IM JUST CURIOUS BECAUSE I THREW A FIDDLER IN THE TANK AND MY OCTOPUS WENT RIGHT PAST HIM, I MEAN AN INCH AWAY AND THESE FIDDLERS ARE BIG! HES GOT HIS HUNTING COLORS FLASHING LIKE HE KNOWS SOMETHINGS AROUND BUT HE CANT PIN POINT IT. ITS DONE THIS A FEW TIMES AND IM JUST CURIOUS IF THEY REPLY MORE ON SEEING THAN SMELLING THE PREY?

Caps lock is an annoyance

Octos have well developed senses of sight and smell/taste

I WAS JUST CURIOUS, THANKS!

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h9/Opcnup/keyboard4.jpg
Seven sixteenths of one inch, that's the distance you'd have to move your pinky.

lol

wow someone is a little cranky!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!LOL

Its actually 1/4th inch on my laptop

TURN THE CAPS LOCK OFF ITS REALLY EASY!!!!!!!!!

chris

How old and/or big is your octopus? As they near the end of their lives, their eyesight seems to diminish. The other possibility is that the fiddler was too close to the octopus. My cuttles have to be a certain distance away from a shrimp in order to catch it. If the shrimp is too close, they have to back up in order to take aim. It would depend on how your octopus hunts.

TURN THE CAPS LOCK OFF ITS REALLY EASY!!!!!!!!!

chris

irony: an all caps message with a missing apostrophe and 9 exclamation marks joining in to complain about someone's overzealous use of capital letters.

Although I found the original message is somewhat annoying to read, I wasn't terribly impressed with the style in all of the responses, either... and I'd prefer not to make people with legitimate octopus questions feel attacked too much around here. It's worth noting that there are punctuation, spelling, or grammar errors in every post in the thread except for nickcoletti's second post (and maybe this one, if I'm lucky.)
(edit: and Cuttlegirl's post, who snuck in as I was typing this one.)

To address the original question: octopuses hunt both visually and by using a their suckers to taste, smell, and touch. They certainly recognize prey visually when it's in sight, but they often reach into nooks and crannies seeking food, even if they can't see it. I'm not sure if many studies have been done about long-distance chemical sensing like smell... Hanlon & Messenger suggest that the research that has been done shows that smell is an important factor in finding food for octopuses in particular. Octopus suckers have about 100 times as many smell/taste sensing cells as squids and cuttles, who hunt mostly visually. Cephs also have olfactory organs near their eyes, but very little is known about their use relative to the suckers' sense of smell.

I don't know why your octo would be ignoring the crab, though... usually, they're very good at being aware of their prey by both smell and sight, and if it was showing hunting patterning, it seems likely it was aware of where the crab was. Maybe it's either "playing cat and mouse" with the crab, or it wants to eat the crab but thinks it's too big to handle?

It's worth noting that there are punctuation, spelling, or grammar errors in every post in the thread except for nickcoletti's second post (and maybe this one, if I'm lucky.)
I thought proper usage was to have the period outside the parens, unless the entire statement was in parens, in which case it should be inside.

Example:

I went to the park (the one with all the ferocious octopuses).

vs.

I went to the park. (I hate that park.)

But that might just be a rule in my own head...

:nofeet:

But that might just be a rule in my own head...


No, it's not in your own head, you're correct. :grin:

ok, so I'm not lucky (:oops:).

yeesh. I've been doing that wrong since high school, I guess. I was taught that parentheses had the same weird typographic-aesthetic rule as quotes for including the punctuation inside, unless the expression is very short. Since my point was that s/he who is without linguistic sin should cast the first stone, though, that just rules out me out along with everyone but Cuttlegirl and Tony from complaining harshly....

Can we get back to talking about octopuses now?

