Buying octopus online

[Steve1853]

Hello,

I am experienced in keeping cephalopod's in aquaria. I'm looking to try a new species. Is there any websites that any of you are aware of that I can purchase specific species from online? i.e - Atlantic Pygmy octopus?

Thank you

 

[DWhatley]

There are no real "regular" suppliers to speak of. Live Aquaria will occasionally have a "known" species. KP Aquatics gets O. mercatoris from time to time so you might contact them through their website and ask (they usually do not list them). Tom's Caribbean Tropicals will also have mercs but checking his stock list, there are none listed. EBay is another one off source with the advantage of usually having a photograph when one shows up.

 

[ekocak]

Scientific names help, but a lot of times, even then, things are mislabeled. My first octopus was sold as "Atlantic common" which I assumed meant O.vulgaris, but in retrospect it almost certainly wasn't. It was probably O.mercatoris. What @DWhatley said is basically it. Some places are better than others at IDing, but it's usually a bit of a crapshoot.