All cephalopod systems are located on the second floor of the Marine Resources Center in the Mariculture Room, except for one display table on the first-floor tank room. MBL’s seawater comes from an intake line off of the South Shore of Woods Hole in Great Harbor across from the Lillie building. Water is pumped to the top of Lillie and gravity fed down to the MRC third floor.
The water is then filtered via sand and bag filters on the top floors of the MRC in the mechanical room before supplying cephalopod mariculture facilities. All water discharged from the Mariculture Room is treated and sterilized via Ozone and discharged into Eel Pond. All major Life Support Systems are monitored and maintained by MBL Plant Operations and Maintenance Department.
At MBL, cephalopod cultures are maintained on modular, custom-built seawater systems. Cephalopod systems seawater supply derives from three primary sources: 1) open systems, using flow-through natural seawater. 2) semi-open systems, where natural seawater is conditioned and refined before supplying cephalopod systems. 3) closed systems, using artificial sea salt to make seawater. System and seawater designation is dependent on species, life stage, and culture/research priority.
These systems utilize redundant filtration/sterilization to maintain ideal water quality and provide for optimal culture conditions. Each system (20 ft2 footprint) can hold up to 650 adults and is monitored continuously by wireless IR video and advanced Neptune Apex aquarium control systems. The IR video surveillance allows us to track mating, feeding, territorial aggression, and egg laying events 24/7. The Neptune Apex aquarium controller ensures that the temperature, water levels, flow rates, salinity, pH, and lighting are all within optimal range.