Varys' babies (O. mercatoris)

[Animal Mother]

Wow that's different.

 

[DWhatley]

I'm surprised AM did not mention that his Einy also displayed a blue, once. The color was different (lighting and flash could account for it) but it is interesting that blue has shown in this species twice as it is not a normal octo color. I believe I read that blue is not a color cephs can create with chromatophores so it must be from the reflective cells - Monty help here with the name please ;>)

 

[monty]

I'm surprised AM did not mention that his Einy also displayed a blue, once. The color was different (lighting and flash could account for it) but it is interesting that blue has shown in this species twice as it is not a normal octo color. I believe I read that blue is not a color cephs can create with chromatophores so it must be from the reflective cells - Monty help here with the name please ;>)

Leucophores (or Leukophores, maybe) are the passive white reflecting cells under chromatophores. Iridophores are the ones that reflect iridescent sheen, and also control polarization... I think in some species it's believed that they can rotate or something to change polarization, but I don't know if any octos are on that list, or if it's just squids and cuttles. I'm in a bit of a rush, so I don't have time to verify spelling (leucophore and iridophore aren't in my spellchecker even if that's right... they used to be until my hard disk crashed )

 

[gholland]

It may be that the color is actually gray and the perception of "blue" is due to some refractive effect of the glass. Still... I think it's very interesting to see a merc that we almost always associate with that red-brown color hide those pigments in a red-light environment and display something other than white. D, your mercs often seem whitish in your photos... were those taken with flash or was that pale color due to some kind of digital color filtering/enhancement method you used to remove the red?

Beluga also showed the "gray" color last night, so that's two of them now.

 

[DWhatley]

I did experiment with filters and the white light adjustments on my camera to compensate for the red light (those are the green shots, if I posted any) but the white was with flash. Sisty and 'Dusa often did not seem to have their color "turned on" even when Sisty would be out early in the evening or morning. I really only saw the typical red/brown when they were excited or angry. I think the red light in that tank (it stays on 24/7) helps obscure the ambient lighting to some degree but I don't know why they were white most of the time.

 

[gholland]

Here we go... the pic and a zoomed view of Beluga from last night when she was gray... and you can see how effective it is under the red light in the third photo. I think if she was "white" she would have been much easier to see. The white crushed coral certainly is.

 

[gholland]

Ah... last night my little "piglets" got to chow down on the fiddlers that arrived yesterday! One of them (Shelby?) readily took the fiddler from my hand. Tried to take my fingers too, but only got the crab. A second one (Beluga) refused to come out of her hole to get the crab I offered, but when I let the crab go, it went straight into Beluga's den and that was that! The third one (Tarzan?) absolutely refused to take the fiddler from me. Every time I inched closer with the crab, the octopus eased away. Didn't jet off. Didn't ink. But there was no way it wanted to be handed dinner! When I let this crab go, it swam directly into the 'pode who was actually trying to get away from it... and once again, that was that! The fourth baby (Quattro) still seems much smaller than the other 3 and never comes out of its hole far enough for me to see the mantle. All I ever get is a few arms and an eye. The size of the eye is what I'm using to judge relative sizes. This one got a freshly killed shore shrimp so maybe it will catch up to the others with continued feeding.

Last night, I came to the startling realization that at least one of the babies (Shelby?) seems to distinguish between myself and Jen. I can sit in front of the tank, crane my face around each side, get up, sit back down... all with no worries. However, as Jen approaches the tank, the 'pode gets edgy and when she sits down in front of it, it's gone! Dark-haired furry-faced guy good! Long-blond-haired pregnant woman baaaad! And this wasn't just once. It has happened the last 3 or 4 times she has come to look at the babies when I mention that they are out.

In this pic, Tarzan(?) is the one with the crab and Beluga is out of sight, welcoming the second crab into her hole for dinner!

Note that we are back to the normal red-brown color!

 

[jennifrie]

Last night, I came to the startling realization that at least one of the babies (Shelby?) seems to distinguish between myself and Jen. I can sit in front of the tank, crane my face around each side, get up, sit back down... all with no worries. However, as Jen approaches the tank, the 'pode gets edgy and when she sits down in front of it, it's gone! Dark-haired furry-faced guy good! Long-blond-haired pregnant woman baaaad! And this wasn't just once. It has happened the last 3 or 4 times she has come to look at the babies when I mention that they are out.

I'm just glad you take nice photos, or I'd rarely if ever get to see them.

 

[Octavarium]

These babies are great. I love the hunting instinct in the little guys.

 

[Animal Mother]

This was the one time Einy showed us blue. This was during acclimation, in a big orange bucket.

 

[gholland]

Wow... that is super blue... wonder if it was the orange bucket or something else that triggered it?

Here's a new pic.... (of Quattro I think)...

 

[Nancy]

We've had other reports of young mercatoris waving blue arms (as they stayed in their dens begging for food!)

Nancy

 

[esquid]

Here's a new pic.... (of Quattro I think)...

you should put that in the lolceph thread

 

[DWhatley]

I'm just glad you take nice photos, or I'd rarely if ever get to see them.

Jen,
Assuming you are a pregnant blonde, welcome and glad to hear from the other half (not quite fair to say 2/3)!!! You may have introduced yourself elsewhere but I am catching up from vacation and saw this first.

 

[gholland]

Tonight Tarzan(?) took a shrimp from my hand, Beluga caught a fiddler crab on his own, and Quattro ate shrimp on a stick. Here's a nice shot of Tarzan in the new large shell I added a few days ago. He was really hungry and exploring the tank tonight...