Adult Berghia Laying Eggs

This first picture shows an adult Berghia laying an egg strand, sometimes referred to as a ribbon when speaking about nudibranches. Typically they are laid in a coil or concentric rings and can be laid on the face of a dime with room to spare. Berghia will lay eggs every 2 to 3 days when they are young and as long as there is a supply of food for them to eat. The young adults will consume many aiptasia and mate often in the course of laying eggs. Juveniles ("Pre-Adults 1/4 to 1/2 inch" or "subadult") can begin to develop eggs at around 28 days old. At six weeks they can be in the size range from 9mm to 12mm on average, occasionally more or less. When they reach sexual maturity, then nearly all of the eggs in each strand will be fertile. Egg strands have 2 kinds of eggs; 1/2 the eggs are motile and are dispersed through the water column and 1/2 the eggs hatch and settle directly to non-swimming larva where they are laid. Originally published as reef friendly Berghia verrucicornis, these are now recognized as a distinctly different nudibranch from this Mediterranean species. This common name will remain for the aquarium industry but the correct scientific identification for our reef safe nudibranch is Aeolidiella stephanieae (RE: 2005 new taxonomical record).

This large adult Berghia is incubating eggs. Looking up from under it's foot, they are clearly visible as a white internal spiraled mass. Inflated with water from the aquarium, most of this animal is translucent and allows for easy viewing of many parts and organs. The very sensitive verticle while rhinopores used to locate and identify Aiptasia are on top of the head and are not visible in this picture. (magnified x5)

There are video files attached to the pictures below. Read the picture captions and paragraph to understand the videos and then click on the picture of the Berghia eggs to view their activity or the second picture of the larval Berghia to watch the two in the middle attack and start ingesting part of the Aiptasia. Observe very closely to see the golden brown algae and Aiptasia cells beginning to flow into the larval sea slugs. Berghia provide the proven method to contain and destroy all of the Aiptasia's Planula Larva, Basal Cells and every piece of this pest anemone. The videos are .VID files using a Microsoft-1 Compression and should be easily viewed on most computers using Internet Explorer. This first is a 0.4 Meg video file, high speed interenet download in just a few seconds, the second is a 6.8 Meg video, download time about 40 seconds. Increase or decrease the size to optimize the focus for your monitor.

Berghia Veliger Larvae: These healthy eggs transformed in the first metamorphosis between 2 and 3 days to active Veliger Larvae. They are just 3 days old and already very active. Fine, rapidly beating cilia provide for their locomotion. (Magnified x400+) Click Picture for 0.4M VIDEO.

All of our adult Berghia lay completely fertile eggs that produce hundreds of healthy, viable larva exactly like these pictured. We have a very well controlled, strict selective breeding program here at INSTAR and our Berghia are inspected to insure and verify they are in perfect health. These young newly metamorphosed larva (below) attack a whole Aiptasia anemone and the anemone actually started to disappear while we were taking these pictures. Even though they are already approximately 600 microns long, a little over 0.5 millimeters, they remain invisible because light passes easily right through them and through their internal organs as well. The pigmented cells they harvest from the Aiptasia help to hide their digestive system and blend it with the natural colors of rocks in the reef aquarium. 14 Berghia larvas are visible or partly visible and already exhibiting their natural colonial habit of working together to remove Aiptasia. Even though our juveniles can take out a whole Aiptasia, we do NOT recommend shipping juveniles. When Berghia are shipped at the 1/4 to 1/2 inch juvenile size even though they have the word "adult" attached to their description, this size is

Berghia Larva: These larva are 2 days old and already attacking a whole Aiptasia. The dark golden brown algae harvested from the Aiptasia is already beginning to become visible inside their digestive gut. (Magnified x40+) Click Picture for 6.8M VIDEO.

