Indonesian Reef octopus

[Tommycs]

I would most likely buy this right now if my tank was cycled however it has a good month or two to go, but does anybody have an idea as to what species this might be? http://www.liveaquaria.com/diversden/ItemDisplay.cfm?c=2733+4&ddid=64000
By the way, I have ordered plenty of things from liveaquaria.com and have been very impressed with their shipping etc.

 

[cuttlegirl]

That octopus does not look healthy, in fact my daughter said "ewww, it's dead." I would be wary of purchasing that particular animal.

 

[Tommycs]

you are probably right now that i look closer at it. It could just be shortly after being added to the tank and maybe it was in some sort of shock, but it does not look very healthy, I agree.

 

[lance]

I agree the octopus look's unhealthy like it really didn't do well shipping I would pass on it.

lance

 

[DWhatley]

My first impression when it showed up on the availability thread was that it was an old aculeatus. If you inquire further, be sure to see if 4.5 inches is mantle, one arm or arm to arm sizing. If it is mantle size, and an aculeatus as I suspect, it is very old. If it is anything else, you might request that they hold it for a week as the size would be good and a single photo is not a good judging factor.

 

[mucktopus]

hello from Indonesia. That definitely looks like an old, senescent octopus. At first I thought it was an O. bocki, which has little ability to change color and skin texture. But then I saw the dorsal mantle white spots, which ID it a something similar to A. aculeatus. My guess is it only has a couple of weeks left...at most.

 

[TDean]

I emailed liveaquaria and they said the sizing listed for the Octopus is from one arm to one arm. That sounds pretty small

 

[mucktopus]

ask them to post a mre recent picture. If this also doesn't have much skin texture/papillae, then it's senescent. Abdopus is really diverse, so its not necessarily A. aculeatus- it could be A. abaculus, which is mature at a pretty small size.

 

[TDean]

If it is a young aculeatus i would love to give it a try i have had a 55 gallon tank cycling for about 5 months because i was waiting to see if i could get a bimaculoides but form the pictures i have seen aculeatus are beautiful octos.

 

[mucktopus]

Also remember that size and age aren't well correlated in octopuses. Some adult octopuses are very small at the end of their life span. If the skin is breaking down and no longer able to produce complex patterns then this is a much better indication of the end of the life span than size.