Live Aquaria octopus from Mexico

**DWhatley** · Mar 11, '12, 12:49am

I received an Indonesian octopus when ordering one from Mexico.

I was excited about LA finally showing animals from Mexico. Besides the very short remaining life span of the Abdopus furnished by LA, I prefer animals from the Gulf of Mexico because of potential health risks associated with some of the Caribbean animals (explicitly concerns with resistence to vibro bacteria commonly found in animals from the Caribbean). I have succsully place a couple of non-Caribbean animals in my tanks but tend to avoid doing so.

Many live animal facilities reserve the right to substitute and animal of equal or greater value than the one specified. I could not find this statement on LA's site but it may well be there. Additionally, I do not like to complain about LA as their shipping is second to none as is their guarantee. Unfortunately, the animals that interest us most are imported outside the protective environment provided by the primary facility so the control is not as strict.

Here is the email I sent to encourage more attention to the issue:

Live Aquaria Customer Support

I place and received the referenced order for an octopus from Mexico. The animal I received was an Indonesian octopus in the Abdopus family. The octopus was, as always, well packaged and in good condition but I wish to complain about substitution. I have avoided ordering the Indonesian animals because they have typically been older females that brood within a week or two of shipment or small nocturnals that are rarely seen. Additionally, I keep aquariums with animals native to the Gulf of Mexico and feel that keeping the inhabitants from a closely related area provides the best opportunity for minimizing exposure to pathogens not common to the animals placed in the aquarium. This is the first time I have noted you having animals from Mexico available and I was excited to try one after a fellow enthusiast place an order earlier in the week that established it was clearly not an Indonesian species.

I don’t know of a resolution to this incident as I would not risk the animal by returning it. I appreciate Live Aquaria offering octopuses as they are difficult for keepers to source but would request that this kind of substitution not be made without the consent of the aquarist.

Order Number: A2824164
Shipping Category 1: Fish/Corals/Inverts/Tank Cleaners/Algae - Ships from California
Item Details:
CN-77445 SW - Octopus, Assorted (Mexico) - Medium Qty: 1, Price: $49.99 each = $49.99
Subtotal: $49.99
FedEx Std. Overnight Air: $34.99
Shipping Category 1 Sub-total: $84.98

**Thales** · Mar 11, '12, 9:07pm

Bummer D, was this one from the CA facility or the WI facility?

**DWhatley** · Mar 11, '12, 10:47pm

Definitely CA

**Thales** · Mar 12, '12, 1:09am

Ah. I saw pics of those last week, and could easily understand them getting confused as to which were which.

**DWhatley** · Mar 12, '12, 1:29am

Thales, I saw CaptFish's photos and I would beg to differ (assuming you are used to looking a octopuses

). I am really kind of bummed out. Ziggy is cute but will probably brood in a week or less as well as being nocturnal and I was really excited about keeping either a hummelincki or something new. I would not have ordered an Indonesian animal and with money being so tight, it is doubley disappointing. It is not hard to use a grease pencil and mark a tank ... just saying.

I also have slight concerns about Vibro. Not from Ziggy but from my Caribbeans. I am pretty sure Vibro is NOT the problem with Diego and suspect something internal but only keeping another Bimac will give me a clue if it is tank related. Vibro is so common in the keys that most animals both carry it and have a resistence (at least this is what I learned from keeping seahorses and saw its impact when mixing Erectus with other species). I have not kept horses in any of the tanks that now have octopuses but the concern says in my mind. I have kept two Indonesian in the tank that is now Diego's and nothing suggested there is a problem so I will admit the concern is not high on my list.

**iAlex** · Mar 12, '12, 2:16am

Have they responded to the email yet?

**DWhatley** · Mar 12, '12, 2:30am

No, but it is the weekend and I only wrote it on Sat night

**iAlex** · Mar 12, '12, 2:48am

Last time I sent them an email they had somebody call me a few hours later telling me had like a $30 or $40 refund while I was at work.

**Neogonodactylus** · Mar 12, '12, 10:17am

Several of the animals I've seen coming out of LA recently have been O. digueti. They are not from the Gulf of Mexico, but from the Pacific coast.

Roy

**DWhatley** · Mar 12, '12, 8:12pm

Thanks Roy,
I have never seen O. digueti but from your photos I have always assumed it would strongly resemble O. mercatoris (and from Greg's comments a merc like animal that bites with a bit of a punch). The animal that CaptFish received looks nothing like a merc and the one I have is definitely nothing like a merc and very much like a miniture, (likely nocturnal) aculeatus.

I would love for you to look at the two references and get your guess on both. Dave's look very O. hummelincki without the eye spot from the photos but he feels stongly it is not that species. I think you will agree mine is Indonesian.

**iAlex** · Mar 14, '12, 12:19pm

Have they responded now?

**DWhatley** · Mar 14, '12, 10:36pm

Not a word but my email was open ended and I was not seeking a refund but a hope of attention. I would have expected lip service anyway but I expect my complaint found its way to the trash can without further review. I met some of the employees at MACNA last year and they were very dedicated to the hobby and animals but to serve the industry, the import (ie California) facility seems necessary to create variety. A shame but we would not have this source of octopuses without it as well as a host of other imports and the consumer drives the market.

**Thales** · Mar 15, '12, 10:57pm

You should ask for you money back. Give them a call and give them a chance to make it right.
For better or worse, people in the industry just don't know octos, and everyone ordering them should know they are taking a risk if they are ordering something 'special'. The California facility is a massive importer/wholesaler with massive turnover, so the idea of octos getting mixed up does not surprise me at all. I don't like it, but that is the way of the world. Every time I order cephs, I cross my fingers and that doesn't always work.

**DWhatley** · Mar 16, '12, 12:56am

... and that is WHY I am not asking for a refund. The animal arrived healthy and we are very limited in our choice of suppliers. If I can expose a bit of sloppiness and they pay attention, great but I don't want to be part of a reason to stop supplying them.