Octopus Availability

[Trevor Little]

Miscellaneous
I found this website with "brown octopus" and "Octopus chierchiae" Has anyone had experience with this site? I asked about collection methods and sourcing but didn't get anything from the person that answered the phone. Anyone have information about the Chierchiae octopus and how big they get/tank requirement as far as size?

 

[Trevor Little]

She had said that the "brown octopus" can get to the size of a basketball but the tank requirements posted was 55g so something doesn't seem right

 

[DWhatley]

O. chierchiae (the picture is of Wunderpus photogenicus but they use photos from the web on this site) is a dwarf octopus from the Panama area. Just guessing, I would expect W. photogenicus and not O. chierchiae. Chierchiae are very rarely found for sale (and usually not labeled correctly when they are offered) but @Neogonodactylus and @Thales have recently acquired several (see neogonodactylus' recent hatchling images here and a bit more info on the species here) so they may have had recent access to a wholesaler. They have offered octopuses from Haiti in the past (non-Caribbean octopuses are all virtually purchased via wholesalers and their collection and location history are not usually known). It would seem to be an ideal aquarium specimen but the status in the wild is unknown. It is only one of two known to be semelparous (laying multiple clutches of eggs) and lays small batches of large eggs that are benthic at hatching so there exists the possibility for captive breeding.

The "brown" octopus (the picture, again from the web, is of A. marginatus and is unlikely the correct species ) could be most anything but basketball size is unlikely. Baseball or softball size would be more appropriate for all but the largest animals. They have had O. hummelincki in the past but importation from Haiti has been unseen since the earthquake in 2010. If they are importing them again, this would be encouraging in that it would show signs of recovery. The lilsting mentions "Pacific" as the origination but this could be anything from the Western Hemisphere to Indonesia

 

[Trevor Little]

I ordered a small "brown" octopus! Lets see what happens, I'll definitely post some picks for help on identification! Will arrive tuesday

 

[DWhatley]

I am looking forward to your Tuesday post since I am staring at empty tanks.

 

[forever27]

Hey can anyone be more helpful than Amanda? Any idea what species is the Pacific brown octopus?

Thanks!

 

[DWhatley]

@forever27 they say "Pacific" (which would usually suggest something in the Abdopus complex) but @Trevor Little ordered one and, at first glance, appears to be a Caribbean dwarf (possibly O. mercatoris). We are hoping for more views/pictures but it is in a very large tank.

Edit: note change in new octo keeper link and name.

 

[Trevor Little]

I think that the mercatoris ID is correct it's pretty tiny. [Octopus]: - 1st octopus in this thread are some poorly taken pictures of my "brown pacific octopus" from saltwaterfish.com but you can at least see how big.

 

[forever27]

I went ahead and ordered one as well. It will be here Wednesday and I think I'm going to start a journal. I had a journal for Lennon a few years ago and have had a few octos since then, but I don't have a computer and doing the the journals on my phone is a hassle. How did yours ship? I live in Georgia so I requested priority shipping so it arrives before 10:30am. Hopefully it won't get too hot in transit by doing this. I requested the largest specimen hoping for A. aculeatus; I'm hoping this doesn't backfire and get an older mercatoris.

 

[Trevor Little]

Will be interesting to see what you get. Mine shipped very well. I live in WA so it traveled a little longer for me. Good sized bag it didn't move for like 5 minutes when I first got it. It came in a well secured styrofoam cooler. They had a little hot hands wrapped in a paper plate to keep things at tropical temps so that was a nice touch

 

[DWhatley]

@forever27 - I am also in GA, on the other side of Lake Lanier. My oldest son lives much closer to you.

 

[Octoguynokc]

Does anyone know where I can get a Giant Pacific Red Octopus from. I have a 500 gallon system ready for one and so far my contact fell through.

 

[forever27]

Tom's Carribean has a small briarues or vulgaris for sale.

 

[forever27]

He emailed me back and said it was a vulgaris

 

[Inkman]

Hi all it's been a very long time since I've been online sorry for that but I want to find another cephalopod PS twitch passed away she was 21" from tip to tip and 17 months old I didn't kno if I wanted the pleasure of caring for another but here I am anyway I would like to find a vulgaris this time any thoughts to where I can get one in slippery Rock Pennsylvania