Got My First Octopus!!!

[rcn]

Really confused now....this octopus is very small....I assumed it was a baby....maybe it is a dwarf? And why only six eggs? Wouldn't there be alot more?

 

[rcn]

After looking at more picture, I think I have a Merc.......it sure looks like one, and the eggs look exactly like the pictures I've seen....

 

[rcn]

Pretty sure now that it is a mercatoris......also, there are 7 eggs, I missed one earlier.

 

[skywindsurfer]

A lot of smaller species lay fewer eggs but have larger yung though there should be more than just seven. It is possible that she has just started laying them and you can expect more. Sorry you won't get much time with her. What species of sharks do you have?

 

[rcn]

In my 480gal I have a 25" male California Horn, a 17" female California Horn, 18" male Arabian Bamboo, 18" male Coral Catshark, and 16" female Papau New Guinea Epaulette

 

[skywindsurfer]

I was going to get a leopard but I couldn't find one smaller then 21".

 

[rcn]

I was going to get a leopard but I couldn't find one smaller then 21".

Leopards are cool.....unfortunately they have to be 36" or longer to be sold.....Federal Law

 

[rcn]

Here are a few pics.....

 

[Lmecher]

It is very strange that she'd lay eggs open and not tend them. The eggs and pose inside the tube suggest she is a merc. Lets see what someone who has raised O. mercatoris babies will have to say. I have kept them but never had eggs.

 

[DWhatley]

Am I up?
I have raised two sets of merc hatchlings (If Sleazy laid eggs they would have been infertile but I never saw brood behavior). In the first case there were only 6 hatchlings but her daughter brooded over 50. As LMecher notes, it is odd for her to leave the eggs. I don't know if this means they are not viable (the hummelincki that booded infertile eggs remained with them and guarded the den even after they dissolved) or if she is laying others in the pipe, deciding the rock is too open. You can expect her to live 8 to 10 more weeks if she is healthy (about the time the eggs would hatch). Without her care, the ones you can see will not likely survive even if they are fertile. If you have a power head or Koralia that you can point toward the eggs it might help but success with untended eggs has not produced long lived hatchlings in any of my readings. If she is brooding more eggs in the tube, you may have the opportunity to try to raise a few hatchlings.

 

[Lmecher]

Just the expert I was hoping for.

 

[DWhatley]

I am afraid I don't qualify as an expert but I think there are only two active members at the moment who have raised O. mercatoris.

 

[Lmecher]

You happen to be the closest thing we have to one with raising these little ones. A deep well of information. Oh and so so nice too!

 

[DWhatley]

Not true. We have another staff member who IS an expert and has raised mercs along with a fair list of other hatchlings but Roy does not always see hatchling information requests. Thales is gaining experience (and has tons of cuttles to his credit) with octos as we speak

 

[rcn]

The eggs under the live rock has disappeared but I noticed there are about 15 eggs in her PVC tube.....she never comes out of her PVC (unless it's at night when I'm not around). I have tried feeding shrimp and squid but she is not eating anything. She blows the food out of her tube.