Meet Oscar...He arrived by Fedex about 2 hours ago as a replacement from saltwaterfish.com. I acclimated, but secured the top after Ickily's journey around my room, 1/2 hour went by, went to check on him so I cut the wire tie, opened the bag and here's this octopus intent on climbing out of the bag. He would have no part of going back in so I ended up picking him up by hand and putting him in the tank. He sat for a while in the open, and now is sitting under a piece of rock eating a crab. They said he's a Caribbean Reef octopus, whatever that means. I'm thinking he may be a dwarf but Mercatis? Seems to be doing very well so far, so keeping fingers crossed!

Congratulations. I truly hope you have a better time with this one than the past few.

I don't think it's an O. mercatoris. How big is Oscar?

Definitely don't think it's mercatoris.... could it be vulgaris with that coloring and skin texture?
:welcome:

(I sense a Sesame Street theme starting here...)

Oscar has eye spots so I don't think Vulgaris. We just returned home and he was plastered on the front of the critter keeper that has crabs in it. Then crawled back to his den trying to disguise himself I think as a snail. He's very cute and only as big as a golf ball curled up. The pictures are not as clear as I'd like as I do not want to freak him with the flash. Isn't he adorable? I'm so happy!!! I've been octoless for too long. And he's acting very normal for a healthy octo so I really have hope!

Ah, sorry... didn't see those in the first pics. Did you mean to say "I'm thinking he may be a dwarf but not Mercatoris?" How many dwarfs are there from the Caribbean besides mercatoris and joubini?

Beautiful! I would be interested to hear what your new octo turns out to be - how big is he currently? - Oops just seen your reference to size!

Good luck with the new octo, hope to hear more soon

Welcome to Oscar!

A Caribbean Reef Octopus is another name for O. briareus. But, of course, it could be just any species.

Looking forward to more photos!

Nancy

A Caribbean Reef Octopus is another name for O. briareus. But, of course, it could be just any species.

Yeah, but the eyes are all wrong for a briareus, plus the ocelli... Does SWF.com import octos?

When Ickily died within 24 hours I emailed them asking if there were chemicals used in collection. They replied an owner was going overseas to check out the facility? But Oscar was identified as a Caribbean two spot octopus, so I'm not sure.

:welcome: Oscar. Hummelincki is usually the only species named as 2-spot in the Western North Atlantic, but he looks different :hmm:

:welcome: Oscar. Hummelincki is usually the only species named as 2-spot in the Western North Atlantic, but he looks different :hmm:

Ah, but looking different doesn't mean much when you're talking about octopuses.

Considering the supplier and the origin... I say hummelincki.

He's very curious. We just got home and he was positioned under the critter pen eating a hermit crab. Did some tank pacing/swimming and now is perched on the red piece of lava rock. And we think we are observing him....how silly are we? So I agree with hummelincki also called the bumblebee two spot carabbean octopus. Is this a dwarf species?

No, not a dwarf. D's Octane is pretty bulky.

Today, I had not seen Oscar since last night. Looked all over the tank with a flashlight, no sign, so I checked for wet trails outside of the tank, nothing. Went to work, upon arriving back home first thing I checked is Oscars tank. There he is perched on the giant green mega block. At first I thought nothing of it, but he came off and right over to the front of the tank, by the water line and sat there looking at me. I went and got a crab, which he took from my hand and then proceeded to climb down the front glass, over to my fake plant, scaled the plant and went back inside the green lego. He’s now inside with the crab dangling out, eating the crab. This is a first. In all the octopuses I have had the pleasure to experience in my home, none of them has ever thought to make this lego a den! Funny thing is with the weight of the crab, he does not float at the surface like he did. And he's discovered the baby keys work very well as a door.

Sorry so late in posting but the first picture pretty well IDed him as Hummelincki. One of the traits that is obvious and more consistent than the eyespot (you will see it a lot though and in different hues) is that set of brown stripes that run most of the actual head and through the eye and is visible in your second photo (actually visible most of the time but not always solid and not always dark). All the other photos show phases I have often seen and are in Octane's journal. Unfortunatley, that purple spikey look that makes him look small and cute (shown at the beginning of Octane's journal and left side post #4) is rarely seen now. I have no idea why, I still see minute by minute color changes just not the purple spikey.

