[Octopus]: Abe

sedna

Architeuthis
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As in Vigoda, because I can't believe either of them is still alive! I got him from the LFS the last week of September. The guys there and my husband all said, "Wow,he's so HUGE!" They were confused my the girls' and my less than excited response- "He's OLD!" I didn't post sooner because I really didn't think he'd still be alive when we got back from Tonmo.con. I'm so glad we were wrong! He has a really cool personality, doesn't like to be touched, but boy, he likes his audience in the evening!

For a while, Abe had an ongoing dislike of the snails in the tank. He'd move them from place to place, we saw one come flying out of his den- ejected after accidentally wandering in. Once I saw a thin stream of ink coming from his den, followed by a rapidly exiting snail. The best was when I saw him hugging the power head, then let go only to hear a rattling sound. He had actually placed a snail into the power head! Wish I'd gotten it on video, but I didn't realize what was going on… He has since eaten all of the snails in the tank. I haven't replaced them, he much prefers crab (so do I!).
 

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So I have to figure out how to put up videos (or do we put them on You Tube and post a link?). The first 2 blue pics are of Abe gorging on hermit crabs. I put 10 in at once, none of my other octos tried to eat them all at once. Abe isn't other octos! He quickly gathered up all 10 in his webbing, then danced around on the glass a bit. I put some peppermint shrimp in with him to eat the aptasia off of his favorite live rock. The shrimp were in there with him for several weeks. They didn't take care of the aptasia, but Abe doesn't seem to mind. Eventually one day all the shrimp were gone- no surprise. Must have been one of those days were there were no more hermits around...
 

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Looks like aculeatus but is acting like vulgaris :biggrin2: The feisty ones tend to be my favorites.

We still don't host videos (and I suspect that is the best way to do since we could never keep up with the streaming requirements like the YouTubes, Vimeos etc). Once you have uploaded them to your favorite video hoster, they can be embedded to run directly in a post. To embed, click the double film squares in the editor and paste the link in the popup.
 
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I HATE it when they do that!!! Abe was just doing that thing where he put one of his arms in his mantle. It always makes me nervous. I suppose I could consider it as not much more than sticking my finger in my ear. Then again, I can't touch my brain when I do that. Abe has a great way of faking senescence- he will look pale and Julie or I will freak out, then notice he's turned over a rock and is white like the underside he's just exposed. He'll hang on the glass until I get upset thinking his arms are twisting, then he'll show me that he's just playing with a shell. Earlier today, he was whipping his arm around, and his mantle was all bulging and undulating- then I noticed it was just his arm in his mantle. I wish I'd gotten it on video… Otherwise, we are still in love with him and he seems fine. I'm watching his arm tips and the back of his mantle for some of those tell -tale signs of senescence, but he still seems to be gong strong!
 
Sedna, did he shed suckers sometime in the next couple of hours? As I was preparing to clean the tank, Onn started doing weird sucker flexing and I was worried I was seeing death throws. I missed getting the sucker contortions but did grab the camera and got a couple of videos (one posted, other not well focused) of the spastic arm dance. I cleaned the tank and shortly there after noticed sucker shed.
 
Yes, D, he was shedding suckers also when that was going on. I do seem to see the majority of sucker shedding and "self cleaning" behaviors in the morning, too- for whatever that's worth. Not right away, either. He's usually out in the morning before any lights are on and John & the girls are getting ready for the day. He dances on the glass and watches the action in the living room. At about 8:30, after the blue light has been on for a while and everyone else is gone, he seems to go through his cleaning routine, shedding suckers-but not always reaching into his mantle! Then at 9 when the white lights come on, he naps until the afternoon sometime. How early in the afternoon he comes out again seems to be based on how hungry he is. Out earlier and with more display when he wants to eat. If I overfeed him, he might not be out much at all for a day or two.
 
Abe seems to have begun some autophagic behavior, but not a lot... I noticed the tip of one arm gone over the weekend. I don't think there is anything in the tank that could have taken the tip off, unless it could have been a bristle worm? Ive been trying to get a picture of it, but thats a lost cause!

He doesn't seem to have any other signs of senescence yet. His color is good, the back of his mantle looks good- no split or torn skin- his arms aren't corkscrewing... He is still taking food- frozen shrimp and hermit crabs. All I can do now is keep his tank clean and wait for the inevitable. Dr. Caldwell (@Neogonodactylus) said he's going to focus on getting more pics of senescence than sex, I think Abe and I will try to add to that collection!
 
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Good IDEA, Please start a thread on senescence when you have good examples and I'll make it a sticky. I can also add a few of my own shots from my talk (a segment I did not give at TONMOcon).

There is a possibility that the hermit (depending on size) may have nipped him but unlikely. What are you using to move the water inside the tank. I have had several to use my Koralias to assist sucker shedding and have seen one nipped arm so I keep netting around them now (I now have larger units than my original and they seem to be easier to access).
 
It could absolutely be the Koralia that took off the arm tip! I haven't seen any more missing tips and that one arm hasn't gotten any shorter, so hopefully it was an accident and not autophagia…
 
I use the 8"x5" zippered media bags (like these) to slide around the Koralia's (If you have old bags lying around, DON'T use tie to close bags, velcro OK but will stiffen disintegrate). They are easy to get on and off for cleaning and have the added advantage of keeping a lot of stuff out of the unit and collecting bristle worms. Pencil urchins do tend to put holes in them after awhile but the protect well even after a few holes.
 
Well, I think that there are more arm tips that look blunt. At least 4 of his arm tips look eaten off… His color also looks like it's starting to pale. He is still eating, happily taking food when it is offered. I got some pics today, but I haven't had tome to load them onto the computer yet.
 

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