Era Vulgaris

[sedna]

I got this incredible little octopus from Diver Tom yesterday- and it might be the most amazing one I've had yet! The last few octos I've gotten have been so old and far into senescence that they haven't lasted long enough to even post. That is the ones that got here alive... This time when I saw it on the In Stock list on Tom's site I e-mailed and asked for the size and his guess at species. "briareus or vulgaris, head the size of a dime." I've never had such a young one before! When it got here, I saw the classic mercatoris pose, two front arms thrown up over it's mantle between it's eyes. That was the last it resembled a merc! It dropped the shell it had been curled up in and began swimming around the bucket, crawling up the side- as interested in me as I was in it. Since it wasn't shy or stressed out, I got out the macro lens and got up closer. It's response was to come closer to the camera, then squirt just off to one side! End of photo shoot! I sent the photos to D, feeling too superstitious to post on Tonmo yet. She guessed vulgaris.

After acclimation I put it in a large critter keeper into my 54gal. When I got this keeper a while ago, I octo proofed it as best I could, drilling tiny holes for more H2O flow, but with fine mesh sewn around the top. It can hold lots of LR and I've successfully kept other octos in it. At first it hid under a rock keeping a sharp eye on me. Within a few hours, it was out on the side of the keeper, in plain site. All through the evening it moved about the keeper, checking us and it's new surroundings out, not a bit concerned with the activity in the room. When I got up in the morning I didn't see it, and after reading Little Bit's logs, I didn't expect to see it for a few days. At 9:30, it was out on the glass- front and center. On the glass, not in the keeper. I could mind no signs of it's escape route (a heavy chunk of LR on the lid). Throughout the day it could be found exploring the LR, even holding on to a hermit crab who was distressed at the situation!

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed. This has been a great start, but I'll be feeling more confident when it's still here in a week from now!

 

[sedna]

some more pics

Here are a couple more shots. One is just a wide shot of the tank, the other shows "him" (better that "it" for now) checking me out from chunk of LR.

 

[sedna]

That last pic in my first post, it's hard to tell that he is outside of the keeper, not in it. I just noticed that in that there is a hermit crab in the bottom corner- maybe the unlucky one I saw him with later...

 

[DWhatley]

The eyes in the critter keeper picture and the boldness keep me thinking vulgaris but the color is throwing me a bit. LittleBit could display red when small but the red was a shocking red like a red (not orange) ball sponge. If Era is anything like LittleBit ALL hermits, snails, shrimp or crabs will not last long. She scarfed up her dinner and anything that moved in her tank once she was perhaps twice that size and continued the practice until she brooded.

 

[tkong]

nice pick up!! so u were the guy who got the last octo Its a beauty

 

[corw314]

Great pics! Good luck with your new little one! I hope it's a vulgaris!!

 

[sedna]

Oh darn it all!!!! Just wrestled the remains of this little one away from some hermits. Sadness! Frustration! What now?!?!?

 

[Tentacle Toast]

Oh, man...I'm sorry to read that Would you be at all able or give us a snapshot of your current tank parameters please? My condolences on your streak of bad luck...

 

[sedna]

Some bad luck is just that- luck. There is nothing you can do when a a briareus shows up with the head the size of an orange, with the tip split a 1/3 of the way down and autophagic. That's part of the risk when you buy and animal sight unseen through the mail. I feel bad about those ones, but at least I know there was nothing short of turning back time that could have saved those ones (I got 3 in a row like that!!!).

When it comes to H2O parameters, all the "basics" are in range (Nitrates & nitrites 0, specific gr. 1.024, pH 8.0). Even so, there are so many things that can go wrong during acclimation. I really only test those basics, though. If there are any other suggestions I'll take them! Not only did I do a 3 hr. drip, but I was able to float this one first to bring the temp up. Even though it is really cold here in MI, I had them hold it at the FedEx site for me to pick up instead of riding around on the cold truck all day.

I know I did everything I could, but I'll always take more helpful information!

 

[DWhatley]

I was talking to Neal tonight about feeling we miss something. Era was very young so it may have been the cold but I dwell on this kind of loss a lot but nothing ever jumps up and says "test it".