'Legs' - O. briareus

[DWhatley]

Collection permits are rare and hard to come by in FL (I don't think they will issue any new ones so someone has to die or retire and sell the one they have - if it can be sold), part of the reason there is a lot of anger over a recent article that strongly suggests collectors are not monitored and may be heading toward creating an unstainable catch issue.

 

[CaptFish]

No no, that i understand, it is actually that way for many of our fisheries. I had to buy buy a really old half sunk boat to get my permits. What I am saying is he does not have the vendors permit/lic. he is not allowed to retail anything from the Atlantic, for example he can not buy from Tom and sell his products. There is two LFS that are allowed to sell Atlantic species but I hate them.

 

[DWhatley]

Does the issue with selling have to do with the limits on permits there too or just on the cost? One would think permits to sell would not be tightly limited since it brings money into the state and they do not get permit monies for vendors outside the state.

If you caught the seahorse and it is not a dwarf (does not look like it from the photo but I don't know how close you got with the lens) then it is an erectus. If my size estimate is correct, she is a fairly young female, a males pouch should be visible at this assumed size. I had an inseparable erectus/mandarin pair that were a lot of fun to watch. At first I thought they were squaring off to protect territory but closer observation showed that the mandarin would scare out pods that the male seahorse would then catch. I am not sure what the mandarin got out of the relationship but they were always together.

 

[CaptFish]

Does the issue with selling have to do with the limits on permits there too or just on the cost? One would think permits to sell would not be tightly limited since it brings money into the state and they do not get permit monies for vendors outside the state.

I'm not sure I'll ask him.

If you caught the seahorse and it is not a dwarf (does not look like it from the photo but I don't know how close you got with the lens) then it is an erectus. If my size estimate is correct, she is a fairly young female, a males pouch should be visible at this assumed size. I had an inseparable erectus/mandarin pair that were a lot of fun to watch. At first I thought they were squaring off to protect territory but closer observation showed that the mandarin would scare out pods that the male seahorse would then catch. I am not sure what the mandarin got out of the relationship but they were always together.

Yup the seahorses come from the same exact spot that i caught Legs. they are about 2-3" from top of the head to bottom of the curled tail.

 

[CaptFish]

Legs is still alive, She has better color today, reddish/purple, but she is still sitting on the front glass with all her arms curled up tight.

 

[CaptFish]

Still there, same exact location. TORTURE!

 

[DWhatley]

She can't possibly know, of course, but you have to wonder about your wish for her to have been with you a year and her refusal to give up.

 

[Lmecher]

Hi Capt,
Have not been on in a while. I was planning to post about the loss of Zuzu when I saw Leggs thread at the top of the list. I am so sorry to hear Leggs's health is failing, so sad. I am sure many here will miss her, Know I will. I am glad you still have Izzie, what happened to Bee?
I am following along, keeping my fingers crossed for Leggs.

 

[CaptFish]

Thank you. Legs is still hanging in there she was somewhat active today just aimlessly wandered around the tank, still not good, but better than just sitting there.
So sorry to hear about Zuzu!
I'm not sure what happened to Bee. She is either Brooding or dead. I check every day for babies. I'm clueless.

 

[DWhatley]

IMO, Bee's disappearance is unusual. With one exception (MIA - Missing In Aquarium - who frequently disappeared for weeks at a time) all my dwarfs have come out of their dens in the end. Trapper's eggs took about 9 weeks (not sure when she actually laid the eggs) but my tank was cooler so keep watching.

 

[Nancy]

Not much we can say, but I'm sure many of us are thinking of you and Legs at this time. It's amazing how they become part of your life.

All the best,

Nancy

 

[CaptFish]

OMG! now she is sitting there chewing on her arm tips!

 

[DWhatley]

I have a thought about the arm chewing that may have no real bearing on what happens but is my way of trying to make sense of my observation with Octane and fueled by a few other comments when this happens. I suspect skin irritation may cause them to react this way. After Squirt's apparent attack on an undamaged arm, it may even be that they cannot determine where the irritation is centered. In Leg's case she has lived longer than others after coming out for her final appearance and I suspect her skin is starting to deteriorate (as did Octane's but his was caused by exposure). Squirt is young and healthy and if she did remove her own arm and then stop I am hoping she will recover but in Leg's case I am afraid it will get harder and go the way of Octane (he was senescent when this happened). Unfortunately, if she follows Octane's path she is likely to continue this on all arms and not just the tips. Sorry, it does not get easier to watch and we have had discussion about euthanasia when suffering is so evident. You might offer her a breeder net to rest in as they seem to have a sense that being close to the substrate will invite the clean up crew. Be aware that OhToo grabbed onto me and bit when I tried to get him to release me. He could not keep himself off the bottom and did not want to be there. When I went to transfer him he refused to release me and would grab anything rather than go back to the bottom. Once I got him into the breeder net he calmed down and was allowed to die piecefully.

 

[CaptFish]

Yup she has chewed off about an inch or two (its hard to tell) from every arm, and she is still chewing on her third arm. I thought about euthanasia, and took a vote among my friends on if I should or not, and the out come was split. I also could not find some one that wanted to be Dr.Kevorkian. I would put her in something but I dont have anything she could fit in. she is 9"x9"x9" all balled up

 

[DWhatley]

I have a hard time with the euthenasia issue. We put our Great Dane down when you could feel her hips grinding bone on bone and she couldn't get up. After we called the vet, she managed to be mobile most of the week and when the vet came to the house we told her that if it could be put off, we wanted to give her max time. The vet said she was over due and suffering so we went ahead with the euthenasia. To this day I can't decide if we did it for her suffering our our mental pain. I don't think I would be able to do it again.