a few pics of octy's caught in the pacific

Guero

Pygmy Octopus
Registered
Joined
Aug 8, 2008
Messages
13
thought I would add a few shots I found in my files.
We fish a lot on the west coast here in SD and Mexico
here's two we recently caught.

The big one was caught off Santa Barbra Island. We named in Hank after the lady who caught it. It now resides in the Long Beach Aquarium for all to enjoy.



The second is a smaller one a I caught off shore in Mexico, a little too big for the tank, oh well......
 
Interesting that you catch them on a fishing line (I am not a fisherperson :smile: and the little I know is that they are usually caught in lobster/crab traps or by collectors). What kind of bait do they attack? Are you fishing on the bottom or mid-water? Are they hooked on the arm or do they take the bait and get hooked close to the beak (the one photo suggests arm)? Can you tell it is not a fish from the way it comes in? Lastly, how in the world did you keep the large one in the live well to bring it back?

Anyone know what species the large one might be? I'm guessing NOT GPO or Vulgaris. I would think one that large would be featured in aquariums if they were common.
 
dwhatley;122799 said:
Interesting that you catch them on a fishing line (I am not a fisherperson :smile: and the little I know is that they are usually caught in lobster/crab traps or by collectors). What kind of bait do they attack? Are you fishing on the bottom or mid-water? Are they hooked on the arm or do they take the bait and get hooked close to the beak (the one photo suggests arm)? Can you tell it is not a fish from the way it comes in? Lastly, how in the world did you keep the large one in the live well to bring it back?

Anyone know what species the large one might be? I'm guessing NOT GPO or Vulgaris. I would think one that large would be featured in aquariums if they were common.
they kinda hit all kinds of baits or jigs(the metal things with hooks on them).
Always at the bottom of the ocean floor, usually in 150 ft or more.

They kinda just grab it and don't let go. As you bring them up they figure it out and let go but it usually hooks them in an arm and then you got 'em. And you can usual tell it's not a fish, something doesn't feel right, it feels real heavy and doesn't pull at all.

The big one we picked up and put in the forward bait tank on the boat and latched the lid on. And he hit the deck running, he really scooted across the deck. He made the ride for a day and a half back home safely. The boat docks right behind the Aquarium in Long Beach, so they walked down and got it, pretty cool....The Scripps Aquarium in SD has a large Octy tank with one that looks a lot like Hank..........
 
The Scripps Aquarium in SD has a large Octy tank with one that looks a lot like Hank

You had me curious about an interesting aquarium in South Dakota :wink:. Correction made with a little Googling :razz: but I couldn't find anything specific about the octopus to help with identification.
 
I am sure the large octopus is a GPO. They do occur near Santa Barbara Is. (though the extreme southern end of their range), an there is nothing else that comes close to reaching that size in that area (Other shallow water octopuses that occur there off the top of my head are O. bimaculoides, O. bimaculatus, O. rubescens, and O. micropyrsus, deepwater octopuses include O. californicus, Graneledone pacifica, Graneledone boreopacific and a couple Benthoctopus sp.). Coloration is consistent with E. dofleini and so is the longitudinal dark streaks on the mantle and overall "veined" appearance.
My guess is young E. dofleini or O. rubescens for the small guy. Those two can be fairly difficult to tell apart without having them in front of you.
 
Thanks Taollan,
The orange one had me very curious as the GPO was the only one of that size I have read about in this hemisphere but I thought it was too far south and too orange (granted, I have only seen the GPO at our aquarium twice but when showing the red-orange color it was the deeper reddish orange so often shown in pictures) and from pictures, the large one in Australia doesn't seem to show the orange at all (and would be a truely odd find in CA).
 
Oh, I found the site but only a reference to a bimac when I went looking for octopuses. SD (state of) may cater to few marine enthusiasts but the concert shown at the SD (city of) aquarium came straight out of my teen years :old:
 

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