I am QuitE! Hedonistic when, it comes to (linguistic) "sin".

just for the principle im going to finish in CAPS, FROM WHAT I KNOW MY OCTO IS ONLY ABOUT 6-7 MONTHS, AND NO ITS NOT THAT ITS TO CONTINUES TO LOOK ALL NIGHT. ITS NOT EVERY TIME I FEED JUST ONCE IN A WHILE. I CAN TELL HE HAS NO CLUE THAT ITS THERE AND THE CRABS I FEED ARE BIG. MAYBE BEING CAPTIVE RAISED HAS SOMTHING TO DO WITH IT BECAUSE WHEN I FIRST GOT IT IT HAD NO HUNTING SKILLS WHAT SO EVER IT SEEMED. thanks for the "real help" cuttle girl and monty! OPCN, THANKS ALSO FOR YOUR HELPFULL $.02!!

The only person I know that types with all caps is my grandmother, but that's because she can't see a damn thing. But her grammer and punctuation is spot on because she was a secretary for years and years. She probably still types faster than me as well.

I pretty much disregard it. If you've been using the internet for any substantial amount of time, and haven't learned to care about that particular bit of culture, then I don't have a lot of hope for you. Typing in caps out of principle? What misguided priciples do you live your life by? Does that mean that you will torture your pets "out of priniciple" when someone suggests that you shouldn't?

Sorry Tony/Monty/Cuttlegirl, I really don't have anything topical to say.

^ That seemed harshly unnecessary...^

Brock, it probably was, but understand that adults tend to view these things very differently. People in just about every field are beginning to get resumes from new graduates that disregard the time-tested conventions of our language. It's frightening because it suggests that the entire "cell phone generation" is lacking critical skills necessary for coherent communication. I believe the single most important thing a young person of any age should do to prepare themselves for success in our new digital world is to give up the "internet shorthand" in all forms, even when emailing or messaging with friends. I've noticed in my scant teaching experience that the more students get used to using a shorthand the more difficult it is to use proper form in assignments. All the little rules: punctuation inside quotes, it's vs. its, they're vs. their vs. there; they all get forgotten because they're not being reinforced every day. It is essential that students get used to typing properly because when they get out in the real world they'll be expected to, and many will be in over their heads.

I truly apologize for taking this further off topic, but I think there might be a greater good served for our younger members to understand why there's often a "grammar police" on boards like this.

Dan

i must have missed the memo on this forum.... i haven't been in here for about month or 2, you people are pathetic now! i ask a real question just out of curiosity and the first response i get is "cap locks is an annoyance". what the real annoyance here in my eyes is each and everyone of you that went off subject which for most part is everyone. this is a ceph forum, its not an English class, and more importantly its not a forum 101 class. i went from enjoying this forum and reading it all the time to it just making me sick in just one thread, im afraid to post or comment another one....I MIGHT THROW UP! <---(did i use the caps correct, is the spelling and grammar right???)

There was no memo on the forum. Okay, let's try this again.

1) We are not pathetic. Caps lock is, the English language is not to be mutilated.

2) In order to get questions answered, one must make sure that others understand and do NOT act like a annoyance.

3) Your eyes =/= Our eyes. If you have problem with certain members or the way we do things here. Log off and remove this website from your memory.

4) This is a forum that utilises English, not CAPSLOCKNESE or nickcolettinese.

5) Go to school, learn English or go to any self respecting forum you wish. You will come upon the conclusion that BOLD LETTERS AND CAPITAL LETTERS are used to highlight or emphasis a point. Your usage of it is the Net Equivalent of shouting in a library, which is bad.

6) I am personally glad that you enjoy reading the forum, BECUASE IF WE ALL TYPE LIKE THIS IT WOULD BE ANNOYING FOR THE REST OF US AND MAKE IT NOT ENJOYABLE.

As far as your question is concerned, I am no expert in the field, but considering that Octo's seem to have good vision in the animal kingdom, it would be safe to assume that eyesight would play a role in hunting. But octos do not have a nose, do they detect minute changes in "water flavor" with their suckers, I do not know.

Ok, everyone. :chillpil: please.

