Hi Guys & Gals,

picked up this little guy from a local store the other day in Townsville, QLD Australia. I believe the collection point for the live rock he was found with was Cairns, QLD Aust.


LFS believes he is a "dwarf reef octopus", nice & vague.

Firstly, in the bag
http://ash.distanteye.org/fish/nano/2007-09-15/100_7771.jpg

In the tank - for reference the live rock behind him is about tennis ball sized
http://ash.distanteye.org/fish/nano/2007-09-17/100_7773.jpg

He has changed colour when he went into the tank to more match his surroundings.

I can't really tell you much more, will try to get more photos but he appears to be nocturnal which makes getting the shots a little hard - what is a good colour light to view him without disturbing him at night, red?

Cheers
Ash

It will be hard to ID without a full body picture.

Yes, red light should do for night viewing. Good luck with it!

Got some better shots...

http://ash.distanteye.org/fish/nano/2007-09-18/100_7795.jpg

http://ash.distanteye.org/fish/nano/2007-09-18/100_7800.jpg

Um, I read in the "blue ring on a finger" thread that the rings only appear when they are stressed - if it was one it would have shown the rings in the bag being a quite stressful situation, right?

Cause if it is a blue ring I'm definately taking it back, I hope it isn't, but reading that they rings can disappear I'm a little worried cause my guy is about that ballpark size.

You should search for blue ring images and see if you find a good match... but there are a lot of lookalike's when it comes to octo's. I thought they were usually a pale yellow, brightening up when they flash their rings. I could be wrong.

Here (http://www.tonmo.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/97) is one photo of TONMO member tjw13's BRO.
I believe the rings are always visible, but are normally (in the relaxed state) much duller and greyer, on a dull yellow or tan mantle, like this (http://www.tonmo.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=378); when aggravated, the rings flash vivid, brilliant blue on a bright yellow mantle, like this (http://www.tonmo.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=240).
But I am far from the most experienced person here in terms of octopus ID and keeping!

I found it could be a baby Cyanea from doing a search for "Australian reef octopus". That would be crazy. You'd basically need a swimming pool for it if it is. There are just so dang many species. Then again, it's eyes appear somewhat over-sized. Could very well be a dwarf.

Here (http://www.tonmo.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/97) is one photo of TONMO member tjw13's BRO.
I believe the rings are always visible, but are normally (in the relaxed state) much duller and greyer, on a dull yellow or tan mantle, like this (http://www.tonmo.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=378); when aggravated, the rings flash vivid, brilliant blue on a bright yellow mantle, like this (http://www.tonmo.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=240).
But I am far from the most experienced person here in terms of octopus ID and keeping!

Note that those pictures aren't all of the same species. I doubt yours is a blue ring though, looks like a dwarf to me.

Blue ring's arms wouldn't be as long as that I don't think, and they don't seem to hold themselves in that position when they sit, they are squatter.

The Indo species are a more drab brown colour and the spots are pretty hard to see, Australian ones are much brighter and as a result reflect the fact that they are much mroe dangerous (if there are degrees in the levals of "Fatal!)

Generally not good pets though BROs and as a result i'd steer clear.

Either way it's a cracking little octo!

OK, more info...

he definately has clear webbing between his arms, he has darker brown patterning that comes & goes and he appears to like playing with the feeding stick I've been giving him krill with, wrestling with it, kind of trying to pull it into the tank.

Also, he kind of plays "fetch" with empty hermit shells - I take one away, he'll snatch it back or shuffle them around - he even kept playing once whilst I had the tank light on so I might be able to get a vid.

A lot more interactive than I first thought.

What is the odds of him inking if I "play" with him like this, am I just giving him stimulation or stressing him out?

Also, foods. Other than krill or little crabs from the beach what should I be feeding him?

..

Looks like something in Abdopus (eye bar/star, lateral neck dark spots, mottling on arms and web, crescent line on the mantle). Juv cyanea also have these skin features but also have an ocellus (eyespot) between each eye and the side arms. Sometimes it's not so obvious, but they show it when startled. But juv cyanea also tend to express reds and purples, which this animal doesn't seem to do.

Abdopus aculeatus lives off Cape Trib, so probably Cairns as well. Not sure if the smaller A. abaculus lives that far south, and who knows what other species Mark Norman has found in the area. This group is pretty diverse.

Check out this paper to read more on the body patterns and behavior of aculeatus- maybe it will help with the ID.
http://mollus.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/73/2/185
or google Ethogram Abdopus aculeatus and it should show up- let me know if you can't download it. Should be open access. If not, email me for a pdf.

I always thought of Abdopus Aculeatus as one of the spikier octos, which this one doesn't seem to display.

Their papillae aren't usually very prominent when they're resting, or otherwise don't really have a strong need for camouflage.

Click the pic for a video (3mb)

http://ash.distanteye.org/fish/nano/2007-09-26/100_7811.jpg (http://ash.distanteye.org/fish/nano/2007-09-26/100_7810.avi)

PS: that is his feeding stick, that's why he goes after it

Windows Media player opens but nothing plays :sad:

sorry, it is encoded in Xvid to get the size down from 12mb to 3mb - if you get a codec pack like the K-Lite one it should work

Wow- he's really hungry! If it really is aculeatus then it's a juvenile.

