FedEx dropped off an octo (briareus) from Tom today at 1pm. The excitement I felt as I opened the box immediately turned to concern from the first glance. Larger than I'd hoped for, and very pale with rapid respiration but still alive. I noticed a dark vein on the top of it's mantle, above the eyes, but couldn't get a pic because it rolled over to hide it's mantle in it's webbing. It took the same pose in the acclimation bucket. I gave it a mug to hide in but it wouldn't go for it. I'm not sure how cold the water was when it got here, but after 3 hours the pH matched and the temp was as good as it was going to get, I scooped it up with the mug and placed it in the tank. It's color pinked up a bit, but then it rolled over in the mug, webbing pulled back over it's body, arms are sucker side out and trailing behind it. Looks just like an octopus in a fish market on ice... Hard to keep my fingers crossed when I've had this much experience with what a dying octopus looks like.