Digmar - Octopus Macropus

My last Octo was Briareus and I never noticed the green spots. Also the coloring is very different when at rest. Perhaps it's different when they are very young?

Currently it's in 20g but I have a 40g that I'll be moving him to.

I just can't get over how this thing is always gray. I just woke up for some strange reason and had to go peek. I'm curious if he's a night-walker. But he was tucked away and just peeking at me when I shined the light in. The other thing that strikes me as different is the eyes. The pupil is a very thin slit very different than my previous octo. Perhaps it's the dark coloring that makes them stand out but the green spots are very prominent right now over the entire body and arms.
 
I hope I am wrong because of the space issue and because it would be nice to see a different species. My first impressions are not particularly accurate and I have only been exposed to a couple of species. Look at the linked pictures and see if the green spots are similar. Briareus is supposed to be visible with a flashlight at night underwater but none of mine seemed to show this reflection so it may be that the ones in the keys are slightly different than the ones further south. However, I have noticed that the camera would pickup the green that I did not see just looking at the animal. Grey is an odd color for briareus though, usually they are either a peach or white. I am glad you got him so we can see what he will turn out to be. Hopefully Roy will continue looking in and you can get a good photo as I believe he has collected octos from that general area and may enlighten us.

Would you consider posting photos directly to the site instead of just linking? Click advanced and then Manage Attachements (below the text editor) to open the window that will let you download from your computer.
 
Good memory cuttlegirl, I had forgotten about those. I think we tentively IDed them as hummelincki on the top and some form of macropus on the bottom. Unfortunately, one of the big features of the macropus is the very red color they can show. Quite stunning if you ever get to see it but with the red lighting I had to use, I never even saw puddles nicest displays in their true colors. Looking back at the picture and remembering one of my comments on how much they look like briareus, it could well be one of the macropuses.

Here is a link to Puddles journal, see if this one looks closer to your new friend. It won't be exact but could easily be in the same complex is it can show a bold red (note the acclimation photo - the only really red one I have of him). You can also look at Beldar's journal for additinional comparison. Both the male (Puddles) and female (Beldar) were very human friendly (as long as you could be up at 3:00 AM) and were two of my favorites.
 
Wow, this is turning into a wonderful learning experience.

I initially tried directly attaching my photo without success. I'll try again with your instructions.

The first pic from Cuttlegirl's link looks remarkably close regarding the spots along the legs. Though I have yet to see any other colors than gray or white. My new octo (let's name this guy shall we?) seems to have more of a rounded mantle than what Puddles was showing in the pics you have. I think he's still settling in as he hasn't appeared to be more active during the day or night. I was up around 2:30am and he was still securely wedged in the rocks and just watching me. Which is pretty much what he did during the day at the LFS also.

Ok, it's too busy at work. It's taken me 2 hours to put this much together. I'll try to get more pics this evening and see what new info I find.

Thanks for all your help!
 
Trying pic again.
 

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Normally I would suggest that mantle shape does not seem to often be diagnostic but I think is maybe with whatever flavor of macropus my two belonged in. Most that we see will make the "cone head" shape over time but these two never showed a roundy look. They would do the pointy look too but it was an exagerated extension of their nomal at rest elongation.

Ah, I just noticed that you were successful with the photo. Excellent!

Humm, did you shrink it before you uploaded? It is not necessary if you did but we get images displayed in different ways and I have not yet figured out the sizing rules. I take fairly high definition shots so the files are large and it makes thumbnails (about the size of your picture) but clicking on it once will enlarge them and clicking on the enlagement will give the full size. Some photos, however, remain fairly large and don't quite fit the designated area but are fully viewable at about the size required for the first click on my uploads.
 
So getting pics has proven to be a challenge. He's a bit shy. I'm up and down all night and have yet to see him out of the rocks. When I had him irritated last night (trying to get a pick) he turned a deep red/purple color, so that was different.

I'll keep at it and get some pics when he's comfortable enough to come out and visit.
 
I have yet to see our new octo out and about. There isn't that much rock in the tank so it's easy to keep up with him. I checked on him this morning and when I shine my flashlight under his rock he moves around a bit irritated. So I know he's still alive, but I'm guessing he's still not settled. I still get up odd hours of the night and never see him out then either.
 
I don't know that for sure. The tank already had 8 or so ghost shrimp and they seem to all still be there. I'll count them when I get home.

Anything I can do to promote eating if he's not? Perhaps a fiddler crab if I can find some.
 
Fiddlers seem to be universally accepted. You can try thawing a raw frozen shrimp (likely about a third of one would be good to start) and putting it on a stick near the den. Often they will take shrimp this way even when first introduced.
 
When I got home I did note a decline in the shrimp population in the tank, so he's obviously munching when I'm not looking. He still hasn't come out, but I did notice he had his tentacles out and exploring so perhaps he's starting to chill out.

Hopefully I'll be able to get better pics soon.

As a note of interest, the teal spots seem to be visible all along the arms while he's at rest (I keep peeking in the cave) and the eyes have an orange/red cast to them with a very thin slit for a pupil. Kinda evil looking eyes to be honest. :smile:
 
Try covering the entire sides of the tank with a clothe so that all he can see is the interior of the tank. This may allow him to focus on his environment and get used to that without having to worry about what's going on outside the tank. And try not to peak in on him every five minutes either. Just check a couple of times a day until you notice he's coming out more and roaming around. Then you can take off the covers, but still give him some space and let him get used to the room around the tank before bugging him all the time.
 
You say that like I'm stalking my octopus or something! Ok, maybe I am. :frown:

Anyway, the frozen shrimp idea worked out great. I put half of one in by the cave entrance but he wouldn't touch it so I left. Less than 5 minutes and he was all over it. So it sounds like he's a bit shy as skywindsurfer eluded to. I'll try the cover idea and see if that helps.

Thanks for all the advice everyone!
 

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