Suction Disks; Anatomy and Function

[Stavros]

Cool videos!

You may want to read this article on sucker morphology:

Let me know if you don't have access to it and I can send it via e-mail.

 

[skywindsurfer]

Awesome, thanks Starvos. I'll let you know.

 

[Lmecher]

Wow, have you ever been bitten? That last video looked kind of scarey. Thanks for sharing that.

 

[skywindsurfer]

I have never beenbitten by any cephalopod. Though I've always been curious of how it would feel.

 

[Lmecher]

I was just reading through one of your journals. You put on diving gloves while feeding Bubbles because you were worried about being bitten. (I completely understand the concern.) It just struck me as funny because in the videos you are handleing that enormous GPO and Bubbles is so tiny.
You privileged to work with such an amazing animal. Thank you for sharing, your videos are captivating. I enjoyed them

 

[skywindsurfer]

I was just reading through one of your journals. You put on diving gloves while feeding Bubbles because you were worried about being bitten. (I completely understand the concern.) It just struck me as funny because in the videos you are handleing that enormous GPO and Bubbles is so tiny.

Ya, but my GPO's arms are almost 3' long where as my hummelincki's are maybe one. There is less of a margin for error there. They both try to bite me though. Besides, don't underestimate the little guy lol.

You privileged to work with such an amazing animal. Thank you for sharing, your videos are captivating. I enjoyed them

Thanks for the compliment. I'll be posting another video that I took a day or so ago either tonight or tomorrow if your interested.

 

[Lmecher]

Yes I am, will be looking forward to it

 

[skywindsurfer]

Due to technical issues I haven't been able to download the video yet.

 

[skywindsurfer]

 

[Lmecher]

That was fantastic he really wants out huh? I bet you could keep that up all day long. You get an arm in, another comes out. He sure looks friendly accepting petting. What a wonderful big fella. It was worth waiting for.
Again, thanks!

 

[skywindsurfer]

Everytime I open the lid he's up there clambering to escape. Ya I could do it all day if I didn't have to worry about loosing my job lol. I think the friendliness is a rouse. I know he secretly wants to eat me lol. Every other animal that I interact with in that place either attempts or succedes in bitting me. Maybe I just taste good. During one of my dives I was bitten three times on the same hand in the same spot by our stingrays within the matter of one minute, and just after that a clown tang bit my ear. Any ways, I'm glad that everyone is enjoying these videos. Maybe we should change the name of this thread to "The Wonderful Adventures with GPO".

 

[Lmecher]

Really I was under the impression that stingray's didn't bite (just pinch) since they have no teeth. We feed them occasionally at a LFS nearby. I just looked it up and found images, mostly bruising. I guess it must hurt to leave such a mark. You have very interesting job.

 

[skywindsurfer]

I can assure you that they do bite, and do have tooth like structures. Their jaws are designed more like two solid grinding units to crush their prey which generally consists of small crustaceans and mollusks, but some species have little spikes/nobs that can tear flesh. Some are gentle about being hand fed, but these can get rather aggressive not only with the divers, but with each other during the feedings.

 

[Tintenfisch]

The big stingrays (short-tailed and long-tailed, Dasyatis spp.) at Kelly Tarlton's (aquarium in Auckland) were definitely the ones we had to watch out for while doing the shark feeds. At more than 2m (6') wingspan and ~250kg weight (~550 lbs), a bite from them could leave a bruise easily the size of your head (and sometimes ON your head). They had learned that the more they bit, the faster they got fed, so would come in chomping as soon as divers got into the tank. Their favorite trick was to smash the divers up against the inside of the glass tunnel... the public found this enormously funny and rarely noticed the tears trickling down inside the mask.

 

[skywindsurfer]

Suddenly my stingrays don't seem so bad, though I'd be very happy to wrestle with your animals. : )