[Octopus]: KaySoh - O. briareus

[DWhatley]

Most of the food plastic (very thin, I think that was a parmesan cheese container) jars will sink if they are full of water.

I was hoping we would see more of her once I disrupted the brood den. We do but only and arm or two and a little mantle when she reexcavates the new den.

 

[Lmecher]

Most of the food plastic (very thin, I think that was a parmesan cheese container) jars will sink if they are full of water.


Really, I thought they'd float. I am going to have to experiment.

 

[DWhatley]

Notice the unusual way KaySoh corkscrews her arms.

This is the text I included with the video on YouTube:

KaySoh started brooding about a month before the video. We did not disturb her for about 4 weeks but we knew any eggs she would attach to the den would not be fertile. In an effort to get her to become more active and possible eat, I disrupted the den by moving the top rocks. There were still places for her to be in the dark but the brood den was exposed to light. She has come out in the open on several occassions since the den destruction. Her color is very splotchy but still has color and is not yet the death gray I have seen just before death. Her mantle is extremely swollen and I don't know if an octopus can be egg bound or if the enlargement is just a stretching of the mantle from creating the eggs or if they were never deposited (none were attached to the den wall).

This would be funny if it weren't for the knowledge that KaySoh is senescent and just kind of randomly doing odd things when she comes out:

Both videos show how swollen her mantle has become. This occurred while she was staying hidden and I was shocked when I removed the top den rock and saw how large and stretched out it was. We saw a similar swelling in Beldar's mantle and I made notes about how difficult it was for her to maneuver when she first exited her brood den (she came out on her own without human interference).

 

[DWhatley]

KaySoh behaved very oddly last night and I will tell the event in an anthropomorphic tale because it too unusual to try to just "give the facts".

KaySoh has never become human acclimated enough to interact with hands inside the tank. She had just started to "think" about coming up to my hand when she started brooding. I disrupted her brood den after about two weeks (we know the eggs would not be fertile) in hopes that she would spend some time beyond the den. She did come out a little but ultimately made a new den and has only been seen out side it once to dump sand. We partitioned the tank into two sections to accomodate a young briareus (Kooah) that we acquired serendipitously before KaySoh passed on.

Last night I was working with Kooah and happened to look over my shoulder at KaySoh's side of the tank and found her stretched out on the glass next to my shoulder. She was moving her arms actively on the glass and it occured to me that she might actually be trying to get my attention so I opened her side of the tank and put in my hand. Almost immediately, she reached up with one arm and touched my hand and slowly and gently explored. She has very little strength left but she did not attempt to attach with suckers at all. Over the course of about 20 minutes, she let me stroke that arm but pushed me away if I tried to touch another (no inking and she did not move but used the arm to shove my fingers away). She let me pet her mantle (that is very stretched out from producing eggs) once but then would push my fingers away afterwards. The one arm, however, was continually available for attention and she would move it back to my hand as I let it slide through my fingers.

Her breathing is labored and you can see in the photo how the mantle, gill openings and siphon have stretched. I did not expect her to make it through the night but she is still alive tonight and has moved to the back of the tank, out of her den but not moving around.

Also note the behavior of the mushroom. When OhToo was senescent, he tugged and tugged at this mushroom to try to remove it. KaySoh started to harass it with one arm. Neither octopus paid any attention to it until senescence.

I lost the internet but was able to save the above post before having to shut down and restart my computer. While I was waiting for it to reboot, I checked in on KaySoh. Her breathing was ragged earlier and it was important to remove her soon after death since Kooah was sharing the aquarium. She appeared alive but I noticed she was not breathing and when reached in to check for reaction there was no sign of life left.

 

[bluespotocto]

Good bye little octo

 

[CaptFish]

Noooooooooooooo, I'm VERY sorry to hear of your loss. At least you got a nice little goodbye from her.

Is she being sent for scientific observation and display too?

 

[sedna]

That sounds so much like Osgood at the end. She was never happy in the tank and I always thought she was post brood. A few days before she died she came out of her den and never went back in. She finally wanted physical contact and we had a chance to actually play with her before she died.

Sorry for your loss, but I know it is still rewarding to have that contact finally come! Welcome to Kooah!

 

[monty]

RIP

 

[sulley]

sorry D

 

[Omega]

=[ rip

 

[Nancy]

RIP KaySoh.

Sorry for your loss, D, and thanks for telling about KaySoh's last night.

Nancy

 

[DWhatley]

While redoing the LR in KaySoh's den side of the tank, I noticed a lot of empty snail shells. We saw her eliminate waste after she stopped eating and could not figure out what she was consuming (fortunately, we know it was not her arms as they were fully intact at death). I now believe she was eating snails and will recommend putting them with a brooding female to see if other note the same thing (she was not known to eat snail prior to brooding).

 

[Lmecher]

Gee, 2 in a row. I don't know how I missed this thread the other day. Sorry, I know how special she was to you. Goodbye KaySho

 

[DWhatley]

Their deaths were not unexpected but sad none the less. It was most odd that they died on the same day. I was a little paranoid and watched my other two anxiously just in case something was odd with the water even though I knew is was most likely odd cooincidence.

 

[Ryan Smith]

Sorry about Kaysoh. Its too bad that octos live such a short lives. Has anyone ever had an octo that lived more than... a year and a half? From all of the journals I have read it seems that most octos live less than 6 months...