[Octopus]: Octopus - (?) My first octopus

[Twizted1]

Sorry I haven't updated in awhile. Been very busy. I have something strange going on in my octo tank. My octopus is doing fine. Eats like there's no tomorrow. But I came home after a long day of work and running to see these tiny'ish arms dancing around in a big batch of barnacles I have in the tank. At first I thought it was some funky kind of algae, I seem to be plagued with gha. So I do what any right minded person would do, I reach in the tank to touch it. Well it suctions to my finger like my octo would and out came about 4 more arms. I seen a total of 5 at one time. So I get my feeding prong out, put a small sliver of shrimp on it, and it snatches the prong and won't let go. It eventually get the shrimp, although it did not eat it. It just keeps reaching out and feeling around. I tried to get a pic and video. Neither really came out good. Going to set the gopro in the tank tonight to see if I can catch a glimpse of it. Is it possible for my octo to have a baby? I thought they laid eggs. Wouldn't I see a bunch of these? What else could it be? Any idea are greatly appreciated.

 

[cuttlegirl]

Brittle star? Hard to tell without a photo...

 

[DWhatley]

All known octopuses lay eggs, none are known to hatch live young and if Octopus is still eating well, this would not be an offspring. Have you put anything new (live rock, macro algae, gorgonians) in the tank within the last month or two? More than one baby octopus has been known to be discovered as a hitchhiker. That being said, look closely for suckers vs hair like protrusions that can feel "sticky". I have several red brittle stars that are quite active at feeding time. Many brittles/serpents can be hand fed and the arms are frequently mistaken (as CG suggests) in my house as those of the octopus being hunted.

A word of caution. If you determine it is a hatchling you will want to move it to another tank as very few species can live together and even with those that are successful, unequal sizing has never been documented to work. On the other hand any kind of serpent or brittle star makes a good clean up crew for an octopus and will often live close to an octos den. When I can't find one of my wards, I look for the serpent in the tank, my red brittles are particularly prone to living in or nearby the dens and are the first out at feeding time. Often they are bold enough to take the food from the feeding stick but they do not discard it.

 

[Twizted1]

I'll keep a close eye on it. I haven't put anything new in the tank since I started it, so it had to have been in the tank for awhile. I'm 100% it's not a brittle star as it don't have the "hairs" running down the sides of the legs. Every battery for the gopro was dead so I'll have to wait until tonight to put it in to see what I get. Thanks for the quick responses. I'll let you know as soon as I figure it out.

 

[DWhatley]

It still could be a serpent star (no hairy arms) ... It is alway fun to discover something that shows up "new". Even on my oldest tanks I discover new stuff "showing up", some from something new added like macro algae sometimes is the likely hitchhiker carrier (I think my mini serpents came this way) and other things like sponge may have been growing in the rock but only now visible. Last week I discovered two bivalves of some sort while I was looking for the new guy. I suspect I will loose these once the octopus discovers them but I have no idea where they have been hiding or if they grew in the tank and are only now discovered.