When he swims, Tane's body size is as big as a large briareus but the arms are only about 1.5 times the mantle (he seems to be the largest of this species posted). He can stretch out an arm to about 18" (judging from my 2' deep tank). I have my fingers crossed for Oscar as I worry, based solely on the death rate from that supplier, that they may be using something like dish soap (not illegal) to catch them. Judging from the way Octane was caught and the way the one I saw in the wild reacted after it became accustom to me, it is not necessary to use anything to sedate them.

As for the possible propensity to escape, I am more inclined to think it is curiosity or a need for swimming space. Octane only seems interested in the top of the tank when he is getting human attention, particularly MY attention. After his two journies to the tile floor, he seems to be more inclined to see if I will catch him trying than actually wanting out. We have agreed that he can venture out of the water at the back of the tank without restraint (the top is split 2/3 - 1/3 and the back stays closed so there is no chance of leaving the tank). He will put up an arm over the tank on the restricted side but immediately withdraw it if I just touch the top of his arm (unlike previously where he would really try to escape and keep trying with multiple arms). Once "caught in the act" he will often go to the back and climb "out" of the water but not leave the area where we are "playing". The back has a pipe that he can crawl on (DIY overflow) and that seems to satisfy him (at least for the time being) for his short foray out of the water. So, I guess my answer to your thought is that yes they have to be watched very carefully with the tank lid open but no, I do not worry about Octane trying to squeeze through a tiny opening or even if the cover is down but not latched. I have not seen him squeeze through any particularly small places at all. He will slide behind things that require him to flatten a bit but he does not seem to ooze anywhere. I have wondered if he is as malable as some of the others.

Good thinking on the camera flash. Octane does not like the camera and I have stopped taking most flash pictures of him to try to make him more comfortable when it is present. I am almost sure it is the flash that makes him unhappy (sometimes he will sit still and stop playing or go behind his live rock when he sees the camera). Octane is definitely diurnal but I notice that his eyes are usually barely visible with my current lighting. It is rare that I see them as open as in your first picture so I suspect they are (or at least Octane is) light sensitive.

The more time I take with Octane, the more he seems to want attention. I always "play" with him after supper until he decides to stop and he expects this contact time nightly. My son said he was flashing behind my back tonight just as supper was finished but when I turned around to look at him, he stopped flashing and came to the front corner of the tank. If someone comes over at a different time, he will put on a petting show with little encouragement. Strangely enough, I generally do not feed him so food is not a factor. He is so used to me now that he will come up and squeeze (not a tight squeeze, just a gentle full touch) through my hand and allow touching the tops of his arms (strangely touching the mantle was the first thing that was accepted, the arms the last) as well as tickling his suction cups.

Sorry for the long post :rainbow: Can you tell I am enthusiastic? :wink:

7-22-08

Every time I look in Oscars tank he’s in a different spot, perched watching us. At first when I tapped on the tank, all I could see was a periscope eyeball. Next time he was sitting in the orange coral, perched on the Eheim tube and now he’s sitting in the leaves of the plastic plant. Tonight Jess and I went collecting. We brought home mussels and some snails. He seems to like being hand fed. And he likes mussels. Took it from my hand and then proceeded to grab my finger and try to run away with the mussel and finger.. I have always been cautious with using the flash as I want them to befriend the camera and not run away from it. I remember one of my octopuses I accidentally flashed and it took him a good week not to run away as soon as he saw the camera. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that maybe they did not use dish soap to capture him. I’m getting attached and it’s only Day 3.

1 week today....Oscar seems to be doing very well. I knock on his tank and an eyeball appears, from many different areas of the tank. I think he's finishing off the snail and crab population as he is never out hunting. Once the food level drops, I think I will see more of him.

3 Weeks today and Oscar is doing very well. He loves to collect shells. Yesterday I saw about 5 shells being hauled up the side of a piece of coral. 5 minutes later, I heard something fall and realized it was the coral. Apparently Oscar had knocked it over and then sat looking confused as to why he was out in full sight.

Congrats! Glad Oscar is doing well. I hope we all get to enjoy him for many more months to come!

hummm, I wonder if Oscar is Olivia. Is he showing a curled arm yet? I could be Octane's behavior is not typical but he has never moved much around the aquarium. He has collected a live clam that he keeps in his sleeping quarters (could be that I don't have many properly sized shells or that he was much older when collected) and one rock gets moved from time to time but I have never seen him actively collecting debris.

Not sure, as it's not a brooding/den building behavior. He just hauls them around. Shells are appearing all over the tank on top of rocks, corals etc. He's been seeking me out more for food and is quite animated upon attack of his prey. Goes into the twitching cone head as he stalks a crab.

