Hello Tonmo,
I do apologize if this topic has already come up in another thread. Before I reach out the the aquaticinfo list serve, I thought I would ask other Cephalopod professionals their opinions prior to branching out.
I have worked with and provided care for Enteroctopus dofleini for several years now and have come to recognize a trend in behavior once the animal gets to a certain size.
I am noticing them swimming into the theming of the exhibit. It's not a jetting, but it is a deliberate swim. It starts off with maybe doing this behavior once every couple weeks, gaining intensity through senescence. Does anyone know what the cause might be? I have considered: stress, diet, water quality, and lack of enrichment and have tried to make adjustments where needed. It doesn't seem to be selective to a certain gender. But it eventually does cause a break in the mantle skin and that wound constantly gets bigger over time. Which leads me to my next question.
How does one treat a mantle wound such as this? I am told there is nothing I can do about it, but given how long GPOs have been in public aquaria I find it difficult that no one has at least attempted to research treatments for injuries like this. I find that doing nothing feels like I am letting this animal, and potentially future animals, down.
Thanks for all of your time,
Best.
I do apologize if this topic has already come up in another thread. Before I reach out the the aquaticinfo list serve, I thought I would ask other Cephalopod professionals their opinions prior to branching out.
I have worked with and provided care for Enteroctopus dofleini for several years now and have come to recognize a trend in behavior once the animal gets to a certain size.
I am noticing them swimming into the theming of the exhibit. It's not a jetting, but it is a deliberate swim. It starts off with maybe doing this behavior once every couple weeks, gaining intensity through senescence. Does anyone know what the cause might be? I have considered: stress, diet, water quality, and lack of enrichment and have tried to make adjustments where needed. It doesn't seem to be selective to a certain gender. But it eventually does cause a break in the mantle skin and that wound constantly gets bigger over time. Which leads me to my next question.
How does one treat a mantle wound such as this? I am told there is nothing I can do about it, but given how long GPOs have been in public aquaria I find it difficult that no one has at least attempted to research treatments for injuries like this. I find that doing nothing feels like I am letting this animal, and potentially future animals, down.
Thanks for all of your time,
Best.
