[Cuttlefish Eggs]: Jabba, Jool, Ziro, Zorba - S. Bandensis

Up until today, I have not seen the cuttles out during the daylight hours. Today Jool started begging in the early afternoon. She was given a shrimp and Jabba decided being out and about was better than staying concealed. Zorba eventually joined but not Ziro. At normal feeding time (round about 8:00 PM) everybody got into the swimming act.
beggingJool20140715.JPG feedingJabba20140715.JPG feedingZeroZorba20140715.JPG

Sometime later Jabba tried to explain 42 but I could not translate. Anyone speak Bandeneeze?

 
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I have seen octopuses insist on being the main show and our dogs often try to demand attention if I am standing at the aquariums but cuttlefish jealousy? I am not sure what brought this on and actually watched it through the camera view screen (rather than the tank) as it unfolded as it came as a total surprise. Hopefully I am not going to have problems between the smallest (Jool, the one that wins - the sizes don't show up well in the video) and Zorba (the one that started the rumpus).

 
Jool takes a shrimp by hand :biggrin2:
After their normal supper Jool was hanging out near the front of the tank. We offered dead mysis and she looked at it but did not consume. Shortly after she eliminated a clear gel (I have seen this look like an egg and will assume this is what cuttle poop looks like) and we realized she was still eating. She continued to pace the front of the tank so I offered a live shrimp with my fingers. It took about three times longer than the video for her to strike but she never inked or left the front of the tank.

 
Really cute little Cuttlefish and you're getting some good video. Can you really recognize each one?

Which do you think takes more work to raise - an octopus or a few cuttles?

Nancy
 
I can usually tell two of them. Jool is smallest and often shows yellow. She is catching up though and it is harder to know if the others are not visible. She is definitely more human interactive and I expect this to get stronger. I was surprised she won the fight with the medium sized "sibbling" (in quotes because I don't know if they are from the same mother). Jabba is visually larger than the others and is the second most often seen. I cannot tell Ziro from Zorba and both are reclusive, however, Zero mostly choses to catch food behind the rocks at the back of the tank where the other three are come out at supper time. I have really had to search for him to be sure he has eaten (and is not dead) until recently but in the last couple of days I have seen all four after I release shrimp to the tank.

We have released a little frozen mysis after they have a live shrimp and see some interest but only a little.

Cuttles are far more expensive to feed (but then there are four of them to one octopus) and have to be fed multiple times a day when they are small. Octo hatchling probably do better with this kind of feeding as well but it is rare to hatch them in an aquarium. The best comparison I can make is raising baby mercs since they stayed in their breeding net :roll: and I would say the "work" was equal. If I compared with the briareus, then the hatchling octos required more feeding time because they were lose in the tank. I think the cuttles will be easier as juveniles if kept on live food but getting them to eat frozen may present more of a challenge than with "most" octos (Shiitake is proving to problematic).
 
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@cuttlegirl, I don't think that there was anyone else close by but am not sure (not really sure who is who either). I was watching through the camera screen when these two entered stage right. I was too surprised to actually look at the tank. It looked all the world like they were fighting over my attention :roll:
 
I saw all four at one time tonight (fed two by hand :biggrin2:) and I think the two in the fight were Ziro and Zorba (the two middle sized). It may be Jool (the smallest and I am thinking only female) that is hiding and staying to the back of the tank now and Zorba and Jabba (the largest) that are interested in the food slave. I never realized how much they can change their size appearance and puff up to look almost twice their at rest size. The head width is the best way to tell who is who but I still need another to be visible to make the call (unless Jabba is making himself large, quite clearly the biggest when he puffs up).
 
I have to figure out a way to reduce the reflection in the cuttlefish tank, most of my photos don't show much besides the trees outside the opposing window but here are a couple of shots I managed to crop enough to show off some of their camouflage.


Zorba looking for food
zorba4Months_ps.jpg

Zorba being a piece of coral
camo4Month_coral_ps.jpg
 
Cuddley Cuttles? I have seen signs lately that they are becoming sexually mature (Jool intimadated Jabba the two nights ago. Even though she is half his size she was threatening him and chased him into a corner then sat on the substrate and glared, keeping him at the surface under the overflow. Jabba is the largest and is never aggressive. Jool is the smallest and often hangs out with Jabba. Ziro and Zorba are the two of almost equal size.

From the kitchen, I heard Neal exclaim, "Behave!". The dogs were outside so I ran into see what he was watching, fully expecting mating and not the fighting he thought he was watching. I grabbed the camera too late to get Jabba and Jool making whoopie and much of what I did capture is out of focus but the end shots (1:45) show that Ziro and Zorba may also be a male/female pair and that Ziro's aggression may have been early attempts to mate.

@cuttlegirl, aren't they particularly small to be mating (roughly 2" at 4 months)? Is it possible these are a different species of dwarf cuttles (the egg differences have always kind of made me wonder)? Note Jool expelling a round, transparent jelly like bubble (1:19). Is this rejection of sperm? I have seen this a couple of times but thought it was a form of food elimination.

 
Cuttlefish using arms to walk down the tank wall. I've seen many videos of the bandensis walking on the substrate using their two modified, flatter arms but did not expect them to use their arms and suckers to walk down the tank wall.

 
I have seen them suck up against the wall for awhile but this is the first I have seen them use their arms like an octopus. Wall walking is probably not new but it is not something I recall seeing in other journals.

I missed a great video opportunity tonight. In addition to more mating, they showed very interesting color patterns (Arms fully extended. Dark brown, almost black coloration with bright white spots from arms to chocolate skirt). At one point one of the males blocked the other from coming out to dinner (I don't think dinner was the objection) and did the half body aggression, passive display. I am hoping to be prepared tomorrow to catch some of the displays. I think I am confused on the sex of the three larger. It may be that Jabba is the second female but may have been the blocked animal (who was eventually allowed to eat). It is now very hard to distinguish between the three larger animals. At rest, there are still two about the same size and one larger but when they are interacting they make themselves larger and I cannot tell which one I am watching. :roll:
 

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