Need some questions answered about my O. chierchiae (originally mercatoris)

[Jon Crossan]

thanks monty

ok so I got my lights today and set them up. It's only about 9:30 here though and from what you guys told me he's probably not going to come out for another couple of hours maybe (since he's little and still relatively new to the tank). But anyways I'm going to wait until I see he's eaten the other little fiddler crab in the tank before I get anymore food (maybe this time he will actually eat it instead of playing with his food! ). But I'll definitely let you guys know if I see any movement I'm really excited. Also if he does start coming out more often I'll try and get some better pictures for you to enjoy!

 

[Jon Crossan]

ok so charley still hasn't eaten that second crab that is in their. I'm not sure hes aware that its still in the tank I think he just thinks it got away heh. Anyways while I was at the fish store today I got a little clam for my octo. I put it in the tank and he got excited and seemed very curious at what I was bringing him. Then I dropped it and he acted like I was dropping something extremely valuable because it looked like he tried to catch it as it was falling . I turned off his light and turned on the red ones and put the clam next to his little hideout. I'm just curious to see if it will attract him because I still think hes been finding little mollusks and stuff in the rocks. I'll let you guys know if he eats it!

 

[DWhatley]

O'Charley (can't resist the O' in front this month) is showing a lot more interest in interacting than most Mercs. If he really is a Mercatoris, then there is a chance he will be more like Sisturus than the typically shy majority so keep working with him nightly! If you have a pipette (plastic, squeeze kind) you might try a small shrimp stuck to the end and held near his den to see if he will take it from you. For some reason, the clear plastic of the pipette has never frightened any of my Mercs or Octane.

On the other hand, is there any detecable growth since you got him? Can you describe his dark color? The color in your photo looks dark chocolate brown and not maroon (reddish brown) but monitors and photos can make reds appear differently.

 

[gholland]

Can you describe his dark color? The color in your photo looks dark chocolate brown and not maroon (reddish brown) but monitors and photos can make reds appear differently.

Charlie also appears to be displaying a striped pattern in that photo? I never seen that in Varys or the babies.

 

[Jon Crossan]

I'm not exactly sure if hes grown much because he's been hiding lately. I think hes gotten a little bigger though, and yes he has a very distinct striped pattern that when he gets excited he turns very white but his stripes stay black or he just gets browner and his stripes get darker. His coloration is closer to a light brown when he is normal. Kind of like a bimac. I will try and get some more pictures possible today or tommorrow for you guys to check out I'm really curious now as to what species charley really is. Oh and another funny thing I was just about to go to O' Charleys when I saw your reply Dwhatley haha.

 

[DWhatley]

Oh and another funny thing I was just about to go to O' Charleys when I saw your reply Dwhatley haha.

...

Black or almost black is not a Mercatoris color that I know of. If you do not see a reddish brown - definite red/burgandy - then I would suggest you may have a baby of another species. When you get to see the underside, look for a dark (purple/blue) outlining rim on the suckers and a peachish cast to the suckers and under side of arms. Also watch for a bright blue eye spot below the eyes that should be readily apparent when he is white. I have seen Octane have stripes like that on his arms but they are not often obvious. He can turn almost black against the back of the aquarium (black wall) and any shade of light brown or tan with some degree of orange/rust (very different from the red base on the Mercs).

 

[Jon Crossan]

knowing my luck with pictures this is probably not going to work but heres a better picture of him when he was rather excited
just in case though I'm going to put it in my profile pictures

 

[Animal Mother]

WOW! Looks like a pajama squid. Never seen that before.

 

[monty]

wow, very pretty. That looks quite different from most octos we see around here... maybe that's the other one that's sometimes called "zebra" that's not a wunderpus/mimic?

 

[Jon Crossan]

I was kind of wondering if it was a mimic myself. I dont really know much about the mimics though. The shipping company had it labeled as a Pacific octopus.... (they never really know what they are but you all know that). Hes a pretty little guy though. If anybody finds out any more information on what he might be I'd really appreciate it. I'll try to research the zebra octo your talking about and even though there isnt really much info on the wunderpus I'll try and look that one up too.

 

[DWhatley]

WOW! What a beautiful creature! Definitely NOT a Merc, Hummelincki, Aculatus, Vulgaris, Briarius, Macropus. The stripes and eye horns look something like Mimic . I have never see one but it seems the arms are far too short. Hopefully Roy, Mucktopus or Thales will take a look and make a call.

 

[DWhatley]

WOW! Looks like a pajama squid. Never seen that before.

I started to write (and erased) that same thought

 

[Jon Crossan]

I'll keep trying to get better pictures of him so we can see his physical characteristics a little better in detail (my sister just had a cinder block wall fall on top of her a couple days ago so her picture game isn't really at it's best). And yeah I just looked at some pictures of mimics and they have very very long arms and a thinner head it seems. I'm pretty excited now to find out just what exactly I have. Oh and I forgot to tell you guys the good news. Just a little while ago when I got the picture taken he was out and about in the red lighting and seemed to be doing pretty good. I offered him another freeze dried shrimp at the end of a feeding stick but he just kind of touched it and then seemed to be uninterested. I need to get some more fiddlers for him because I think he was out looking for food. He still hasn't eaten that fiddler thats already in there nor did he eat the little clam I put in there either. Hopefully he'll find that little crab! I'll go and get some more food tommorrow

 

[monty]

I just flipped through the whole octopus section of Norman's "Cephalopods: a World Guide" and didn't see anything that looks like your octo... very interesting... I'm almost positive it can't be a wunderpus or mimic just from the proportions. I'll be very interested if Roy and Crissy have any insights... it's probably nothing so exotic, but I'm wondering if it could be a "missing link" between the wunderpus/mimic group (those are presumably grouped together taxonomically, right?) and "normal" coastal octos....

 

[gholland]

Ok. Now I can sleep again. That first pic had been haunting me because it just didn't look like a merc. Sounds like it came from the wrong ocean to be a merc anyway. Beatiful little octo though! Look forward to finding out what it is.