Ollie - New O. briareus

[Lmecher]

I have 4 marine aquariums right right now. There are actually a few in my basment, a 55, a 30 tall, and I think a couple 10's every size except the one size I need My brother called me last night, my 5g is ready for me to pick up. My son's kitten is driving my poor crabs nuts. My efforts to cat proof the crab container are failing. The aquarium will be much easier, plexiglass and a couple strips of tape and no worries.

 

[Lmecher]

Haven't seen much more than an arm here and there lately. Tonight he was out early, around 9 pm. He has been refusing food occasionally but has been eating more fiddlers so may be showing a preference for them. He ate the shrimp offered tonight afterwards he stayed out, I managed to get a video. It is dark but here it is.

 

[DWhatley]

My what long arms you have, Ollie. Glad I finally got to see a video.

It looks like Ollie is growing nicely. If you are giving fiddlers a couple of times a week and he refuses shrimp, just don't feed that day. We fast once a week but if one of them refuses food, we let them fast that day as well. It sound cruel but sometimes they are just not hungry.

Creepy did something odd yesterday. We have been feeding his shrimp in a double shot glass (actually it holds 3 shots. The bottom section holds two then there is a narrow neck and a place to "float" a shot of some other liquid. We have never tried them for their intended use but they make interesting octo feeders ) It took her awhile to figure out how to get the shrimp out and she has never learned how to get it if the glass is upright (I think she may be missing a little upstairs). Anyway, she took the shrimp out of the glass last night and then did not eat it. I have not offered crabs in a week (ran out) so she got two tonight.

 

[Lmecher]

Now that you brought it up. Here is the closest we ever came. I was so sure Ollie was going to snatch this crab. Did I scare him away or is he just that dumb, he actually touched the fiddler so he had to know it was there. The next day the fiddler remained untouched.

 

[DWhatley]

humm, we really don't know much about decoding coloring but all red like that in briareus is not a normal relaxed color (IME). If you scared Ollie he would have retreated to his den. Did you leave the fiddler in the tank or do I recall you saying it died and you removed it? Eating habits vary so widely that it is quite an oddity. Legs, and to a lesser extent GHolland's mercatoris hatchlings and our Octane, eat/ate like pigs compared to most I have kept and other's reports. Refusing food for a day or even two, even fiddlers, is not unusual though.

 

[Lmecher]

The crab was alive so I just released it into the tank. So you say his coloration may tell us he was in some way annoyed? I'll keep that in mind and will let him be when he shows this. As you said if he was scared he would have retreated, hmmm. Could he have been giving me a warning to leave him alone? Well I was just happy to see him out again. He has grown, I can tell his mantle looks larger by aboout a 1/2 inch.

 

[DWhatley]

In my best guess, yes, the all red appearance means annoyance rather than fear but there has been scientific attention given to coloration and meaning without any conclusive suggestions. I am not even sure "leaving them alone" when annoyed is best and it may have been the camera (especially if it has a focus light or in some other way reflects light) that was the target of his distain. Hummelincki are more demonstrative in their mood coloration. Not eating the crab, however, is not likely because of annoyance and more likely that he just was not hungry.

 

[Lmecher]

My camera has no light when in video mode and I didn't use the focus function. I do notice when he is out (the few times) in daylight he is very dark and redish. At night time he usually has the white arms and darker mantle coloration. When a light goes on in the room he darkens all over. This must be his attempt at camouflaging himself.

 

[Nancy]

Do you see that dark purple, almost black coloring on Ollie's mantle often? I recall seeing it before on a briareus.

Nancy

 

[Lmecher]

Do you see that dark purple, almost black coloring on Ollie's mantle often? I recall seeing it before on a briareus.

Nancy

I do see it often in a variety of situations. I looked back over photos I've taken. I have seen it when feeding, tank cleaning, light disturbance and when he is just out exploring on his own. Do you make any connection with this coloration and mood or physical condition?

 

[Lmecher]

I just noticed Ollie out of his den with the lights on, this is a golden opportunity. Grabbing my camera.
He is showing the very dark mantle on and off in this video.





I assumed he was hungry, didn't feed him yesterday. I recruited my 12 year old daughter to feed him a shrimp while I filmed. Mantle is always at it's darkest as he retreats back to his den. Hmmm...any thoughts?

 

[DWhatley]

Neither of my active ones (Creepy is almost never seen) showed that coloration while swimming but two does not constitute a statisticall number for guessing behavior. SWAG without the Science guesses would be #1 the leather you have in there appears pinkish red so Ollie's color may be simply camo (notice how the arms get white when he gets down to the bottom substrate) or #2 he is not fond of the fish. If the fish is stressing him, it will likely disappear somewhere around 6 months of age. If you can catch the cromis (fun, fun) and have somewhere else to put him for a couple of days, you could experiment to see if that makes any difference.

 

[Lmecher]

There used to be 2 chromis in the tank the larger of the 2 dissapeared a few days ago. They bothered the heck out of my clown pair. They are supposed to be peaceful fish. Now that theres only one, maybe it won't be so brave.
I noticed Ollie's pinkish/red coloring too, wondered why, do not remember ever seeing this before. I thought I was attractive. wasn't puddles red in a photo upon acclimation? I think your right about the coral. I am assumimg also if he was aggrivated he would not have come right up to the camera as I was filming huh? Well, I felt pretty lucky to have seen him out, I haven't seen too much of him lately and miss his pretty face.

 

[DWhatley]

Puddles is some form (I think) of nocturnal macropus and their natural color is red (red ligh disappears quickly underwater). Typically, the at rest color for briareus is white but typical is still not a well defined word where octopuses are concerned. The dancing on the glass behavior, however, is typical to the ones I have had. Animal Mother has a couple of terrific shots of Kalypso with the dark mantle and very white arms. Somewhere in the journal I asked him if he saw that coloration often and he implied that it was not unusual but not the day to day coloration.

 

[Lmecher]

Ollie had continued to make his appearance earlier but after lights out. His den is right in the front and I can see him 24/7. He is still extremely skiddish, I walk up to the tank very slowly and I know he sees me. I place my hand on the glass and sometimes he retreats, other times he will do the back and forth thing, following my hand to the front glass. He still won't make contact when I place my hand inside the tank. my atttempt last night sent hi to the back wall, he spread out and watched me for a few minutes. He then began to move across the tank, went into the rock work, came out to the side wall than back to the back wall but he didnt hide so I guess that means he is curious right? Ollie is also still displaying the very dark mantel on and off, it seems normal for him although not for his species. I fed him a peice of shrimp and then a fiddler. The fiddler never touched the sand, he snatched it and took it into his den. I am wondering what is the recomended amount to feed him? I have been giving him a piece of shrimp appx. 1" x 1/2" w/fiddler 2-3 times a week, is this enough? With all my saltwater tanks, I have always felt it is better to feed a little less than too much but the gusto with which he grabbed the fiddler makes me think maybe he's not getting enough. Ollie has been such a joy, I can't believe I didn't get an octopus sooner. I think if they were more main stream more people catch the bug.