Wonderpus - Fontanelle

[Thales]

That was cropped from a far shot.

 

[test]

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[tonmo]

This thread has been restored! Welcome to the new "Exotics and Rare Species" forum. Only Registered Members, Supporters and Staff can view the contents of this forum. In order to get into one of those categories, all users must have read and agreed to our Forum Guidelines.

 

[cuttlegirl]

Tony,

What a great solution! Thanks for continuing to find solutions for responsible ceph keeping.

 

[tonmo]

Thanks! Props to Monty, Greg, and several others for helping brainstorm the solution.

 

[Michael Blue]

Finally got to read this thread, and it looks like Thales restored the media on Daisy Hill...Incredible!

Here's hoping for long life and lots of new info on this terrific species!!



We need a wonder icon, lol!

 

[Thales]

Great! Time to make up some time!

4/2/07

Fontenelle continues to only dig into the mud an inch or so at a time. However, he can do it very quickly, so I still have some hope that he may build a den. I am considering adding more mud to see if this entices him to do so.

I was unable to get any live shrimp for a couple of days, so I collected some local crabs that I used to feed cuttles. I was also able to get a couple of small fish. Fontenelle looked at each quickly and then proceeded to ignore them for a couple of days. Then, when I was able to get shrimp, he snagged and ate one immediately.

 

[Thales]

4/6/07

Fontenelle is dong fine. He has eaten several times since I last wrote, though I haven't had any shrimp small enough to get him to pounce. Also, I realize that there has been a hermit crab in the tank with him since the beginning and he hasn't given it a second glance.

 

[Thales]

4/7/07

Holy Cow. I happened to come home late, and when I walked into the ceph room, Fontanelle saw me and reacted with this crazy pose. I supposed I scared him by breaking his routine. I haven't seen this pose since the first weeks and feel a little sad because I think it is a 'scared' display, but thrilled I was able to take some pics of it.

I'll be adding this to the thread from time to time. Its from an upcoming article I am writing and I think it reflects concerns about wunderpus pretty well:

The size of wunderpus populations in the wild is unknown, and it is unclear what effect their collection will have on those populations. Little is known about what they need to survive in the wild, and even less is known about what they need to live well in the aquarium. After much wrestling with this issue, I urge even experienced ceph-keepers to think long and hard before bringing one into the home aquarium. Many cephalopod enthusiasts feel that the wunderpus shouldn’t even be collected for the trade at least until more scientific research has been done on the species. I only accepted responsibility for Fontanelle because, by serendipity, I was able to obtain a healthy animal before it was tanked at an importer, at a time when I had a mature, ceph-ready aquarium available.

 

[monty]

back Fontanelle.

Does Fontanelle have the ability to change his arms' cross-section from near-circular to very elongated? It seems like some pictures show skinny, cylindrical arms, but others show wide, flat ones...

I'm particularly curious if the muscle arrangement or ennervation in wunderpus arms is different than in most octopus species... (I've got some diagrams by William Kier around somewhere...

I also noticed you refer to Fontanelle as "him," but I don't see evidence of the much shorter hectocotylized arm in referred to in the new species paper(pdf). Am I just missing it, or do you think it's an immature male, or did you just decide he's a he since it's hard to sex octos?

 

[corw314]

I love the close up. He's looking right at you.

 

[Michael Blue]

Nice pic title, lol!

 

[Thales]

Nice pic title, lol!

Oy! Fixed that! Thats what you get for editing pics at 2 in the morning!

 

[DWhatley]

Thanks!

Tony,
Thank you for the solution. I have been pissing and moaning about the original to all in the house Including vistors) and they will be as glad as I am that there was a resolution

Thales, thanks for hanging in and not just going somewhere else!

 

[Thales]

This community is too good to consider leaving for anyreason without a vast amount of discussion first. I am soooo verrrrry happy that we reached a solution that seems to please everyone! That doesn't happen all to often in online communities, and that it happened here is a testament to the dedication and levelheadness of Tony and the Staff. Rock on!