Oyster toadfish eggs/hatching (pics and vid)

[Zoodiver]

Pics of our oyster toadfish (Opsanus tau) male guarding the nest of eggs, development of the embryos and of course video of them actually hatching. (At this point, we think it might be one of the only recorded clutch hatchings out there, so we feel very lucky). Pics are over a two week period.

This is the second round of breeding from our group. Thought I'd share.

Adult male (for those who don't know what an oyester toad looks like).

Nest of eggs on the rock:

Embryo growth:

Defined bodies and starting to get markings:

Hatched! We split the group into two tanks to observe them better.

Video of the eggs hatching.
Many of them swam straight into the rock's hole for protection.

[YT]kUBdCHNuzi0[/YT]

 

[Specialk314]

WOW! way too cool! Congrats and thanks for sharing!
What are your plans for the hatchlings?

 

[kevinfleming21]

I'll take one! LOL, awesome dude!

 

[GhostShrimpMan]

Awesome!

 

[Vicious_Fish]

Very cool! I caught a bunch of those while deep sea fishing a few years ago. I was almost tempted to take one home because they look like they'd be pretty neat fish to keep. Apparently from the pics they do well in captivity!

 

[Zoodiver]

The past offspring are display animals. Plan to do the same with these, and maybe offer some to other aquariums in FL.

 

[Gr8KarmaSF]

Sweet pics and vid....