BENABEHENRY octo?

Joined
Jan 18, 2008
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569
Can anybody ID this octo kept by BENABEHENRY back in 2005?
DSCN5063.JPG

http://www.tonmo.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/370
Didn't see an ID when searching the old threads.
 
It does look like it's in Abdopus. Many of these species look so similar that it's hard to tell the difference just by looking- even standard morphological characters can be tricky. I posted some pics of acuelatus on the Tree of Life website a while back. If you have access to a university library you can find more by searching google scholar for Abdopus aculeatus and checking out the papers on their body patterning and locomotion respectively.
Hope this helps!
C
 
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Sorry it's taken me so long to join in on this thread all. Thanks for kicking it off for us gholland. We are quite used to working with many species of mantis and several common species of octopus (bimacs, blue-rings, etc.) But we do feel that this species is very different. My partner and manager Thomas has kept many for several years now and he too concludes that he has no experience with this species.

They measure over 12" from tip to tip and about 12" from mantle to arm tip. Their mantle is about 4-5". At rest they have small round papillae, but once in motion they seem to disappear. It may have no bearing on the identification of this species, but we have seen them bear a wide variety of color patterns. From solid grey, to white, to jet black, to jet black with a single white stripe down the mantle, to mottled brown/black, and so on.

The photo listed was when one did not like my presence and attempted to attack or perhaps scare me off. I had the feeling that he would have attacked me if I was in there with him.

I have spoken to Roy and our plan is to get them shipped to him and his staff there at Berkley today. At this point we do not have the ability to identify them further.

Our apologies for not getting here sooner. Our next shipment arrives next week which is sure to be another good one. Thanks for all the help everyone.
 
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We like to give research department opportunities to further their and our knowledge. We have dedicated several questionable species of stomatopod throughout the last year in the name of research. Fortunately we have very good resources for obtaining various species. We will be bringing in a few more of them for sure.
 
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Couple of questions for you stomato, since you joined the conversation.

Do you currently have any other ceph species that are identifiable? When can we expect to see them on your website?
 
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stomato,
You will find TONMO very researchcentric (if that is a word) with major support for and a nice contingent of academia. I am no exception to the supporters and was serious when I said I had a hunch Roy was interested in these. That doesn't, of course, mean I didn't pout a little :wink:
 
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Well we certainly appreciate the support. Unlike many creatures, one cannot simply flip through a book and determine many of these cephalopods, which is essentially where I started and I am sure many others.

We do have another species on hand which we believe to be cyanea. They are an Indo species that we do know. We also know they are very active during the day. I'll post some pics of them. I would love to know if we are remotely close in ID. Outside of them we await our next shipment of stomatopods and cephalopods which is due in early next week. I have been a big stickler for not listing anything improperly identified, but I am beginning to question how easily it will be to accomplish. We will just need to individually photo/size each one and label the ones we know for sure, then turn to the experts on the unknowns or list them as "Octopus Sp." I really hate that idea though...

Thanks again all.
 
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Your site definitely has a great thing going and I'd hate for you to have to resort to "Octopus sp." as well.

You know how big O. cyanea get right? :biggrin2: That would be my dream octopus. Can't wait to see pics of those!
 
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