NOT an adult nudibranch. Juvenile membranes are very fragile and if they are shipped then they need special attention and time in a small tank dedicated just to them. Juveniles should not be placed directly into the reef under normal conditions. Juveniles also are not producing primarily fertile eggs and this opens the door for infection if they are shipped at this stage. This is a common mistake when lured into purchasing inexpensive nudibranches from auction sites. It makes a difference for your reef and success with Berghia. Many Berghia have a posterior filament some will refer to as a tail and including this in their size measure will falsely describe the nudibranch and make it sound like it is larger than it really is. Proper taxonomical descriptions do not indicate including the posterior filament to inflate the size. We do not include this in our description or our measurement and we also do not include the oral antennae. Our nudibranch size measurements are the actual body size to correctly describe Adult size. Shipping size is critical and it DOES make a difference to your reef. We use millimeters because the metric scale provides a more precise measurement for a smaller type of animal. Our highly specialized breeding program insures our nudibranches are ready to perform in your reef and they are regularly inspected. Even their eggs are inspected to be sure of fertility ratios. This means we here at INSTAR can provide you with the best nudibranches possible.

Jr Aiptasia SWAT Team at 3 Wks, 2mm (x20) Can you see the 2 little eyes on the 14 day old (inset)?

The pictures below show the Berghia sizes and help you to understand a little more of these tiny aiptasia killers. Unlike something from a bottle that you can only use once, these will continue to kill aiptasia. Berghia will NOT add any TDS to your tank water or cause aiptasia to spawn as many discover using bottled chemicals or injecting aiptasia in an attempt to destroy them. Berghia also get into those hard to get, hard to see places!

These two pictures are of Berghia that hatched from their egg coils just 6 weeks ago. You can see by the measuring stick they are already 10 to 11 millimeters long. In the second picture of the undersides of the trio you can see the white egg mass even at this early age. The center one has a visible white egg mass in the posterior half of its body and so does the one on the left. The one on the right has a slightly translucent body and you can see through it to the base of the brown colored cerata. The pictures are enlarged for easier viewing.

These are your hunters and we make every effort to sell them at or over 12 mm in length. This measure for our Berghia is their body length and excludes the tail and appendages. Their length is a variable state depending on their activity. At times they will expell water or curl up to rest. Once they average 12 mm or longer while hunting, a little over 6 to 8 weeks, this is when we offer them. We do offer smaller, younger ones on one of the specials and the ones we give for free are normally smaller. A matter of good practice is that "Pre-Adults" the 1/4 inch juveniles are not desired for shipping as Aiptasia control except in a very few specialized applications. As the picture below shows, even our baby Berghia go after the whole Aiptasia. Our young egg bearing adult 1/2 inch Berghia are still very thin bodied and will grow considerably to well over 12mm in the first month in your tank. They attack and eat Aiptasia and are very effective, very active at this age and size. We could compare them to the human teenage years at this size and everyone knows how much teens can eat! Someone once said that only adult Berghia are effective and with our selective breeding, our young adult Berghia are very effective in removing Aiptasia. Young adult Berghia ship easily, acclimate easily and should do well for you in your tank. Just follow the instructions on the Acclimation Page of this site and handle gently, taking your time with all of the Berghia you purchase. These are young adult Berghia, they are breeding and often will be carrying fertile eggs to be laid in your tank. They are not full grown yet. Adult full grown Berghia can develop bodies that are over 30mm long (1 & 1/4 inches) plus their thread like tail that helps them handle swift currents and stay attached to the rocks. Adult Berghia of the correct species are not 2 inches long. It takes quite a number of aiptasia to develop them to their full adult size. We think they should eat your aiptasia and earn their keep. They are very active at this early adult age and consume many aiptasia while laying thousands of eggs and growing larger in your system. Depending on the resolution your computer monitor is set at, the above pictures are enlarged approximately 3x for easier viewing.

(This is a METRIC UNIT of measure in Millimeters NOT Inches.)      Unique Berghia Pictures Below.

