Where are all the males?

Neogonodactylus

Haliphron Atlanticus
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The last six A. aculeatus I've gotten were females. There are some shots of courtship and mating that I wanted to take, but that is hard without a male. Here one of the females sits and waits until I can come up with a male for her.

Roy
 

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Wonderful photos, of course!

Is there any reason why only females would be captured?

When I was doing research for our book, I read in one source that female octopuses were far more likely to crawl into an octopus pot and therefore mostly females were captured. But then I read elsewhere that the opposite was true - males were more likely to crawl into a pot.

Nancy
 
Nancy;167949 said:
Wonderful photos, of course!

Is there any reason why only females would be captured?

When I was doing research for our book, I read in one source that female octopuses were far more likely to crawl into an octopus pot and therefore mostly females were captured. But then I read elsewhere that the opposite was true - males were more likely to crawl into a pot.

Nancy

The contradicting info is so helpful isnt it lol. From Roy's experiance I would have to say it is the females that are far more likely to like the pots... maybe its because (since they are all at the end of their natural life span) they are looking for a safe place to brood... little did they know huh.

Has anyone on here had a confirmed male? I want to say Capt did but I dont remember.
 
It may just be a run of bad luck. On the other hand, females are bigger and may be easier to spot. We certainly receive males of this species. It is just hard to get two of the opposite sex at the same time.

Roy
 
Nancy;167949 said:
Is there any reason why only females would be captured?Nancy
I'm just theorizing here, but females need to produce eggs, and therefore must need to eat more, which suggests that they need to go out and hunt more than males do. I suspect that male octopus are relative home bodies, except during the time of the year (maybe all year?) when they are out looking for females.
 
I've been thinking along those lines as well Joe-Ceph, more because we so often see females lay eggs not long after capture. Tank observations show a female slightly pre-brood becomes very active and starts eating almost twice prior consumption. I have learned to expect denning soon when a female is suddenly "friendly". In addition to searching out more food, they actively search our new dens and prepare the dens with rubble reinforcements (blocking entry ways). My thinking is this is why they are so often caught at this stage of their lives.
 

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