Kalypso (O.briareus)

[Animal Mother]

Fixed! Video of her engulfing a rock with her webbing.

And goofing around.

 

[dreadhead]

Looks like she has a handlebar mustache in the second video.

 

[Animal Mother]

Yesterday afternoon I was feeding the corals (Cyclopseeze and frozen mysis) and all the serpent stars began scurrying about. I noticed one hanging out in a hole in a rock, going after some of the food next to some palythoa's nearby and saw another long thin arm come out, like it was wrestling with the starfish. At first glance I brushed it off as being another serpent star, but it was actually Kalypso wrestling with the serpent star over some mysis. She did it again when I fed some other paly's in another area of the tank. Both of these appearances were very brief, but it was 2 in the afternoon!

Last night I put a small T-5 fixture on the tank right before lights out, over the back center. I turned the lights out and a few minutes later returned to see if Kalypso was out and about, and she was. I used some krill to lure her out into an open but shaded area of the tank, let her take the food, and quickly turned on the light. She immediately dropped the krill and went into a cave where she hung out for a few minutes, less than 10. She slithered and climbed her way around in well shaded areas for about 15 minutes. Then she was out and about doing her thing, checking all the holes and cracks in the rocks, completely out in the open underneath the light. I watched her do this for about 30 minutes. I turned the camera on to get some pictures (as this was half the point for the light fixture) and the batteries died!

Anyway, she seems to be adapting to light so hopefully I'll be able to interact with her during daylight soon.

All I got before the battery died.

 

[Animal Mother]

Today about 6pm I was walking into the kitchen and glanced into my tank on the way and right there, with all the lights on, was Kalypso. Sitting on the sand but stuck on the glass. I assume she was watching us mess around in the tank across the room. After she realized she was seen she danced around on the glass for a few minutes then off into the rocks. A few moments later and she came out and went through her pod scavenging routine, reaching and wrapping her webbing around rocks.

Pics are blurry.

 

[DWhatley]

That web over rock behavior is why Neal wanted a Briarius from the beginning (it was hoped that Trapper was Briarius) after we saw a wonderful demonstration on one of the TV ocean specials. Hopefully, Joefish's brood will give us the opportunity :>)

 

[Animal Mother]

She has turned out to be a great deal of fun, and this is just the beginning. I'm so glad she at least seems to be adapting to daylight hours.

 

[cleopatra]

Thanks for the pics and videos! Your octo is great fun to watch...Keep 'em coming~

 

[DWhatley]

Love the new avitar!

 

[Animal Mother]

 

[DWhatley]

She is sooo beautiful! Does she usually keep the dark head and white arms?

 

[Animal Mother]

Her appearance is pretty much 50/50. When she's moving around she's usually brownish red but I see the white legs just as often.

I REALLY wish that top photo was in focus.

 

[DWhatley]

I REALLY wish that top photo was in focus.

The calupera is

 

[Animal Mother]

The calupera is

 

[Animal Mother]

Short update on Kalypso. Everything's going good. She's about twice as big as she was in the last pictures. Her mantle is probably 3", about an inch between her eyes, and arms are at least 12". In this photo she was actually propped up on her legs. She wasn't touching the rock behind her. I wish I could have gotten more angles but working with the dark was hard enough. I got several with the flash and she never reacted one way or another.
I offered her some clams on the half shell and she refuses them. I dropped one right in front of her and she sat there and looked at it for about 5 minutes. Then some giant nassarius snails came sniffing it out. Bait. She grabbed one of the nassarius snails and took it back to her den.
I can definitely say she has a preferred spot to stay and can be seen in it whenever she is not out roaming the tank. I noticed one back corner was dug up. There is a rock that seperates the corner from the rest of the sandbed and it is down to the glass, all the sand on top of the rock. I haven't witnessed any digging though.

 

[Colin]

Glad to see the octopus doing so well just shows exactly how quiuckly these guys can grow