Here (http://www.tonmo.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/97) is one photo of TONMO member tjw13's BRO.
I believe the rings are always visible, but are normally (in the relaxed state) much duller and greyer, on a dull yellow or tan mantle, like this (http://www.tonmo.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=378); when aggravated, the rings flash vivid, brilliant blue on a bright yellow mantle, like this (http://www.tonmo.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=240).
But I am far from the most experienced person here in terms of octopus ID and keeping!

Not sure about that Kat, I saw some at TAFI in Taroona when I was in Tas a few years back and there were no rings visible at all.......at least not until dinner went into the tank :grin:

J

I got another vid of Seth, feeding this time. Click me (http://ash.distanteye.org/fish/nano/2007-10-05/100_7815.avi)
(Xvid Mpeg 4 codec)

His skin does seem to change texture & get rough & bumpy at times - this vid shows his colour a bit better, though it is hard to see the texture of the skin.

I guess he has settled in now, perhaps he was stressed from the move & this is his normal state? He is much more active at night now than he was initially, exploring the tank & whatnot where as he used to stay close to his cave.

I got another vid of Seth, feeding this time. Click me (http://ash.distanteye.org/fish/nano/2007-10-05/100_7815.avi)
(Xvid Mpeg 4 codec)

His skin does seem to change texture & get rough & bumpy at times - this vid shows his colour a bit better, though it is hard to see the texture of the skin.

I guess he has settled in now, perhaps he was stressed from the move & this is his normal state? He is much more active at night now than he was initially, exploring the tank & whatnot where as he used to stay close to his cave.

"Bah!" to your Xvid files!

It works on my linux laptop. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: from me. I seem to remember there's a downloadable Xvid codec somewhere, but M$ and Apple didn't include it as standard.

Anyway, great video... "gimmee that!"

"Bah!" to your Xvid files!

I'll drink to that>:beer:

Ash,
What are you using that produces the videos? Just curious since the codex is not yet standardly available (at least in these parts) and I thought I was finished with hunting up free ones ...

http://www.xvid.org/

or http://n.ethz.ch/student/naegelic/ for mac users

Still no workey.

Im no expert but it looks like Abdopus aculeatus. I worked with one for about 6 months, it made a half coconut shell its home and was an agressive feeder. When it died it was sent off in order to verify the species.

They are found in intertidal zones through out the Philippeans, Indonesia and Northeast Australia... But dont quote me on this :smile:

It would not alwas project its skin papillae, but when it did they were clearly visible. It tended to use a rolling gait to move about the expance of sand, but mostly it tended to sit and wate in its coconut home or sit in the corner edges of the glass aquarium.

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm

Get that & it'll work (PC anyway, no idea about Mac)

Crap excuse for broadband in regional Australia, I have to make it small so it'll upload before it drops out

edit: OK, I'm uploading the MOV format version, it is only about 2mb so it should get uploaded fine.

http://ash.distanteye.org/fish/nano/2007-10-05/100_7815.mov

OK, I did a little more searching - seeing as Diz & someone else suggested Abdopus aculeatus - I googled & a hit on this site brings up this guy, which is spitting image of mine.... http://www.tonmo.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/562/cat/all

So, if that one was accurately IDed I guess I know what mine is now, so specific info on this species? I've been trying to find info about it on this forum & via google but nothing useful specific to this species comes up.

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm

Get that & it'll work (PC anyway, no idea about Mac)

Crap excuse for broadband in regional Australia, I have to make it small so it'll upload before it drops out

edit: OK, I'm uploading the MOV format version, it is only about 2mb so it should get uploaded fine.

http://ash.distanteye.org/fish/nano/2007-10-05/100_7815.mov

Cool. Now I can see it. Very cool little one.

OK, I did a little more searching - seeing as Diz & someone else suggested Abdopus aculeatus - I googled & a hit on this site brings up this guy, which is spitting image of mine.... http://www.tonmo.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/562/cat/all

So, if that one was accurately IDed I guess I know what mine is now, so specific info on this species? I've been trying to find info about it on this forum & via google but nothing useful specific to this species comes up.

Try just searching on aculeatus... when I do a TONMO search on that, I get 155 different threads. For extra confusion, the species used to be named Octopus aculeatus and has been/ is being reclassified as Abdopus aculeatus (I don't remember if there's still argument about that among those who argue about such things, but most of the scientists here seem to accept Abdopus) so many people just say "aculeatus." Unfortunately for googling, there are a number of unrealted animals that are Something aculeatus.

To narrow things down to aculeatus keeping, you might want to look at the "list of our octopuses" that's a sticky thread in journals & photos, and find the name of the octopus and the owner for people who have kept aculeatus, and then search on the octopuses name or get all posts from the owner, or something like that. A number of researchers have kept them, too; I think Mucktopus did a lot of field work with them in particular.

Great tips monty, I'll get onto it.

Ash,
It turns out I had an Xvid Codex but it didn't work with your Australian encoding :wink: (likely broken since I have had problems with media player staying open). The link you sent had some tools that I was dubious to try but elected to remove my existing Xvid and let it clean up my registry for broken codex and everything (including your vids) seems to work well now - THANKS.

Seth is adorable!

Seth has passed away today 29/12/07

He went off his food 3 nights ago & became quite inactive compared to his usual self.

He really didn't grow much if at all in the 3 1/2 months that I had him, so I suppose that would fit with the theory of him being some sort of nocturnal dwarf with a lifespan of only about 6 months.


RIP buddy :goodbye:

sorry dude.

RIP little guy... :cry:

RIP Seth :angelpus:

:goodbye: RIP :boohoo:

RIP Seth....