H.P. Lovecraft - A. aculeatus... I think...

[SabrinaR]

I think so... I asked the guy, I called when I got home... plus, cuttle fish dont live on our shores do they? One has the long hook thingies... the other one doesnt but maybe it just lost them (was pulled off somehow) they both all white. They kind of have these little dots that blink a little on and off. I notice it more when they have less flow to the water.

 

[DWhatley]

Definitely not cuttlefish (you are correct that they are not found in our hemisphere ... yet ). If they have tentacles then squid but octo babies look similar (no hook thingies though).

Look at the link I gave you above. There are a few squid shots from the cam in the posts.

 

[SabrinaR]

These are small I think but they arent tiny by any means, but if this is an octo then I'm a monkeys uncle lol. One is about 4 inches long not including the hooks, and the smaller is like 3.

 

[DWhatley]

Those are much larger than I had envisioned. Hope hubby comes home soon! Can't wait to see photos.

 

[SabrinaR]

lol me too! I wish I could keep them alive but I have nothing to support them.

 

[CaptFish]

Definitely not cuttlefish (you are correct that they are not found in our hemisphere ... .

Really?! I encounter them on a regular bases. Usually around our local reefs when we are spearfishing. But sometime they come up to the boat when we are in the deep. I see more in Bimini than i do in Florida, But I see therm a lot. The one i see are about 3"-5"

 

[DWhatley]

This topic comes up from time to time (another thread here about Hawaii as well ) and with the problems with lionfish, anything is possible. There is a squid that looks like a cuttlefish on the East Coast (Sepioteuthis sepioidea, the Caribbean Reef squid) and so far the consensus is this is what people see when they think they are seeing a cuttle. It looks so much like a cuttlefish that its official name starts with sepio.

 

[SabrinaR]

Heres a short video of the squid. Im pretty sure they will end up being octo food in the next day or so.



Sorry its a little blury.

 

[SabrinaR]

And here are some pics

 

[CaptFish]

Wow those are cool. possibly Lolliguncula Brevis

 

[cuttlegirl]

Wow, I wish I had seen this thread earlier. They are squid, and they are not long for this world. The two long "hook thingies" are the squid's two retractable tentacles (the other appendages are their 8 arms).

Can you post of picture of the fish?

 

[skywindsurfer]

Ya those are definately squid. If you want some real great tips on squid husbandry check out the hawaiian aquarium. They have had great success in keeping the big fin reef squid which very similar to the caribbean reef squid. These are not the species I was hoping for, nor do they look like they will live much longer. Thanks anyways. As for my comment about the sand, the Caribbean reef squid does spend a good period of time in or on the sand so I figure sand in the bag might help lower any possible levels of stress, but I've never shipped an animal before. And no there are no cuttlefish in the Americas sadly. As far as I know it's just squid, octopus, and arganuats. I'm not sure about nautilus. With flow you want it strong enough to keep the animals moving but not so much that they will be pushed around. You can try putting them inside a 20 gallon long tank with one side covered completely with rock and put the powerheads on the opposite side pushing into the rocks. This may help to keep them from slamming into the glass. Good luck.

 

[SabrinaR]

Turns out the fish is called a sea robin. They are pretty common down here, though I never knew they existed. The squid died last night.

I woke up this morning to find my octo on the glass. I'm pretty sure she saw me but she didnt hurry to hide. Maybe thats why Waldo was so hidden before, he was still on Indonisia time lol. It sounds funny but seriously it makes sense. I dont know where her den is, as I made sure to have a lot of live rock for her. And finding the crawfish I gave her yesterday will be very difficult so I will be doing 2 or 3 water changes over the next few days to insure everything remains stable. Other than the water changes, is there anything I should do since I wont be able to remove the crawfish... at least for a while?

I ordered some small crabs they should be here on Tuesday or Wednesday. I think giving her a blue crab would just put a large amount of food that I dont believe will all get eatten in the tank to spoil and mess the water further.

If this was the octo I had gotten from Tom, then blue crabs would have been perfect, but shes a lot smaller than the other one... I need to come up with a name for this little lady.

 

[SabrinaR]

Ok so, my octo now has a name... well its kind of a name... lol It will be named H.P. Lovecraft. My husband picked the name... the way I see it, its better than some of the others he wanted. If someone could change it for me that would be great.

 

[DWhatley]

Try offering shrimp (fresh or thawed) in a stick. The grocery store bamboo skewers work well for this but the acrylic feeding sticks are fine if you have one. She may want to play with the stick (play is an arbitrary word but most of the octopus insist on keeping it for awhile, usually you can hold it and eventually they will release it). You do need to watch for and remove the crayfish remains and not let this kind of stuff build in the tank though.