[Octopus]: I'm back, with a new friend.

[Animal Mother]

Hello all.

I received this little inklet from Saltwaterfish.com, as a "Medium/Brown Pacific Octopus" sized as 2"-4".

It's maybe 4" mantle to arm tip. Mantle alone is almost an inch. No eye spots. Solid, orange-brown mottled with white markings to olive drab green. Eyes are very dark. Carries 3rd right arm curled.

Assuming male Abdopus, won't bet on it yet. Some of the patterns look akin to briareus without the green sheen, so maybe a macropus.‍

Tank is 60 gallon cube with 1/2 inch acrylic lid, 30 gallon sump, 100 gallon skimmer. 45lbs uncured rock from Salty Bottom Reef Company, 20lbs live rock from established reef. 40lbs live sand. 1.027 salinity. Setup mid October.

It will remain in critter keeper until larger. I was not expecting such a small/juvenile specimen. I always expect a maturer, larger one, so this is quite pleasant.

 

[Squiderp 12]

AWESOME!

 

[Nancy]

Congratulations! Nice that you received a smaller one.

Nancy

 

[Animal Mother]

After acclimation I fed it a few hermits, it hid under the rock until after dark.
11pm last night and it was out in the open looking around.
7am this morning, still hanging out in the open.

It did not like being restricted to the critter keeper.

 

[Animal Mother]

 

[Animal Mother]

 

[Animal Mother]

Back under the rock by 8am.

Callistoctopus would be my best guess. I see a pattern of white polka-dots down the length of the arms. Matches this BOLD Systems: Taxonomy Browser - Callistoctopus aspilosomatis {species}

 

[DWhatley]

Thinking maybe adult O. bocki, mostly because of the eyes and mantle.

 

[Animal Mother]

Turned the lights halfway off at 8pm. He was out of the rock and out in the open within a few minutes. I decided to turn him loose.

He has eaten 2 hermits.

I hope he's not a pygmy, but it is what it is.

If this is a "medium" octopus and this is an adult O. bocki, I wonder if "large" is the same species.

On a side note, this was my third attempt to order one online. I first tried to buy a vulgaris from Salty Bottom Reef Company but it wasn't actually in-stock. They said they'd talk to some divers. They also offered a "tennis-ball sized" briareus, but I passed in hopes of finding something more hummelinki-like. They have mercatoris listed but I didn't ask if they were in-stock. After 3 weeks I decided to move on.

I then gave yourfishstore.com a try. They offer a variety of octopus species they probably shouldn't, and their octopuses are listed under "Marine Fish". I ordered the package 2×Pacific octopuses and a week later checked the shipping status. Order was unfulfilled. They replied to my email saying the ones they had were not in good enough condition to ship and offered a pair of "premium clownfish" if I waited for them to complete my order, but I asked for a refund. That took 5 days. They also have cuttle and squid eggs listed, but I have no idea what kind, nor how legit the business actually is.

 

[Animal Mother]

Thinking maybe adult O. bocki, mostly because of the eyes and mantle.

There are some similarities between this one and the pictures I see Dr. Caldwell has uploaded. But it also looks very similar to the callistoctopus pictures. Very reddish brown with white mottled arms. Most of the time it is smooth, but I have seen it make some rough, spikey skin textures.

 

[DWhatley]

Both Puddles and Beldar were VERY nocturnal and did not come out until about 3:00 AM. I don't have great photos of them but have linked their names to their journals.

 

[Animal Mother]

 

[Animal Mother]

No sightings this morning.

 

[Animal Mother]

6:15am and out on the front glass.

 

[Animal Mother]