[Octopus]: Licik/Misty - A. Aculeatus? - Jocco's Pus

Abdopus can drop their arms and we have seen this in the aquarium. Pencil urchins are notorious for grabbing and eating almost anything, including wood. I have had to swap mine from tank to tank because they get over interested in gorgonians or polyps in their tank. Oddly, this seems to work well. With a healthy animal, they are not usually a problem but in Misty's aged state, dropping the arm is likely his best defense.
 
Misty is taking his final breaths this morning...

We found the critters and brittle especially far too close to him yesterday.
For the week he flicked them off and moved, last night he was too weak finally.

RIP Misty

:angelpus:
 

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So sad when their time is up :cry: It is with somewhat mixed emotion that I watch when they reach this state. Nature's cleanup crews are rather amazing but I just can't watch the natural end process. I place the octo in a suspended breeder net to let it die unmolested but, in truth, I don't believe they feel the invasion.
 
So sad when their time is up :cry: It is with somewhat mixed emotion that I watch when they reach this state. Nature's cleanup crews are rather amazing but I just can't watch the natural end process. I place the octo in a suspended breeder net to let it die unmolested but, in truth, I don't believe they feel the invasion.

Honestly, up until the last moments, every pod creature that picked or poked Misty... shrimp, even the brittle... he would flinch, quiver, flail, move, hide, etc.

When he stopped the bigger responses and couldn't move too much (flinched and pulled arm away), when the clean up crew would get close and he wouldn't move... we moved him into the keeper.
Before then he would evade, or hide, or dance around the tank.
The end of his life was quite an endurance test to find a mate. Very restless.
He was not still until the last evening/morning.
Made me wish there was some sort of fake ceph love doll for it to inseminate, so he can pass with some dignity. So he felt his life was fulfilled.

The timing and guess work would be a miracle - but are there any journals of putting a new fem ceph in a tank as the original inhabitant (male, or vice versa) was in the restless stages?

As far as the circle of life, I would be ok with it. Letting the clean crew do its job; instead of only act as a vacuuming crew.
We are already ripping these creatures from their homes, least we can do is give an authentic environment and life for them as possible.
Rocco is not ok with the circle of life method. I respect that.
We now have 2 ceph in the freezer... :frown:
 
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Your thoughts on the restlessness are interesting and no one behavior fits all octopuses. Most observed matings don't take place with senescent animals and some octopus males will mate with more than one female (it is also known that in some species the number of spermatophores is limited where others seem to have an on-going supply). Unlike you will often seen in science blogging articles (ie not actual papers), the act of mating does not mark the end of an octopuses life (at least not the majority there are a couple where this is in question) or even shorten it. However, I will mention that I have twice had an adult male and female octos who could see each other across the room (one pair of the same species, another of different species - the same species pair I put together to mate) and they would dance together on the glass at night.
 
I knew it! I got my pet rats, leopard geckos, even blind cave tetras from that Animal Kingdom. Such a reliable place for ordering anything.

I haven't lived on SI for 5 years, currently in university in Philly. I visit often though.
 

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