He eat his arms.........

[plecos]

My Octopus have a Problem...Front of his arm was broken.....I saw it was eaten by himsalf....It look like have some damage.......What happen of my Octopus???

 

[tonmo]

Did you put him in a 20 gallon tank? You had other members here specifically tell you that's not a good idea.

Autophagy is not necessarily the result of a small tank, but it sounds like you should turn your octopus over to your local fish store as soon as possible. That's the best thing you can do given the overall situation.

 

[plecos]

THX Q...
Thats mean my tank is too small for him, so he eat his arms...??....
Really......??

 

[tonmo]

The tank is too small. Not sure if that's the reason he ate his arms; there could be any number of problems in addition to the tank size. In any case, you should bring your octopus to someone who can give him/her proper care.

 

[CaptFish]

These were from another thread asking the same question. Although I think it is clear that you did not heed the warning about your small tank.

If it's just the tips, it may be abrasion, stress or perhaps a bacterial or fungal infection, you really need to worry if it starts to chew them off near the web as this is most likely autophagy disease, which is fatal and highly contagious to other cephs.

J

See the abstract below. While I am convinced that Autophagy can be caused by an infectious agent in octopuses, I am not convinced that it is the only cause. I think that Stress and possibly Senescence may also be primary causes.


Autophagy in Octopus
Author: Budelmann, B.U.

Source: South African Journal of Marine Science, Volume 20, Number 1, December 1998 , pp. 101-108(8)

Publisher: NISC Pty Ltd

Abstract:

Automutilation, specifically of the arms, is well known in some octopod species. It occurs in two forms, autotomy and autophagy. Autotomy of an arm is achieved by breaking off at a predetermined site, or by biting off by the animal itself. Biologically, autotomy is a meaningful behaviour. It is well known, e.g. in male Argonauta during reproduction; it has also been described in several octopod species as a survival strategy. Autophagy, in contrast, is more puzzling; it is distinct from cannibalism because the animals eat (parts of) their own arms. This paper is based on 161 cases of autophagy in Octopus vulgaris. Although the data are still limited, they indicate that autophagy is not caused by hunger or stress, but is an infectious, deadly disease. Incubation time is between one and two weeks; death occurs 1-2 days after autophagy starts. Some data suggest that autophagy is caused either by a (so far unknown) substance released by the animal itself or, more likely, by viruses or bacteria; these, in turn, seem to affect the nervous system. Stress (often thought to be the reason for autophagy) may contribute to it but it is not its primary cause.
Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.2989/025776198784126502

James

 

[Joe-Ceph]

I haven't read your other threads, and I don't know about the tank size, or other issues you may have, but here's my experience for what it's worth:

My tank is 60 gallon cold water tank that had previously successfully housed a female bimac for over a year, until she died naturally after tending for her eggs, so I know that my tank is a good setup for an octopus.
A few months ago I caught a second adult octopus bimaculoides and put it in my (now vacant) tank. It was whole when I put it in, but within a few days I noticed that two or three of its arms were too short; up to 40% of the arm was missing in some cases. The octo showed other bad signs, like hiding most of the time, rejecting food (live muscles that I opened), and inking if startled. Since it was full grown when I caught it I thought maybe it was at the end of it's natural life. It got a little worse over the next week (maybe) and then started to get better. It took a few months, but the octopus seems much more comfortable in the tank now, and all of the damaged arms have regrown. It has been eating very well (mostly thawed pieces of scallop) coming out a lot, interacting with me, and inking less. I attributed the the arm eating to the stress of being caught and adjusting to a new home. I think there must be at least one other factor, because the last octopus I caught and brought home adjusted almost immediately, without the self-mutilation. I don't know the sex of the one I have now (the first one was female) so maybe it's a male thing. The female was only about half grown when I caught her, so that could also be a factor, or maybe it's all about individual personality.

If your tank is not a suitable place for an octopus(tank size, water conditions, temp, hiding spots, whatever) then the "stress of transition" would be replaced by the stress of the bad environment, and things might not improve.

When did you get the octopus?
Is the problem getting better, worse, or staying the same?