Penelope - O.Vulgaris

[Lmecher]

Here I go, uproarously laughing at your expense ... again

Now I can but at the time...

 

[SabrinaR]

LOL Me too... VERY sorry for your ceiling... again. lol

 

[CaptFish]

So for the past week or so I have noticed Penny's third arm often curled up tight. The confusing part is that she does not always have it curled. She will frequently extend it when on the glass. but when crawling over the live rock. She does use the arm just as much as she uses the others

Do males always keep that arm curled? Do males use that arm for tasks, ie moving a toy ship, or hunting? Do males keep it curled when they free swim?

 

[Lmecher]

That's a good question. I've had 2 males, was able to observe Ollie quite a bit. He kept it curled most of the time, did not use it very much. He would uncurl it for swimming. When walking on the glass inparticualr, did not use that arm, it just hung there like a usless limb.

 

[DWhatley]

The arms can be used almost normally (remembering the tip will not have suckers) but different species have different sized end tips (ligula - some up to a third of the arm). The mercs used their arms quite normally most of the time when maneuvering but usually curled the arm when not in an activity. SueNami (who had to regrow his arm from the webbing) kept the arm curled all the time and I don't recall him using it for day to day activities (but this may have had more to do with haveing lost it once than what to expect from briareus).

Try taking photos of the arm. There are two things to look for but I have only been able to identify them in photos, not with my eyes (Roy and Mucktopus say they are "easy" to spot ). Along the hectocotylized arm is a channel for transporting the spermataphores. You can see it as a white line in SueNami's example photo (third photo, enlarge it for a better view).

The ligula will have a different tip than the other arms but, again, I have not seen it in a live animal. It will not have suckers. A good shot of an ligula is not in the thread and is solicited to add to the collection.

Unlike SueNami, a boy named Penelope has no special ring ... Do we start calling him Copper?

 

[CaptFish]

Hmmm, I'll try to examine the arm more closely, I'll get pics too, but I am pretty sure I have seen suckers on the tip. maybe she just likes to curl it, might as well she does everything else differently.

 

[CaptFish]

Well, she(for now) is not cooperating. I asked her nicely to please hold still and extend her third arm. She did not. She seemed quit irritated that i put my face right up to the glass, I could see her trying to shoot me with her cannon. I tried to get a good look at her arm tip but she is keeping just the very tip of that arm tightly curled so I cant tell if it has suckers or ligula. As for a channel, I don't know.

I am going to get to pictures one of male octopus and one of a female octopus and see which one she is attracted too.

During my close-up investigation I did notice her eye spots. She did not display them but if you look really close you can see that her cammo coloring is slightly off in those two spots especially in the very center.

 

[SabrinaR]

I dont know why its not working for you... Are you sure you asked nicely? Maybe you were a big meany and please in octo lingo means something bad?


BTW how big is she now?

 

[CaptFish]

ML: ~5"
spread: ~22-24" she always has those tips curled so it's hard to tell

 

[SabrinaR]

Wow I thought they were smaller than that. Shes a pretty good size.

 

[Lmecher]

I am going to get to pictures one of male octopus and one of a female octopus and see which one she is attracted too.

Well I don't know if that'll work. To be politically correct and not discriminate, what if your octopus is gay? Not that theres anything wrong with that mind you.

I am wondering just how much Penny has grown since you got her. Diablo has really grown a lot and I feel bad that she is in such a small tank. It is so difficult to gauge her size but her mantle is definately more than 4". I guess the hard part is not knowing how large she'll get.

 

[CaptFish]

Well I don't know if that'll work. To be politically correct and not discriminate, what if your octopus is gay? Not that theres anything wrong with that mind you.

My luck, she would be a gay octopus. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

 

[DWhatley]

What you are describing sounds pretty solidly male. I really hope you get a good shot of the arm to add to the sexing collection though

Males have been recorded to try to mate with other males fairly frequently (and I saw this with Sisturus and Medusa). Mucktopus has recorded this with A. aculeatus as well. With the mercs, there was no female in the tank and the male trying to mate had come into sexual maturity a full month before his sibbling. Mucktopus has recorded males cross dressing to mate with guarded females (similar to what we have seen with the larger cuttlefishes) and I believe they were in this guise when being confronted with a randy male. It may well be that "any port in a storm" suits them fine, however preservation of the species seems to rule as the recorded attempts have been met with firm rejection.

 

[CaptFish]

this is what i got and you still cant see.

 

[DWhatley]

The tucked end is typical. It is the third arm to the right (clockwise with your eyes facing the same direction as the octopus). I don't know if a damaged or sensative tip would produce the same effect. I do see a faint line starting at the top of the curl that may or may not be part of a channel. Since these are small egged species, I don't know if it follows suit that the spermataphores are also tiny, thus requiring a small channel. It is much clearer on SueNami's photo (never saw it with my eyes) as white line that runs the length of the arm. You might PM Roy or Mucktopus and ask them to have a look.