TONMO.com Mailbag (Year 2002)

9/16/02 (Nancy)

Hello,

I was curious as to whether or not octopi are poisonous. If so, what exactly about them is poisonous? Thank you.

--Ally

Hi Ally,

First of all, lets look at that word "poisonous". Although we use this word loosly in the US, it really means "poisonous when eaten". I imagine you are really asking, are octopuses "venomous". That is, do they have venom that they can somehow inject into another animal, paralyzing or killing it?

The answer is this: all octopuses are venomous. Their saliva contains a mixture of strong neurotoxins (venom) used to immobilize their prey. They use their beak and/or tongue to make a wound into which the toxic saliva can be squirted.

The amount and type of toxins in the saliva varies. The most venomous we know of are the Blue-ringed octopuses, found around Australia and the eastern Indo-Pacific. These have bacteria in their salivary glands that produce a powerful nerve toxin, tetrodotoxin (TTX). This toxin paralyzes the victim, who remains conscious but loses control of voluntary muscles and will die from lack of oxygen if not given respiratory support. Several human deaths have been attributed to bites from this small, attractive octopus, and there have been many near fatalities.

It is hard to determine the toxicity of the many other octopuses, because they don't tend to bite humans or because we haven't had much contact with them. Among those people keeping small octopuses as pets, I was unable to find a single example of anyone being bitten. Dr. Roy Caldwell mentioned that whenever he'd been bitten, it was purely defensive on the part of the octopus. Usually it has occurred in the field while trying to capture an animal or in the lab trying to catch an escapee. (including one that got lose on an airplane!)

I asked him to comment on other especially toxic octopuses, and he replied that the only other octopuses he knows of that cause problems for humans are the Pacific Red octopus, O. rubescens (bite causes something like a bee sting), and O. mototi, which the natives of Rapa say are poisonous.

There is also some speculation about the Wunderpus and Mimic octopuses, which because of their coloring and the fact that they move about openly by day, suggest they have the protection of being poisonous or venomous, but we don't know whether this is true.

You might be interested in reading the following article by Dr. Caldwell:

Death in a Pretty Package: The Blue-Ringed Octopuses

Hope this helps,

Nancy

Thanks to Dr. Roy Caldwell and Colin Dunlop for providing information for this reply.

8/12/02 (Nancy)

I'm a student at Aberdeen University in Marine Biology. Was hoping you would be able to help me. I have been looking very hard to find conservation groups dealing with Octopus... unsuccessfully! If you would be able to refer any good sites or groups that you think would cover this area I would be very greatful. Thank you for your time.

Stacey

p.s - Love the [online] magazine!

Hello Stacey,

I think your search for convervation groups dealing with octopus did yield correct results. There is a good reason why you haven't been able to find information on groups dealing with octopus conservation.

It's necessary to find out whether octopuses are endangered, and you may already have done this. There is really only one organization that deals with protected species, and that is CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, www.cites.org). By checking the database, we find that no species of octopus is covered by CITES and designated as a protected species. In addition, octopuses are not covered by CITES for any other reason.

The International Union for Conservation of Natural Resources (IUCN) maintains what is considered the most up-to-date list of endangered species. Looking in the 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (www.redlist.org), once again we find no species of octopus listed.

This means that no species of octopus has been identified as threatened. It may be that we simply do not have enough data to determine that a given octopus species is endangered. However, because no species of octopus is considered endangered, it is unlikely that any group would undertake conservation efforts.

Keep looking - this could change!

All the best,

Nancy (with thanks to Colin for help with the research)

7/12/2002

If you hand feed an octopus is there anything you need to be careful not to touch? Do they ever try to bite?Is it okay for them to grab onto your hand? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks,
Marc

Hi Marc,

First of all, it makes a big difference as to whether you know what species of octopus you are planning on hand feeding? It is worth knowing that some species are venomous enough to kill a person! You should also consider that ALL octopus species are venomous to a certain extent.

The danger actually lies within the octopus's salivary glands. And some species like Hapalochlaena sp. The Blue Ring Octopuses' saliva contains the powerful nerve toxin known as tetrodotoxin. Obviously, hand feeding a species like this could be hazardous to your health.

As far as the hand feeding of less dangerous species commonly kept as pets, there are two main things to consider...

