My First Octo

[Phisher]

Here's Ocho at his favorite pass time.







My photo skills are not the best but anyone confirm an ID on him yet?

 

[Animal Mother]

Judging by the photos I'd say it looks much more like a bimac than anything else we've seen on here lately. Any chance of a good picture of the area between his eyes and arms? I can't tell if what I'm looking at is a large orange chromatophore or an eyespot. If it is an orange eyespot then it's most likely an O. hummelincki.

 

[Phisher]

He has definite eyespots. I've been looking through the gallery at pictures but I'm still unsure. Ocho's spots don't really have the electric blue coloration of the bimacs. However, I would not call it orange. I can't find any small O. hummelincki photos. "Ocatane's" eyespots look much more like Ocho's but he seems a much "rougher" texture but maybe thats do to size (ocho's mantle is the size of my thumb)?

I'll try for more photo's when he ventures out more.

 

[Jean]

but he seems a much "rougher" texture but maybe thats do to size (ocho's mantle is the size of my thumb)?

Just to add to the ID fun......they can alter the "texture" at will!

J

 

[DWhatley]

Octane can be very smooth and is most of the time. Trying to learn observation skills to ID octos, I have come up with these traits for Hummelincki (note, they may well be common to others):

1) Two false eyespots above the real eyes. These are not the ocellus you mention at but dark brownish marks just above the real eye and visible to some extent all the time (I believe I see them on Ocho)

2) A pigtail of lose skin at the tip of the mantle when the skin is smooth. The skin is lose on the mantle and will "slide" when rubbed gently (not so of the skin below the eyes on the true "head" and top of the web). Sometimes Octane wears is wrinkled (not spikey) but usually the extra skin is gathered at the mantle tip.

3) Ocellus that can be barely visible to brilliant blue surrounded by orange. The brilliant blue is displayed when trying to ward off evil vistors and not often seen if your octo is happy but the ocellus will show clearly at other times. I have not yet interpreted more than the brilliant blue display.

Do you have rough LR in the tank. I see the cool spikey look mostly when he is on very rough LR and sometimes when he is eating even on a smooth surface. On the LR he usually looks like the "I am a rock" video in shades of white and almost purplish brown. Mostly he is in shades of a much more boring but ever changing brown and cream.

Hope this helps. My goal over the next year is to collect info and work on an ID set of observations.