In all this grammar stuff, many people have valid points, but most of the posts (probably even mine) were too belligerent by my standards.

I think a lot of the "regulars" here would prefer that people make an effort to write in a traditional, readable style, and see it as disrespectful when people expect readers to deal with their TXT MSG STYL PSTS. But I'd vastly prefer that this be a polite request, not an opportunity to browbeat or ridicule people to get them to change.

Ok, to get back to the topic, I have a few more questions...

What species is your octopus? Can you describe the usual hunt and capture sequence of your octopus? Some octopus hunt by enveloping a coral head, sticking their tentacles into the crevices and fishing out prey.

cuttle girl, you have been the most respectful out of everyone in this post and i want to personally thank you for being the way you are. its not like i made a new post with a lot of bad language and rude remarks, i just asked a question expecting a responsible post back which i did not receive. im to the point know where like i said before that these people disgust me, i do not even want to continue with octopus talk, and seeing the way people have been acting, i do not even want come back to this forum. these are not my kind of people... thanks anyways for trying to pull this thread back on the right track but its been wrong ever since "caps lock in an annoyance"....

I've made a new thread on caps lock Here (http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?p=96033#post96033),so now this thread can stay on topic

I'm interested to know if octopuses can smell too, as right now my water is quite garlic-y, and while I expect all the garlic to be out of the water by the time I can get my octopus, it would be nice to know if it will affect him at all.

As for proper grammar and the like, it is essential to capitalize, punctuate, and spell, as accurately as possible so as to not turn away the majority of forum readers. An off spelling here or there doesn't matter, and when you type correctly it makes people think more highly of you and makes you sound smarter, which is always a plus especially if you don't really know what you are talking about :grin:.

A good example on how proper grammar can affect site traffic is my recent visit to clamsdirect.com. You see, I have an interest in clams as well as cephs, and I found clamsdirect on google or reefcentral or something like that, and they sounded like a good place and people liked them so I went on to the forums to see if I could learn more about clams. I look at a few topics that interest me and while answers there seem to be educated, not only members, but mods too (a BIG forum turnoff for me) talk without capitalizing I, putting a period at the end of a sentence, and most the time they would use the wrong usage (IE there, their, they're). I have not been back there since.

I haven't checked nickcoletti's age, and this is not geared toward just him/her, but I do realize there is a time in most young people's lives that it is a lot of work to do all the things that make a good looking post what it is. I realized that people like other people a lot better when they use correct grammar four or five years ago (I was about 11 or 12), and I think I get more respect for doing my best at typing correctly.


If you prefer you may read the following instead of the above: (Also may be a good laugh if you can decipher it.)


IMM INTARESTAD 2 KNOW IF OC2PUESS CAN SM3L 2 AS RIGHT NOW MAH W8R SI QUIET GARLIC-Y AND WHIEL I EXP3CT AL DA GARLIC 2 B OUT OF TEH W8R BY DA TIEM I CAN GET MAH OC2PUS IT WUD B NIEC 2 KNOW IF IT WIL AFECT HIM AT AL

AS!11!!1!! WTF FOR PROP3R GRMMAR AND TEH LIEK IT SI ASANTIAL 2 CAPITALIEZ PUNCTUAET AND SPEL AS ACURAETLEY AS POSIBLE SO AS 2 NOT TURN AWAY DA MAJORITY OF FORUM REAEDRS!11!!1 OMG WTF AN OF SPELNG HERE OR THEYRE DO3SNT MAT3R AND WHEN U TYPE CORECTLEY IT MAEKS PEOPLE THINK MOR3 HIGHLEY OF U AND MAEKS U SOUND SMARTAR WHICH SI ALWAYS A PLUS 3SPECIALY IF U DONT RILLY KNOW WUT U R TOKNG ABOUT :grin:

