Triton - ?

Ok Captfish you were right Triton decided to *eat* the angelfish. When the angel came up to him the other day he grabbed it and pulled it into his mouth. The angel fish was almost three times larger than he was. When he had finished he slowly walked down the rocks with this massive fish in his mouth then kind of spat it out in the open. I then found out that ONLY the eyes were eaten. Is this strange?
 
I want to thank you for reporting the results of this experiment so often we don't get the backup we need to explain why we make strong recommendations.

Eyes and the attacks on them are interesting in animal behavior. Octopus eyes are one thing we worry about with aggressive fish but, in truth, I don't recall any reported cases of blinding by fish (note that most keepers learn to avoid keeping them in the tank and many times negative results are not journaled). There seems to be a global innate understanding that eliminating sight removes a threat (I recently posted a question to Roy on a similar topic with an octopus and a mantis engagement that did not go as expected). It could be more than a debilitating move though as the eyes of the dead large (giant and colossal) squid we find are eaten immediately and never available for study, even on a fresh find.

I believe CaptFish mentions it in his article but it may have been in Legs' journal that he found it curious that the soft belly was eaten in most fish but rarely the whole fish consumed (Dave, please correct this is if miss-remember the most part). Consuming only the soft parts may have to do with their digestive track (the equivalent of an esophagus passes through their donut shaped brain) and fish bones could be fatal (talk about a brain-freeze!). Size is another factor, especially with the smaller animals. At young ages, all my little guys would reject food that was too large. I suspect it has something to do with avoiding other predators/scavengers that can take the food away or makes them vulnerable to attack because they can't maneuver with it in their mouths (this would fit with your case since there are other fish about). Proportionally, it seems that adults have less concern about size but my prospective may be off.
 
Yeah with my last Abdopus I decided to feed her a diet of goldfish and fiddler crabs. When the fish came into the tank she like savored eating them she took as long as possible to get them. She sometimes captured them then let them go and caught them again. When she finally started eating them she spat out the scales so I would find shimmery bits all over the aragonite. Today I saw a 50 gallon for sale at a garage sale I was thinking that I could attach the two tanks some how and give Triton a roommate:grad: DWhatley I have seen that you have done something similar with your tanks. Also could two abdopus live togethor like this?
 
My split tank was manufactured this way. I have put up opaque dividers to temporarily house two octos when one was small enough for half the tank and the other was in the last stage of senescence but each side is too small for permanent housing. The tank worked particularly well when we mated out O. briareus because we could introduce the pair for a few minutes before removing the barrier. If you watch the video you will see just how fast they can move when detecting each other. If Cassy had rejected Tatanka, there would have been nothing we could have done to save him. It would be very difficult to create an octopus proof barrier, even in this tank if the octos were determined. Others have tried and lost one of the octopuses. This was a calculated, nerve wracking risk. We knew Cassy was producing eggs and if we were going to try to mate them the time was now. She and Tank were dancing for each other nightly over the prior weeks so we kept our fingers crossed that their sexual maturity would result in a mating and not a dinner.
 
I bought the second tank today I am thinking about connecting the two together with a rectangular piece of glass that will have a flap in the middle so I can open the flap for them to mate. If I mate two abdopus will the male escort the female because I know they do this in the wild or will the female just eat the male? If you fed both the male and the female before mating would this lower the risk of them cannibalizing each other?
 
Maybe ... but likely not.
Read Roy's thread on one of the last matings he posted.

In the wild Mucktopus has seen them live in close proximity (but not as close as a tank environment) However, she has also posted seeing something else (not aculeatus in this case).

Keep in mind that dividers have never worked to keep animals separated. Even with cuttlefish, being able to view other conspecifics causes problems. If you keep them this way, I highly recommend blacking out any viewing and the door cannot allow even the tip of an arm to explore the other side (if you viewed the mating video I linked, you can see just how fast detection and reaction can be, even if they can't get through the barrier, you may get a fatality in the trying as with early rearing experiments Thales tried with viewable dividers and bendensis cuttlefish). One reason I was able to temporarily keep two in the split tank was because we put opaque dividers on both sides of the tube. Conjecture for the long mating arm is to avoid getting close enough for the female to grab him. O. mercatoris and O. briareus use a different technique. Also keep in mind that aculeatus is a small egg species with zero success trying to raise the young (so far the only reports I have seen on ANY small egg success have been O. vulgaris and an Alaskan animal whose species I have forgotten).
 
yeah I think I will just use the other aquarium for a rubescens or Bimac tank. By the way Triton has been coming out more and more all the sea grass in the tank has been eaten though by the tang, no other fish have been eaten though.
 
I hope the remaining fish don't do the reverse with the octopus eyes. As I mentioned this is one of the concerns but we have not had it recorded. Do reread CaptFish's article, not all the fish died in one week ... It does not appear to be a hunger issue, more likely a protection of territory. We see protection of territory when an animal is well acclimated and we try to clean near the den. Most people only get a warning arm or two but there are keepers that removed their animals to be able to clean and others that needed a second person to feed and distract.
 
Sure, any species can be considered a potential to bite, particularly if handled. See our Octopus Bites thread for recorded examples. Any animal MIGHT bite, predatory animals certainly need to be respected for the possibility.
 
Hi Octo,
Did you every see any more cases of Triton using the sea grass as a lure? Do you have video of this? It is a very interesting behavior.
PGS
 
Sadly no, he has stopped using it now because he is a lot more outgoing, and has found it easier just to go get the crab:smile:. He has used this technique several times he only used it on the first week of him being in the tank. I think he did this so he could get food with out having to make an appearance. He has caught several hermit crabs and one fiddler crab this way. The fish have also been eating the grass he was holding as well. Today when Triton came out he decided to eat the Tang and he ate ALL of it (the tang is bigger than he is!) Watch out Damsels!:twisted:
 
Triton is one weird lil octopus I started him on the shrimp on a stick today. He EVENTUALLY decided that it was food after 20 minutes of waiting, he then swam over to it and sat one side of him on the rock and the other on the shrimp. He then just slowly nibbled on it for another 10 minutes you could feel each bite vibrate on the stick, I then decided to tug it up and he pulled it off the stick. I hope he decides to pull the shrimp next to him in future feedings because my arm hurts a lot :tongue: still very cute nonetheless
 

Shop Amazon

Shop Amazon
Shop Amazon; support TONMO!
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Back
Top