make a new one later Link to comment
amphipod Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 I guess I did lol. How strong are their immune systems, I've seen the powerful healing capabilities of hagfish and now wonder of the lancelet's healing ability? Link to comment
tibbsy07 Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Many wild things do not do well in captivity and it usually has nothing to do with feeding. The environment of the ocean is not simply water food animals. There are a plethora of different microcosms within the larger ecosystem that control so many things. We know very little about the oceans and its denizens. My guess is that there is something about the flow, the lighting, the food source (not necessarily how much), the microbial component, and the lancelet's symbiobsis with ALL of these things that makes it a poor surviver in the hobbyist's tanks. Sand probably has a large part of this too, considering how much of their lives they spend in it and how shallow our sandbeds usually are. Not only that, but lancelets breathe through their skin, so oxygenation is an issue, too. Great White sharks don't live in captivity, even with enough space and food, but plenty of other sharks do. We may never know why - speculation is fine, but sometimes it's more trouble than it's worth. Short answer - lancelets are not good in captivity. Link to comment
amphipod Posted December 10, 2014 Author Share Posted December 10, 2014 That is quite true never thought of symbiosis with microbes. Another thing going along with oxygenation, lancelets usually live in quite shallow water. They could be targeting specific planktonic organisms when feeding. Somewhat high metabolic rate, dependency on thick sand beds, contaminated burrows and therefore dependency on sand sifting organisms. The need for currents encountered in shallows. This is quite a few problems to be encountered for such a small creature. Has anyone you know ever tried them or encountered them before? Link to comment
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