[Octopus]: New Atlantic Octopus

oneandseven

Cuttlefish
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Aug 23, 2011
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:sad:After 9 months, I lost my A. aculeatus, "Leggs" RIP. :confused:Now I just received a TINY Atlantic long leg octo from Foxy Tropicals. He or she, haven't determined yet. I have a brittle star that is twice as big as this new one, in the tank, and wonder if I should remove it?? Here is a photo of the new octo.I just noticed that he has a forked arm at the end. I will try to get a pic.
 

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Hummm, Not at all sure what this one is. I believe Foxy Tropicals catch their own (or may trade locally or pickup some of their items from Haiti - typical of the suppliers in this area, not something I know directly) but the photo does not lend to one I have kept from the Caribbean. The eyes suggest nocturnal dwarf but are too big (which may be an artifact of the photography) for O. mercatoris. More pictures and anything you can mention about the coloration may be helpful.
 
This little one is sooo small. Because a piece of the third right arm is missing, I am calling it a "she". Sorry for the lousy photos, I have included another. She is usually very light, and when threatened, gets all speckled with dark spots. The color in the photo is about the color she stays on her mantle. She is inside the shells until eve. when she comes out and roams around in the "critter keeper she's in". I don't know what to feed her. I tried some thawed out frozen mysis, but that didn't seem to entice her, then I tried putting a shore shrimp about 1 1/2" in and that's nothing but a tankmate to her. Too big, I'm sure. Should I try a piece of frozen raw shrimp?
 

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From the second picture, color and arm length suggest there is a possibility of O. briareus but I cannot not make any kind of educated guess as the first picture would not make that suggestion at all. Usually, O. briareus this tiny would show white most of the time with blue eyes (actually blue/green around the eyes, not the eyes themselves). They have a peach coloration that can be anything from part of the body to striped to all over (Onn usually shows solid peach now).

Try taking a table shrimp and chopping it up as small as you can and then placing several pieces in the clam shell. Onn would (and probably still does) take small (roughly the size of the eye) pieces we put in the tank for the serpent.
 
I finally let Smidgette out of the critter carrier into the 58 gal tank. It's been a month, and she eats live shore shrimp and chopped lobster. I took a few more pictures, and this is the best. Hope it helps with identity. The place from which she came said she was an Atlantic Longleg, and she moves like the pics I've seen of them. She moves with all her legs trailing behind, thereby looking like a flounder.
 
Reviewing Roger Hanlon's video of the Atlantic Longarm (Macrotritopus defilippi), I think this is a likely candidate. They are similar in looks and shape to O. briareus but the eyes seem to be more pronounced and the mantle longer. The coloration of the two are similar but Smidgette looks different to me and did/does not have the bright blue/green around the eyes.
Have a look at RH's video if you have not already seen it:
 
We seem to have a little problem with adding video links. Google Atlantic Longarm (not leg) and look for a video entitled Natural Behaviors of the Atlantic Longarm Octopus (Macrotritopus defilippi) posted by Roger Hanlon
 
We seem to have a little problem with adding video links. Google Atlantic Longarm (not leg) and look for a video entitled Natural Behaviors of the Atlantic Longarm Octopus (Macrotritopus defilippi) posted by Roger Hanlon
 
We seem to have a little problem with adding video links. Google Atlantic Longarm (not leg) and look for a video entitled Natural Behaviors of the Atlantic Longarm Octopus (Macrotritopus defilippi) posted by Roger Hanlon
 
Sorry about that, I knew it was Atlantic Longarm, not longleg. anyway, I watched the video, and it's exactly like her. The color, movement, and displays, all in miniature. Now that she is in the 58 g. I probably won't see her. She came out last night 9:00 pm, when the red light came on and the daylight went off, but by 1:00 am, she was hiding again. Today, I have yet to see her. BTW, you never did comment on the fact that there is a 5-6" brittle star in there. Is that anything I should worry about? I'm really sorry she is so nocturnal, as Leggs was diurnal, and enabled us to have a great inter-active relationship.
 

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