I got some bad news the other day

[dragonfish]

My good friend Flubber has passed away. I used to care for this little guy (an O. vulgaris) at aquatopia.

when I quit there, I dropped in every now and then to see how he was doing (really loved the little guy)

cause of death is somewhat unclear to me. I heard 2 different stories. either he crawled up the filteroutlet, or he had inked. the head aquarist wasn't around, so I hope to get details asap.

I'm kinda mad now because it was a great animal, who really interacted with people and because he still had his whole life in front of him. (in octopus years that is, I'm guessing he had 6 months to a year left)

it's flubber in the pic by the way

 

[Jean]

Sorry to hear that We just lost our Mrs Henry but that was expected as she had laid eggs about 7 weeks ago and was looking like a palid wraith of an octi

J

 

[Nancy]

Sorry about Flubber, dragonfish. I remember you mentioning him before.

And sorry about Mrs. Henry too, Jean.

Wish they'd all stay around for a longer time.

Nancy

 

[NickA5582]

 

[Burstsovenergy24]

Sorry...

 

[KalihiBoy]

Sorry to hear that

 

[corw314]

So sorry to hear about Flubber and Mrs. Henry!! (love that name! How did you come up with Mrs. Henry???)

They do live too short of a time! That is why I harrass mine constantly!!!

Carol

 

[joel_ang]

Sorry to hear about Mrs Henry and Flubber. Do tell us what happened to Flubber when you find out. I guess we only have to blame their fast and furious lives.

 

[dragonfish]

Just read about mrs Henry. I feel sorry for you.

as soon as I get an update on the flubber-story, I'll post it.
that will probably be next week.

 

[Jean]

So sorry to hear about Flubber and Mrs. Henry!! (love that name! How did you come up with Mrs. Henry???)

They do live too short of a time! That is why I harrass mine constantly!!!

Carol

Henry the octopus is a character that is often seen with a VERY popular childrens singing group called the Wiggles (Aussies will know these guys) our managers children named our octopus Henry, only she turned out to be a girl so Mrs Henry!

J

 

[joel_ang]

Interesting...

Dr. Octopus from spiderman next?

 

[Jean]

Interesting...

Dr. Octopus from spiderman next?

possibly, possibly we usually let children name them!

We do need a new one I hate going past that empty tank

J

 

[joel_ang]

What species ws Mrs Henry? Vulgaris? Any way you could get another one anytime soon?

 

[Jean]

What species ws Mrs Henry? Vulgaris? Any way you could get another one anytime soon?

Hi Joel,

Mrs Henry was a Pinnoctopus cordiformis A native NZ species (we don't get vulgaris here) and yep we'll be getting another! In fact we have one in our small pond but we haven't been able to catch her again

It's interesting but males we can catch in a crab pot, females we can't. If it's caught in a pot 9 times out of 10 it's male. If we are dredging then we can get the females. This one was caught in the research vessel's bottom dredge and was put in the pond by the boats skipper. Now the only way we are going to be able to get her is to drain the tank which is a major undertaking as it holds > 20,000L :? we've had a pot in the pond for a week now and she's ignoring it.

take a look on the centenary website www.otago.ac.nz/marinescience/pmlcentenary

In the picture of the 1904 facility there is an open pond in front of the building, that is where the octi is!

Will try to keep you all posted as to how the octi catching goes!

J

 

[Nancy]

This is very interesting, Jean, because I'm sure I read some sort of news release within the last six months which reported that 9 times out of 10 the octos caught in pots were FEMALE! Maybe someone got mixed up!
You'd certainly be in a position to know!

Nancy