'Legs' - O. briareus

[CaptFish]

FfFfFrEeZiNg!!!!!!!!!! It is so cold down here that there are tons of dead and half dead fish behind my house. everything from tropical fish, angels and damsels, to bait like mullet and shiners, and there are even some gamefish, like Tarpoon and snook. I hope the local reef system survives ok and the local Octos! It has been very hard to find live food for legs as the shrimpers have not been going out. she has had to settle for frozen shrimps for the last four days.

on a side note I have two strings of stone crab traps in the area where I caught legs but so far there is no sign of any Octos, but tons of huge stone crab claws. A freind of mine is helping me design an octo trap. We are using PVC pipe and a spring loaded cap on the end that will close automatically after three or five days of sitting on the bottom. on the inside of the trap will be a mesh bulkhead that has a crab or shrimp in it for bait.


I shot some video of legs at night out cruising around.

 

[DWhatley]

I was about to ask how you were fairing after reading a news item that the tropical fish industry is suffering badly with the cold. My sister's son is a charter captain and fishes commercially on the side and the fish they were hauling in last week were not handling the cold.

 

[CaptFish]

update: Legs is perfect! this past week she has been very social we have played for 10 -15 minutes several times a day every day the past week, even now she is sitting there watching me and wanting attention. her mantle is still growing just much slower than before.

mantle : 5.5"

 

[Lmecher]

mantle 5.5"?
That is the first one on the journals here I'd give almost anything to see. I bet she is magnificent. You're are feeding her too much

 

[CaptFish]

She is HUGE! the mantle is the same size as my fist. I never have the tape measure out when she has her arm(s) straight, but the are realllllllllly long. she eats 6-12 shrimp a day average.

 

[DWhatley]

That is not an octopus, it is a pigglet in disguise!

So much for the thought that octopuses size may be dwarfed by their environment.

 

[sedna]

Too bad we aren't all closer so we could visit each other's octos! Thank goodness for TONMO! Hope she (eventually) has a fertile brood...

 

[CaptFish]

Too bad we aren't all closer so we could visit each other's octos! Thank goodness for TONMO! Hope she (eventually) has a fertile brood...

I dont think that is likely as I caught her when she was the size of a dime. But that would be AWESOME if she did!

 

[Nancy]

I was looking in Mark Norman's Cephalopods: A World Guide, and he writes that briareus has a mantle size of 12 cm (about 5 inches) and arms at least 60 cm (about 2 feet).

An octopus can also lay infertile eggs if it's not had contact with a male. Several of our Tonmo octopuses have done this, including my bimac Ollie. It might explain the big appetite.

Animal Mother's Kalypso (also a briareus) played hard just like your Legs. I wonder whether this is charactertistic briareus behavior. The bimacs that we all kept were very interactive, but in a gentler way.

Nancy

 

[Nancy]

Forgot to add a note about catching octopuses. Traditionally (even back in the time of the ancient Greeks), octopuses have been caught by laying pots on the sea floor. The octopus thinks the pot will make a fine den. For some reason, the octopus doesn't leave the pot when you collect it. You might try that as an alternative.

Nancy

 

[CaptFish]

I was looking in Mark Norman's Cephalopods: A World Guide, and he writes that briareus has a mantle size of 12 cm (about 5 inches) and arms at least 60 cm (about 2 feet).

thats why I am so amazed at her size. Her spread is way over three feet and mantle is 5.5" and she is still growing. Mark may need to make a revision is his next book....I fed her frozen shrimp using a bamboo skewer recently and while doing so she was able to touch mt elbow. her mouth was at the end of the skewer and she stretch one arm all the way up the skewer then up my forearm to my elbow.

Animal Mother's Kalypso (also a briareus) played hard just like your Legs. I wonder whether this is charactertistic briareus behavior. The bimacs that we all kept were very interactive, but in a gentler way

from what I have read in AM's kalypso journal, Legs has very much the same behavior.

Forgot to add a note about catching octopuses. Traditionally (even back in the time of the ancient Greeks), octopuses have been caught by laying pots on the sea floor. The octopus thinks the pot will make a fine den. For some reason, the octopus doesn't leave the pot when you collect it. You might try that as an alternative

I tried to find and octopus pot from the Mediterranean but the few i found were very expensive, so I'm trying a few homemade contraptions.

 

[DWhatley]

From some brief research when another member wanted to use a pot, the consensus was a CLAY pot (terracotta if you can find it that is NOT plastic ). He managed to get a baby but dumped the pot before seeing it. Unfortunately, he disappeared after that. From my mercs, I would say that a smooth inner surface has an appeal (they migrate to the barnacles over the LR even though giant barnacles are not native to their habitat).

 

[CaptFish]

Well I'm back. I was outta town for two weeks and away from my computer. I had to renew my Masterss license, which is done every five years. Did I miss anything? Legs seems fine but I have not really seen her in full yet but she was being fed 12 shrimp every 2-3 days.

 

[CaptFish]

Well she is doing great, I was worried my being gone would effect her negatively but so far she seems up to her old self. She grew a ton while I was gone. I am not sure of her mantle length yet but it seems to be way over 6". She continues to have a big appetite, 12 shrimp every 2-3 days. strangely she has let one shrimp survive. I have added more and she eats them all except for one really large one that cruises all over the tank.

 

[DWhatley]

I meant to ask why you had to be gone to redo your certification. I thought the all the Coast Guard certification testing was available in Miami.