Arm length = octo sex?

[sideways]

Truffles plastered himself on the back of the tank today and his first pair of arms seemed shorter than the rest. I can't remember, does that usually mean male or female?

 

[KalihiBoy]

I dont think U could tell the gender that way....................But maybe someone got something different

 

[neptune]

It's great to hear these reports about Mr. T!

8) I think octos can just stretch and morph their bodies so much, that he may infact just been tensed, or flexing. He seems to be out a lot more lately, is this the first you have noticed?

There is nothing in the tank that would be a threat right? :P

 

[sideways]

There is nothing in the tank that would be a threat right? :P

Nope, just my ugly face
I could of swore that there was a conversation about this in the past, but maybe I was mistaken. Oh well.

 

[neptune]

Nope, just my ugly face

I could of swore that there was a conversation about this in the past, but maybe I was mistaken. Oh well.

Do you mean about what else in in the tank, or shapeshifting octos?

 

[Melissa]

Trying to spell "hectocotylus" for this search was all trial and error. Here's the earlier discussion.

TONMO Cephalopod Community

 

[mucktopus]

hectocotylus

Hi,
It's easiest to sex your octopus when it's sitting on the glass and you can see its arms, suckers and mouth. Mature males usually have enlarged suckers (noticably bigger than ones around it, especially compared to other arms, usually near the edge of the web). The arms they're on depends on the species, but it's usually the side arms (2 and 3). The hectocotylus can be hard to identify, but I've attached some sketches at least to help you look for it. For almost all octopuses, the hectocotylus will be the third right arm of males (it's on the left in a rare few). There's a small spoon-like tip that the males use to pass the spermatophores (sperm packages) to the female when they mate. Its size varies per species, but is likely to be anywhere from 1-2mm (in aculeatus) to about a centimeter for aquarium octos. Along the back edge (funnel-side) of the arm, look for a thin pale line. This is actually part of an unpigmented "tube" through which the spermatophores are passed down the hectocotylus. It can be very thin, in species where the flap is not very muscular, to pretty obvious when the flap is fleshy.
Males also tend to protect the hectocotylus by curling the tip back when they move around. This arm can also be considerably smaller than the third arm on the left side. Ok, happy sexing!

 

[sideways]

Thanks Melissa and Mucktopus,
I think thats what I had been thinking of.

 

[Thales]

Hey Crissy,

Some of those sketches are missing - can you add them again when you have time?

 

[mucktopus]

I'm not sure which images these were. I can see the two images I remember posting. If I posted more I don't remember which ones they were.

 

[daddysquoc]

some indonesian species ive read about have an arm- length thing- but i agree its still very hard to tell