To begin, place a glass bowl containing the larvae of Crepidula fornicata on the stage of a dissecting microscope. With a Pasteur pipette, manually transfer and count the desired number of larvae into a culture jar containing filtered sea water. Feed the larvae with an appropriate volume of microalgae.
Add filtered sea water to bring the culture volume to within one centimeter of the shoulder of the jar. Screw down the lid of culture jar and connect the ventilation air supply to the barb fitting on the tubing leading to the jar's bottom. Use an aquarium air pump with common aquarium gang valves to supply ventilation with ambient air.
Then adjust the air flow to yield a steady, slow stream of bubbles. To replace the culture water, pour the contents of the jar into a sieve over a beaker. Invert the sieve over the culture jar containing fresh, filtered sea water, then use a squirt bottle of filtered sea water to rinse the larvae into the jar.
Add some microalgae as feed for the larvae and top off the jar with filtered sea water to within one centimeter of the jar's shoulder. The larvae of Crepidula fornicata appear to grow slower in the laboratory cultures relative to the mesocosm cultures. The larvae started to metamorphos by day eight, and were all competent for metamorphosis by day 12.