A!!!1!1 WTF GOD 3XMPLE ON HOW PROPAR GRMMAR CAN AFECT SIET TRAFIC SI MAH RECANT VISIT 2 CLMSDIERCTCOM!!1!!!11 LOL U SE I HAEV AN INT3R3ST IN CLMS AS W3L AS CEPHS AND I FOUND CLMSDIERCT ON GOGL3 OR REFCANTRAL OR SOMATHNG LIEK TAHT AND THAY SOUNDED LIEK A GOD PLAEC AND PEOPLE LIEKD THAM SO I WENT ON 2 DA FORUMS 2 SE IF I CUD LEARN MOR3 ABOUT CLMS!!11!!!! WTF I LOK AT A FAW 2PIS TAHT INTER3ST MA AND WHIEL ANSWERS THEYRE SEM 2 B ADUCAETD NOT ONLEY MEMBRS BUT MODS 2 (A BIG FORUM TURNOF FOR M3) TOK WITHOUT CAPITALIZNG I PUTNG A PERIOD AT DA END OF A SENTANC3 AND MOST DA TIEM TH3Y WUD UES DA WRONG USAEG (EI THERE THEIR THAYRE)!!111!11! WTF LOL I HAEV NOT BAN BAK THEYRE SINC3

I!!1!1 WTF HAEVNT CHEKED NIKOL3TIS AEG AND THES SI NOT GAAERD 2WARD JUST HIM/HAR BUT I DO R3ALIEZ THEYRE SI A TIEM IN MOST U PEOPLES LIEVS TAHT IT SI A LOT OF WORK 2 DO AL DA THNGS TAHT MAEK A GOD LOKNG POST WUT IT IS!!111!! LOL I REALIEZD TAHT PAOPL3 LIEK OTHAR PAOPL3 A LOT BTER WHEN THAY UES CORACT GRMMAR FOUR OR FIEV Y3ARS AGO (I WAS ABOUT 1 OR 12) AND I THINK I GAT MORA RESPACT FOR DONG MAH BST AT TYPNG CORECTLEY!!!!!111! OMG LOL


Which did you prefer?

Nick,

Please hang in there, you have a legitimate question that has raised some interesting possibilities. The behavior could be species-specific, could be related to age or be an effect of being captive-bred.

I'm interested to know if octopuses can smell too, as right now my water is quite garlic-y, and while I expect all the garlic to be out of the water by the time I can get my octopus, it would be nice to know if it will affect him at all.



Why does your water smell like garlic?

Wow, this is a little too much octopus-speak. But on the serious side, if you want to read something fun about punctuation, I highly recommend the book "Eats, Shoots & Leaves", by Lynne Truss. You will never be the same afterwards. Zyan

I was trying to treat my fish for ich. It didn't work though, all the fishies died, so my water has a bit of garlic smell to it. Like I said in the other post, water changes and the like will probably get rid of most if not all the garlic by late July or early August; when my tank will be 3 months cycled.

Shipposhack,
What were you using to try to cure ich? The normal treatment is a formaline base, generally with meth-green (to help with breathing, I think, since formaline causes problems with either oxygen absorbtion or directly lowering oxygen levels - don't know which) and there is nothing closely related to a garlic smell from that!

I was using Kent Marine's Garlic Xtreme. It wasn't a bad case of ich, but all my fish died pretty much directly after use. So I think it was something else that killed them but I dunno.

I have used a small amount of it to try to encourage seahorses in QT/hospital tank to eat but have never heard of using it for ich. I am not sure what an over dose would do to the water/oxygen though.

Ya it's like a natural immune system booster (or something like that) and it's supposed to help the fish fight off parasites. It's a pretty common thing now, you should look around a little and you will probably find people talking about it for treatment. It's popular because you can treat it right into the show tank and it's safe to use with corals. It's also an appetite stimulator.

I haven't seen any evidence that its anything more than snake oil.

Dan,
Yea, that is pretty much my take on it but I did try it since seahorses being treated with Diamox loose their appetite and you may loose them to starvation in stead of the GBS you were treating. I do, on the other hand, enrich with Beta Glucan and include it in our vitamins when it is flu season :roll: