- Joined
- Aug 10, 2006
- Messages
- 67
I went to Atlantis Aquarium to pick up some corals for my reef tank (I live less than 2 minutes away) and was just browsing........then I saw it! As amazed as I was to see this incredible species right in front of me, it breaks my heart to know how this story will most likely end. It will either perish at the store due to the price of $400, or some rich guy will go "cool" and buy it on impulse only to have it die 2 days later. In this case, it may be better to stay in the store like it has for the past month or so as it actually looks to be doing pretty good in there even though it should be in a bigger enclosure. I mean, how would even an Octo enthusiast (let alone the average Joe) know how to take care of one of these when very very few have been studied by experts. We still have so many questions about the most common species let alone the needs of a Zebra or even the Mimic or Wonderpus for that matter.
I may have a talk with the manager and ask him if it is even worth it for him to be ordering these since it will most likely never get bought at that price and would be better for this rare species to be only studied by experts at this point. I actually hold this store in pretty high regard because they are very knowledgable, helpful, and friendly but mostly specialize in reefs. They do get their share of Octopus though. I wish there was something I could do but I don't have that kind of money for that, and my only Octopus tank has well.......an Octopus in it.
Check out this article at: www.thecephalopodpage.org/mimic.php
This article mainly deals with the Mimic but also talks about Zebra and Wonderpus as well. It urges people to keep other common species and not these few mostly unknown delicate species. Near the bottom of the page, it lists the pros and cons of keeping the rare species. This page was somewhat depressing to me though by discussing the probable demise of the super rare Octos due to demand, and with collectors not giving a crap cause they can get really good money for them.
It's just too bad that something like a Documentary on the Discovery Channel meant to provide knowledge has inadvertently sparked interest in something that at this point, should be left alone by everyone except researchers and scientists.
Here are a few pics of the Zebra Octopus:
Taken with my camera phone:
Another one with the camera phone:
I went to their website and this is one they took of it:
I may have a talk with the manager and ask him if it is even worth it for him to be ordering these since it will most likely never get bought at that price and would be better for this rare species to be only studied by experts at this point. I actually hold this store in pretty high regard because they are very knowledgable, helpful, and friendly but mostly specialize in reefs. They do get their share of Octopus though. I wish there was something I could do but I don't have that kind of money for that, and my only Octopus tank has well.......an Octopus in it.
Check out this article at: www.thecephalopodpage.org/mimic.php
This article mainly deals with the Mimic but also talks about Zebra and Wonderpus as well. It urges people to keep other common species and not these few mostly unknown delicate species. Near the bottom of the page, it lists the pros and cons of keeping the rare species. This page was somewhat depressing to me though by discussing the probable demise of the super rare Octos due to demand, and with collectors not giving a crap cause they can get really good money for them.
It's just too bad that something like a Documentary on the Discovery Channel meant to provide knowledge has inadvertently sparked interest in something that at this point, should be left alone by everyone except researchers and scientists.
Here are a few pics of the Zebra Octopus:
Taken with my camera phone:
Another one with the camera phone:
I went to their website and this is one they took of it: