Meet Biddle

[Nancy]

Nice pics of Biddle!

Is he really a mottled purple, like he looks in your photos?

Nancy

 

[corw314]

Ya know you can almost hear him whining when he see's we have food! And yes, that is the true colors, but he changes so drastically. Lately when he's full, he has a whitesh look with a touch of that iridescent blue and orange suckers.

 

[corw314]

6 months this month...He's eating me out of house and home....We went collecting yesterday and he eats everything from killies to the local shrimp to spearing...he doesn't care what it is if it's food, it's gone. I am thinking of adding a second canister filter to the tank. I may really need to either get my 47 back up and running or contact Jenkinsons and see if they have a spare tank. Everyone is so attached to him. My son says nightly Biddle is out playing with the green lego. He said he stalks it, grabs it and then floats to the bottom on it. Plus Biddle constantly is up in the corner watching TV. Pic #3 shows you how nosy Biddle is. He ran scared back to his den, but couldn't resist peaking out to see what I was up to.

 

[Animal Mother]

Fantastic pictures as always. Why the talk of other tanks?

 

[Nancy]

My guess is it's because he's getting so big!

How long is his mantle, Carol?

He's the most beautiful octopus you've kept (and you've kept quite a few). He has such a range of color and texture.

Nancy

 

[DWhatley]

Carol,
Your reports on Biddle watching TV and others commenting on TV or monitors makes me wonder about their lack of "color" vision. The test that I have read all used reflective color (object) but the TV and monitors create color in a different way (by combining light even the primaries are different). It makes me wonder if they really can see colored light. I wish Roy or Steve would get one of their students to experiment.

AM As I recall, tiny little biddle was originally housed in a small tank and Spike had the larger one. Carol was going to transfer Biddle about the time the tank soaked her bed.

 

[corw314]

The tank size is an issue. I have not had the funds to purchase a new tank and had I known Biddle would get as large as he has, I would not have purchased him, although I am quite attached as is my whole family. I think for now I am adding a huge Eheim on his tank to supplement the smaller one and hopefully I will be able to purchase a replacement tank soon. Curled up he has to be the size of a large grapefruit. Mantle must be at lease 4". He's very big. Has pulled everything including very large pieces of rock to the center of the tank. He has a massive den and still does the slithering back to his hiding spot like he did when he first got here.

 

[Animal Mother]

The tank size is an issue. I have not had the funds to purchase a new tank and had I known Biddle would get as large as he has, I would not have purchased him, although I am quite attached as is my whole family. I think for now I am adding a huge Eheim on his tank to supplement the smaller one and hopefully I will be able to purchase a replacement tank soon. Curled up he has to be the size of a large grapefruit. Mantle must be at lease 4". He's very big. Has pulled everything including very large pieces of rock to the center of the tank. He has a massive den and still does the slithering back to his hiding spot like he did when he first got here.

WOW! Thinking he is a Vulgaris?

 

[corw314]

I'm not sure what he is but he has grown bigger than I ever expected. Jess and I went collecting tonight and he had his first really large crab......one with a shell of about 3". I am very lucky in that I live 10 minutes from fresh caught food. We do most of the collecting of food ourselves and sometimes I think that is why my octopuses usually live for a good amount of time because of the variety and the freshness from the ocean and bays. Tonight we brought home mudflat snails, all different types of crabs and a whole bunch of shore shrimp. The one pic of him on the barnacles gives you a good size reference as to his size.

 

[allison finch]

I think aculeatus is correct. As you can see with this guy I photoed in Indonesia, there is a distinct white stripe type marking that is particular to them. They can change their shape dramatically, sometimes becoming very "spikey" also.
This guy was pretending to be a piece of dead eel grass, floating by.

 

[corw314]

Nope...I really do not think he is aculeatus. I think he's too large. His legs are the thickness of my fingers as you can see in the one pic. I just can't get enough pics of this guy...He constantly amazes me with his many changes in coloring and texture.

 

[Nancy]

I have a question about Biddle - we've seen him do so many colors and textures. I'm somewhat familiar with that tank from your photos. Would you say that Biddle is trying to camoflage himself by matching the color of his surroundings, or are these colors more arbitrary?

Nancy

 

[corw314]

Hi Nancy,

I'd say he's changing to match his surroundings. In the one pic he is the same color as the lava rock and I think his spikeyness at times is copying the lava rock also. But at times he can be an iridescent blue with white touches and brown blotches. There is now some large pieces of sea glass that is blue and green but this coloration is when he is near his den eating his dinner. So in answer to your question, at times yes he is copying and at other times no.

 

[bluezombie]

Wow, that is a fabulous Octo! It looks like so much fun, i hope i can have one someday.

 

[Animal Mother]

I know I'm on a Filosus kick lately, but Biddle truly looks a lot like Tuvalu did. Texture, colors and all, minus the size. According to Cephbase, Filosus are supposed to grow to around 12" arms and about 3.5" mantle, so around 15" stretched out.