Octane used to do the cone head thing and turn half of it dark brown when hunting but I have not seen the look in a long time. He is a very lazy eater any more and kind of flops over for Neal to put a shrimp directly on his beak. He seems to need to fast about once a week but I make sure there are live crabs in the tank when he "isn't hungry". He usually will eat them, eventually, but we never see him actively catching them (I do see them in his maw though) now.

Today I'm looking all over the tank for Oscar and realized he was strategically plastered to the front corner of the tank. He hung there for almost 2 hours watching us, till I dangled a crab. He startled me by swimming to my hand, grabbed the crab and retreated to a shell he's been living in to dine. I'm starting to think the twitching, cone head act is just that as he has no fear of me.

Octane has done the disappearing in plain site act often. So much so that when I don't see him immediately, I scan the front first then start looking in the back.

5 weeks since Oscar arrived. He is getting more and more curious. I am seeing some amazing shape/texture/color changes. He reminds me of G2 who was a master at so many different looks. He is starting to seek us out, and will be plastered to the front of the tank until someone notices him. Tonight he swam from the back of the tank as soon as I approached the tank and then proceeded to act scared with two very distinct looks, going from his zebra/spiky look to the twitching cone head. He continues to eat on a daily basis and has almost depleted my stock of over 30 crabs. He is ready to go up to the next size food which will be a 2" shell. I am very pleased at how he's been progressing and very happy to have what appears to be a very healthy, happy, full of attitude and curiosity octopus in my home after so many failures. I can see how people get discouraged as even if you are adept at determining what kind you are buying, there are so many factors that can come into play such as how they handle the stress of shipping, to what method was used in their capture. I am so for captive bred, but if I see one already in place in a shop, I feel they would do best to come home with me. Still keeping fingers crossed, but not so tightly!!:smile:

Happy to hear that things are working out for you and Oscar. He's a fortunate octopus because you can provide such a variety of live food for him, living near the ocean as you do.

Nancy

Thanks for the good report. Even if it is tough going at my zoo, it is so encouraging to hear that things are working out for others right now. I am keeping my fingers crossed for Al, but it's good to remember that experienced keepers got to be "experienced" by just doing it! Posts like this make me take heart and keep up the hard work and careful husbandry!:sun:

7 weeks! Oscar continues to grow and do very well. He inks on occasion, but the brown ink and very little. I noticed when he swims, he curls the ends of his legs. I had to go collect the next size crab for food. He continues to eat on a daily basis. He plays! More than once I'll look over at the tank and he's playing with the green lego and baby keys. He tries to scale the plastic plant but now he is too heavy to run up it like he did in the beginning. And positive id for O. Hummelincki (filosus) as D's new octopus has the same markings!:smile:

2 months and 1 week! Oscar has graduated to the baitshops greencrabs. The first crab was so much bigger, about a 2" shell, he stayed out in the open eating it. I got a great pic of his eyespot!!

Carol,
There is no question in my mind that Oscar and Octane are the same species BUT... I am going to add confusion to the identification of species. I have been a little bothered (and I think Nancy has been also) by the single definition of the eyespot in Norman and what we see in the Oscar/Octane species. This only bothered me a little until we got Serendipity and her eyespot MATCHES the one in Norman (the blue is an iridescent, unbroken circular BAND and not the vibrant blue disk surrounded by orange) and not the Oscar/Octane spot. Serendipity's spot has not shown any color until tonight when I saw the thin band glow as if it were lighted, the rest of the spot, however, has only shown brown and I have not seen the orange surrounding dots.

There is also a slight difference in the eye/mantle connections that can't be ignored. Serendipity shows a thinning behind the eyes that gives her somewhat of an appearance of an adopus when it sits with its eyes erect. Sometimes, however, the eyes and mantle merge like Oscar/Octane's normal look. Time will tell if the differences are from baby to adult or possibly male to female. Can you tell yet if Oscar is male? I did not detect enlarged suckers on any forward arms but at some point Octane kept his third arm obviously curled.

Oscar is doing very well. He eats on a daily basis. Jess and I need to go collecting. It so easy to just go to the baitshop for green crabs, but I know he likes the local snails as well. We tried the defrosted tiger shrimp and he rejected it. He plays on a daily basis also with the green lego and the baby keys and I have found him watching the tv. He also will sit perched on the cleaning magnet watching me. And I have to admit.....I flashed him as he was eating a large green crab but it does not seem to have affected him as he still comes out when he see's the camera.