[Octopus]: Mama Cass - O.briareus (tank hatched)

[SabrinaR]

I am on pins and needles over here waiting for news!

 

[DWhatley]

I hope they are dull pins , this is the watching paint dry stage. I set for awhile everynight and watch the now very reduced opening for any signs of life. The fact that there are still eggs is positive but I still can't see anything and now can't take pictures. Cassy moved a live clam to block out more of the light from the back of the tank so she is actively protecting as well as constantly tending the eggs. The ones I can see the best are the skinniest but occassionally, she will move so I get a glimpse of a few of the others that are definitely fatter (but not plump).

 

[DWhatley]

Cassy closed up my viewport for a few days but then opened it back up again. Kooah (Cassy's mother) did something very similar and I wondered at the time if opening the view was because she was either bored or lonely, possibly she is regulating the light that reaches the eggs during stages of growth. Since making the eggs visible again, Cassy has moved the rocks so that I can see the eggs clearly but cannot see her. I still don't see any signs of life but most of the eggs have an opaque section and they have not disintegrated.

Day 16


Day 19


Day 20

 

[Level_Head]

That differentiation looks like a very positive sign. My fingers are crossed for you.

And I thought that you were egging me on.

 

[DWhatley]

Omma letting you get away with that one

 

[cephlapodlover]

Wow, the eggs look so cool. for you and your eggs!

Is it just me or do the clutch of eggs remind anyone else of moths?

 

[DWhatley]

EYES!! 3 Weeks

Every night I sit in front of Cassy's tank and watch intently for 15 or more minutes because my journal of Cassy's hatching showed that the eyes are not visible at all times when they first start to show. Tonight I thought I finally saw a dark spot (but I have thought this before and decided it was the back of the tank showing through an opening between the eggs). Over time several spots appeared and disappeared but I grabbed the camera and waited until I saw something to try to photograph.

Clicking once will enlarge the photo to a comfortable size, clicking again will show an overlarge blurry image but you can see the embryos in some if you slide the photo around.

Day 24


Day 24


I'll post the answer to the Find The Ceph Game tomorrow.

 

[Level_Head]

The eyes have it!


"Here's lookin' at you, squid!"

Looking close, I can safely declare
Mama Cass is a fertile egg layer
No "alas and alack"
Eggs are now looking back!
And they'll soon leave behind the egg lair

Isn't it interesting that these embryos -- like many non-amniotes -- reach their full in-egg size while still far short of their bodily organization? We're familiar with the human development process, in which the eyes are recognizable while the embryo is still only a tiny fraction of the size at birth.

Of course, in this case the eyes are forming mostly from an inward extension of skin, rather than an outward extension of brain tissue as in vertebrates. But you'd think that this would be more obvious and even earlier in the development process, when they were much smaller.

Here, though, what we're seeing is a delightful sign, and we are rooting for you!

 

[CaptFish]

Sweet!

 

[Lmecher]

Great news!

 

[DWhatley]

If you stare at any of the ones with two eyes showing you can find the mantle and on a couple what appears to be two arms. I am not sure of the arms though as it may be part of the egg exterior or yolk sack.

 

[Level_Head]

My Lady Anne suggested a betting pool for the hatch day -- with naming rights as a possible prize.

 

[DWhatley]

Hatching Day Guess: May 18

with naming rights as a possible prize

With about 60 eggs, wouldn't that be a punishment? We could do name a survivor though but then the pressure would be pretty bad as survival rate was not anything to brag about with the wild fertilized batch. To reduce the possible pressure (since I smugly think I have a clue based on possibly irrelevant data) I posted my guess in the title.

Kooah's Brood dates of noted development:

Eyes: May 7
Color: May 10
Hearts: May 13
Chromatophores: May 18
Full Moon: May 27
Hatching: May 28

Cassy has been keeping a tight cluster of about 15 eggs almost completely covered with one of her arms. These are the eggs I thought might look fatter than the others but up until yesterday (and more so today) she kept them so covered that I did not know they were there for a long time. Unfortunately, I have no clue as to the signifcance of this action but I did see eyes on them tonight.

In spite of how Cassy looked before she cloistered herself, she has had good color in her brood den but tonight looks paler than normal (she has removed the rock that blocked my view of her). Unlike her mother, she has totally refused offered food but has eaten something on occassion as we have seen released waste. One piece looking just like one her mother released that was a thin line with numerous bumps attached.

 

[Nancy]

Fingers crossed for many healthy hatchings!

Nancy

 

[sedna]

D, this is so super exciting! Keeping all finger crossed that they all turn out fine, and that we are getting that much closer to being able to tank raise octos for pets!!