Hapalochlaena sp? from the Northern Territory

[Neogonodactylus]

The male blue-ringed octopus that I have from northern Australia continues to feed and grow. It has reached a mantle length of about 5 cm and takes one or two large grass shrimp a day. The animal refuses to move off the side of the aquarium and will not even feed on the bottom.

Roy

 

[DWhatley]

Roy,
The animal has a bloated look (particularly in the arms) that I often note in O. hummelincki as they enter senescence. I have expressed curiosity about internal potential retention of salt/minerals (and wondered aloud about how the get freshwater when they stop eating) and if this is a result of aquarium keeping or just a natural phase. I see it in my current female (but not all the time) which adds to my curiosity. An interesting commonality is that when this "bloat" look starts to show, they tend to spend most of their time on the upper reaches of the glass, even bobbing above the waters a bit. My current female returns to her den to sleep but is otherwise out on the walls. I also see heavier sucker shed at this point and a willingness to be touched as if the skin is "itchy".

 

[Neogonodactylus]

The stalky body is the nature of this species. It is a mature male, but is still eating two large grass shrimp a day and shows no signs of senescence.

Roy

 

[Neogonodactylus]

Took this shot this morning. Probably too artsy, but it shows the hectocotylus well.

Roy

 

[GPO87]

Who cares if it's artsy! What a fantastic picture! i'd put that on my wall!

 

[DWhatley]

POSTER TIME! That one should go in the formal description. Very much reminiscent of the beautiful art work that used to accompany formal descriptions but even better since its beauty is not an eye of the artist modification. The blue ring display on the arms is exceptional! You are always raising the bar on ceph photos and this one made it jump a few inches.

You might want to water mark it.