Berghia Colony And Egg Ribbons Under a Meat Coral (magnified apx. x5)

Berghia can slip into small cracks and holes. Look closely to see small oysters, the tube and feather of a small feather duster, other common marine animals and the Berghia colony. There are 10 egg ribbons and at least 8 Berghia visible or partially visible in the picture. Can you find them all?

Baby Berghia, The Jr Aiptasia SWAT Team on Attack! (magnified x10) (IE: A Dime Would Cover Most of This Picture) (Salt Water Aptasia Tacticle)

Baby Berghia, The Jr Aiptasia SWAT Team On Patrol In The Reef!

This extremely rare photo from in the reef environment is the result of our Adult Berghia succesfully breeding in the reef. Witnessing this event is so uncommon that such a group of baby Berghia have not been photographed like this until now. A few are easy to see but most of them are inside the caves. Look extremely close to see the 2 and 3 millimeter babies deep in the shadows, down in the rock cleaning the Aiptasia that have gone unnoticed out of the holes in the rock. The caves in the top center of this picture are lined with Berghia and are just barely visible after looking very close at the picture for a minute. We could not see all of them until the picture was enlarged. When the Berghia have cleared this area, they will move on to clear the rest of this rock. This will help the reef keeper to provide a perfect environment for growing corals and young fish. Baby Berghia can not be shipped with good results because their tissues are far too thin and fragile at this age. Hazards of the reef await them as they migrate so they stay secluded and may never be seen by the reef keeper. (magnified x8)

Jr. Berghia SWAT Team, One Night In The Reef. Mission: Aipstinguish!

Another extremely rare photo; This one from in the reef at night while the reef keeper is sleeping. They are now about 5 millimeters and graduated to taking out larger pest Aiptasia. These events are never seen deep in the rocks where the Aiptasia originated. At least 8 of our Baby Berghia, Jr Aiptasia SWAT team have attacked the tentacles and oral disk of this larger Aiptasia and two more are closing in to help out. Looks like Berghia do really eat Aiptasia after all. It took 9 months to get to this point in this reef but the Berghia will prevail in the end. Pleasant dreams to the coral reef keeper. (magnified x10)

12 Berghia In Action, The Adult Aiptasia SWAT Team on Attack! (magnified x10) (Salt Water Aptasia Tacticle)

Adult Berghia Pair (magnified apx. x10)

Many Young Adults Display Patterns on Their Backs (magnified apx. x10)

Two Adults in Full Color! (magnified x10) (Very Difficult to Capture the True Pastel Lavendar and Yellow)

Many nudibranch colors are actually derived from their food source. These colors developed from a very yellow strain of Aiptasia pallida in these full grown Berghia verrucicornis (AKA: Aeolidiella stephanieae).

Adult Berghia Begin The Mating Dance (magnified x10)

Adult Berghia In Living Ying Yang Sculpture (magnified x10) Captive Bred, Tank Raised for Multiple Generations! (This site, unique information and all images are exclusively copyrighted by INSTAR.)

The symbol we recognize as Ying Yang is actually the Chinese symbol "Yin Yang". It represents the ancient Chinese understanding of how things work. The outer circle represents "everything", the dark and light shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two energies, called "yin" (black) and "yang" (white), that cause everything to happen. The shapes are not completely dark or light, just as things in life are not completely black or white. The Ying Yang symbol has become known for balance in judgements. On a larger scope, all life seems to be a balance, there is good and bad, give and take in everything God created. Our Berghia nudibranches take out Aiptasia pallida (Atlantic Carribean Aiptasia sp.), Aiptasia pulchella (Tropical Pacific Aiptasia sp.) and other Aiptasia sp. giving new hope and new life to your reef! It is well documented in scientific literature that these Berghia verrucicornis nudibranches are specific target predators, never bothering any thing else in your reef, only seeking to kill Aiptasia in tireless effort to balance the living ecosystem, controling the pest Aiptasia anemone.

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