Firstly, they are still wild animals and will bite if provoked or threatened. That may even include the offering of food. A large hand, whether offering food or not may be seen as a threat and produce a fight or flight response.

Secondly, an octopus, unfamiliar with a hand may often bite to see whether the hand is something edible or not. At worst this normally feels like a small scratch.

Personally, I do tend to hand feed my cephs but normally I let them get used to being fed via a rigid piece of airline tube or similar first. Then use my hands once I know how they will react. It is not something that everyone would want to do.

If an octopus does hold on, it is important not to yank your hand away if it does give you a fright as this may hurt the octopus. As I always say about working with animals, "Doesn't matter what species it is or how well you know the individual; always expect to be bitten" That has seen me through ants to alligators.

Hope that helps.... be careful!

Colin Dunlop (OctoMonkey)
Cephalopod Care Content Contributor and Board Moderator, TONMO.com

7/7/2002

I just ordered one of these for my desk at work and thought your readers would be interested. Not sure if this has ever appeared on your site:

Octopus in a Bottle

Joey

Nice! Thanks for sharing. I'm sure that will be an interesting conversation piece for you and your co-workers. Hopefully no-one will mistake it for one of those things that you shake to create a snow-scene.

Regards,
Tony Morelli, Founder, Editor, Webmaster, TONMO.com

6/25/2002

Perhaps you would enjoy a song called "The Love Life of the Octopus" from the Hoboken band Yo La Tengo's score for the undersea documentaries of Jean Painleve.

http://www.yolatengo.com/audio/merch.html

...or at least enjoy the fact that a song with such a title exists.

-- John P.

* I like it a lot! Sounds very much like Pink Floyd circa 1970. I listened to it in its entirety (twice!) while editing this edition of TONMO.com. I encourage others to do the same while reading the site and persuing the Message Board... but it's the kind of thing you'll either enjoy or you won't. There's not much in between. Thanks for sharing!

Regards,
Tony Morelli, Founder, Editor, Webmaster, TONMO.com

6/17/02
What follows is an email discussion between TONMO.com Staff member Colin Dunlop (OctoMonkey) and Sandy, a member of the TONMO.com community. Sandy's text appears in black; Colin's in blue italics.

6/17/2002

I have been pondering the idea of undertaking the keeping of an octopus tank. I already have a 55 gallon tank with a divider which houses a clown fish, stars and anemones on one side. And a dog face panda puffer on the other. I also have a wonderful 15 gallon reef with soft corals, anemones, stars, shrimp and 2 clowns. I have been in the hobby for approximately 6 yrs. I wanted to do another tank with something other than fish or reef. I have read and heard horror stories on how difficult it is to maintain a tank for an octopus

... I gave up hope for awhile than I came across your site

... If I may I would like to pick your brain!

Welcome to TONMO.com! There are a lot of silly stories out there regarding the keeping of octopuses and cuttlefish as pets in aquariums. Most of this is simply because the animals are misunderstood. We strive to discuss and comment on actual facts about cephs here. So you are in the right place!

1. What is the smallest tank i can go with, and what filtration system is the easiest. (I know that the little buggers can be a bit adventurous and are better than Houdini at the great escape. Also i was told that they could get out of an opening as small as the size of the eye, so i would need to fashion a lid with a good lock down.)

Well, to keep an octopus happy and healthy you shouldn't think "smallest". Think biggest..... What is the biggest tank you can accommodate/afford? The more space you give your octo the easier it is to look after and the better it is for the ceph. You are looking at a minimum of 30gallons or 36x15x15 but bigger is better!

For filtration, use an external power filter. It must be remembered that cephs produce 3 times as much waste as a fish of the same mass! Use filter media like a course sponge and good quality carbon!

Some species are more adept at escapology than others; namely Octopus briareus and O. Vulgaris... O. bimaculoides are apparantly less likely to attempt this but it has been known to get around... So a good lid is an absolute must!

2. I live in Florida, near Miami, and we run the boat down to the keys often. I had planned on collecting my own octopus. I have a friend who collects for one of the local fish stores.

That sounds like a good idea! The less stressful you can make the journey for your octo the better. Can your friend ID octopus (in other words, identify the species)?

