after months of waiting and a not so modest amount of money my tank is finally ready for an octopus. since they aren't sold in my area i asked a licensed collector catch me one. the problem with this is he isn't very knowledgeable about them and what species is what.
he managed to catch me one a few days ago, but the lid for my tank failed and i am left with no way of keeping it until some materials arrive (flooding has delayed this a few more days). the only description he could give me is "red with white spots". id specifically asked for an o. cyanea and sent him pictures of both cyanea and a. aculeatus for a guide. tonight was my first chance to go and see it in person and unfortunately it had escaped its holding tank and decided it preferred a very large drum that was set up under it. not a problem except it is low light and the surface isn't still enough for a good enough view to identify an animal that is a master shape shifter.
i was shocked however when as soon as i approached the octopus immediately came over and positioned itself right in front me and inch under the water and started to study us. id never expected it to be so instantly fearless of humans. i reached over and put my finger near to see if it would be brave enough to make contact. immediately it had an arm around my finger, and within another couple of seconds it was followed by a few more and it was crawling up my hand. i was caught completely by surprise and instantly became aware of its beak rapidly approaching my skin so i gently shook it off and it went back to where it had been watching us.
so that was my first experience with an octopus, and although Ive done a lot of reading on this site and heard about how strange they are to touch i was still surprised at just how alien they feel.
the whole point of this post, is to find out how big abdopus' maximum size is. this octopus was probably not a whole lot smaller than the one in this picture:
and i am left wondering if its an old abdopus that will die very soon, or a small cyanea with a lot of time left. if anyone knows the outer limits for an abdopus' maximum size id appreciate some info. i suspect it is cyanea, but i have a nagging concern that this incredible animal wont be around much longer.
he managed to catch me one a few days ago, but the lid for my tank failed and i am left with no way of keeping it until some materials arrive (flooding has delayed this a few more days). the only description he could give me is "red with white spots". id specifically asked for an o. cyanea and sent him pictures of both cyanea and a. aculeatus for a guide. tonight was my first chance to go and see it in person and unfortunately it had escaped its holding tank and decided it preferred a very large drum that was set up under it. not a problem except it is low light and the surface isn't still enough for a good enough view to identify an animal that is a master shape shifter.
i was shocked however when as soon as i approached the octopus immediately came over and positioned itself right in front me and inch under the water and started to study us. id never expected it to be so instantly fearless of humans. i reached over and put my finger near to see if it would be brave enough to make contact. immediately it had an arm around my finger, and within another couple of seconds it was followed by a few more and it was crawling up my hand. i was caught completely by surprise and instantly became aware of its beak rapidly approaching my skin so i gently shook it off and it went back to where it had been watching us.
so that was my first experience with an octopus, and although Ive done a lot of reading on this site and heard about how strange they are to touch i was still surprised at just how alien they feel.
the whole point of this post, is to find out how big abdopus' maximum size is. this octopus was probably not a whole lot smaller than the one in this picture:
and i am left wondering if its an old abdopus that will die very soon, or a small cyanea with a lot of time left. if anyone knows the outer limits for an abdopus' maximum size id appreciate some info. i suspect it is cyanea, but i have a nagging concern that this incredible animal wont be around much longer.