Smallest Octopus Evar: What is it?

[neurobadger]

Hypothetically, if I wanted an octopus, what's the smallest species available on the market? Must have a captive-bred population somewhere, as my ethical standards preclude the purchase of animals taken from the wild.

Must also be as inexpensive as possible to take care of while still adequately taking care of it.

 

[CaptFish]

There are no captive bred octopuses available to the public at this time.

The Dwarf one that are sometimes available are the O.Mercatoris. They are caught as bycatch from commercial live shrimping boats in the FL keys. There is also O.Joublini(sp?) but I have only seen one available in a while. D had one that we never fully identified but he is a pretty small Macropus from Indonesia.

 

[DWhatley]

If it helps with your sustainabilty issues, most of the octopuses caught in south FL as by-catch would be killed for bait or as a nuisance. Currently, the aquarium market serves as somewhat of an alternative. The imported animals are more likely to be caught directly for the pet trade.

 

[neurobadger]

If it helps with your sustainabilty issues, most of the octopuses caught in south FL as by-catch would be killed for bait or as a nuisance. Currently, the aquarium market serves as somewhat of an alternative. The imported animals are more likely to be caught directly for the pet trade.

That sounds reasonable.