3. I heard that they don't live but a year or so and that the females will starve themselves to death after laying eggs. And that they will lay eggs regardless if there is a male around to fertilize or not. (My fish are my pets and I get attatched to them. The clown in my 55 gallon tank is around 8 years old; she came with the setup when I bought it.) Does a male live longer and are they difficult to sex?

Males and females will live for approximately the same amount of time. Both parties die within a short time of mating. The female after the eggs have hatched. They can be very difficult to sex as they are not willing to be held and examined closely. There is a very informative thread on the TONMO.com Message Board regarding sexing octopus, replied to by Steve O'Shea. Click here to read it.

To sum up I had the hopes of keeping a small octopus only tank with some Live Rock and sand. But not at the expense of the octopus.

Live rock is great beside an octopus -- it not only looks nice, it helps with the filtration as well. Live sand may not be necessary though.

Thank you very much for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

No problem at all. I hope this was helpful!

Sincerely,
Sandra

Cheers,
Colin Dunlop (OctoMonkey) -- CephCare Content Contributor and Board Moderator

2/18/02

Hi. Can you recommend a web site or book that could give me a general overview on mollusk (octopus, squid, etc.) brain anatomy and physiology? I once heard octopi described as the "closest thing we have to an intelligent alien life form on Earth." How does an octopus brain work? How differently is it organized from a vertibrate's brain?

Thank you. Respectfully, Mark.

Mark,

Octopus brains! With 300 million neurons, octopuses have the most advanced brains of all invertabrates, and are considered to be the most intelligent. Octopuses have an extremely complex nervous system and strong short-term memory -- a popular experiment proved that with practice, they can actually teach themselves to open a jam jar in under one minute.

As for being alien-like -- it's fun to think about. After all, they are strange masses of color-changing flesh with eight independently-operating arms filled with suction cups. The arms meet at the head, and in the center is a beak which gnashes its food into liquid form, with help from decomposing secretions near the mouth which further helps to pulvarize the food. They can squeeze their bodies through relatively tiny holes (just as long as their beak can fit). They have three hearts. They squirt ink to ward off prey, and certain recently-discovered species (such as the mimic octopus and wunderpus) can even imitate other dangerous and poisonous sea creatures in an act of self-defense. In one of Nature's more extreme examples of motherly support, an octopus mom tends to her eggs tirelessly, to the extent that she dies of pure exhaustion shortly after her eggs hatch. All of this, and they have a relatively short life span of typically no more than 5 years. They really are amazing animals!

Here's a pretty good article that touches on this subject and more -- and it includes mention of another experiment where scientists taught octopuses to grab a red ball instead of a white one:

National Wildlife Federation Article

Thanks for the note!

Tony Morelli
Editor, Webmaster, TONMO.com
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The Octopus News Magazine Online
email@tonmo.com

1/31/02

Hello Again!

Attached is another Octopus print that I have done. This one is Untitled, and there are a few left in the edition, if anyone is interested in owning one. It is a hand-printed and hand drawn four color lithograph. Hope you enjoy it. Keep up the good work, tonmo.com is one of my favorite sites, always something that makes me smile.

Veronica

p.s. I was watching Jeopardy yesterday (the 30th) and one of the contestants mentioned that she did research in college with octopuses, but that most of her time was spent putting them back in their tanks, and keeping them from eating other peoples research projects... Just another instance of the octopus outwitting the scientist!

Hi Veronica,

Thanks for sharing your latest great piece of work! We love your art here at TONMO.com; I've added it to the Art Gallery.

If anyone is interested in purchasing this lithograph, send me an email and I'll get you in touch with Veronica, or vice-versa.

Also thanks for sharing that Jeopardy anecdote. Take care --

-- tonmo

1/6/02

Hi-
We're enjoying your web site and interesting information on the octopus- my second grader is doing a study on this animal and we are still researching "how did the octopus get it's name?" can you please give any info. if you have some. thank you for your time.

Robyn

Hi Robyn,

The english word “octopus” comes from the Greek word “oktopous” -- Okto=eight, and pous=foot. In actuality, the octopus has eight arms (not feet or even tentacles, technically). But, long ago, someone considered them to be feet and named it “oktopous”, loosely meaning “creature with eight feet”. So that's how the octopus got its name!

Thanks for the note, and thanks for visiting TONMO.com!

Tony Morelli
Webmaster, TONMO.COM
The Octopus News Magazine Online
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email@tonmo.com