Cuttlefish relationships

[MAKOOKAM]

Has anyone here kept one male and one female bandensis together? I've noticed changes in the behavior of my pair since I've taken out the other male which was dealing with the aggression of my dominant male. They pair seem to spend a majority of their time in close contact with each other. I'm not talking about the pestering behavior when the male initiates mating but a kind of constant companionship. They are never more than a few inches from each other and this has been going on for weeks. There isn't any aggression and the female will often settle on the male for extended periods of time (over 30 minutes) and actually appears to be stroking his mantle. Yeah, I know it sounds strange but thats what I'm seeing. Has anything like this been documented like in the wild? Do they normally pair up like this barring any intrusion by other males? I've seen the insanity that happens when giant cuttles gather for breeding and this is completely different.

 

[DWhatley]

I don't know too much about bandensis but I observed a similar constant pairing with my mandarins. According to the literature, mandarin pairs will meet in the morning, do their spawning dance and then have little to do with each other the rest of the day. Before loosing the female, my pair were inseparable 24/7 so there may be something to the lack of competition that keeps a female tightly bonded to the only possible suitor.

 

[Thales]

Groups of bandensis behave very much like apima - including sneaker males, and I assume cross dressing males. Pairs of bandensis are pretty mellow and 'touchy' like you describe, though if they get hungry things can change quickly. Reports from the field seem to indicate that they do pair off to mate, but no info on how long they stay together. Maybe Crissy knows...

Has anyone here kept one male and one female bandensis together? I've noticed changes in the behavior of my pair since I've taken out the other male which was dealing with the aggression of my dominant male. They pair seem to spend a majority of their time in close contact with each other. I'm not talking about the pestering behavior when the male initiates mating but a kind of constant companionship. They are never more than a few inches from each other and this has been going on for weeks. There isn't any aggression and the female will often settle on the male for extended periods of time (over 30 minutes) and actually appears to be stroking his mantle. Yeah, I know it sounds strange but thats what I'm seeing. Has anything like this been documented like in the wild? Do they normally pair up like this barring any intrusion by other males? I've seen the insanity that happens when giant cuttles gather for breeding and this is completely different.

 

[MAKOOKAM]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the input.