[Octopus]: Licik/Misty - A. Aculeatus? - Jocco's Pus

Jocco

Vampyroteuthis
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New octopus came today from Puerto Rico.

Inked in the bag - does not like me - or the camera phone.
Didn't even get a chance to change the vessel to start acclimating.
Freaked me out.

Acclimating for about an 1.5hrs now.

Did some aquascaping to make room for a critter keeper. Found EVERY shell of EVERY creature we ever put in there. Sir Stewart (pistol shrimp) is very mad at me for wrecking his castle. It was like a reunion of our old clean team and favorite hermits.

Ceph is changing colors and textures, since 7pm when we picked it up from the LFS.
Smooth, to rough, to smooth, to a lil bumpy. Dark brown to white-ish around the edges with the middle of the body still dark.
I've seen stripes down the mantle, and around the arms.
Right now it is fading from speckled white with neutral to slightly darker mantle - and a full fade to neutral speckled.
Gets dark when we approach the tank.
Doesn't seem to be breathing rapidly.

Did not eat any of the teeny pieces of shrimp I put in with it during acclimation so far.

Lights are dim.

Here's a vid of it in the bag at the store. Don't mind my humdrum "yeah, don't remind me," when the shop guy said "only good shot you'll ever get".

Pft.

 
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More arrival pics
 

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During the ink burp before acclimation - I reached for my phone to call @DWhatley but realized I had to send a DM.

We ended up putting water in a bucket, then spilling ceph into bucket and adding more water and taking water out. It was tiny inking, a burp. Didn't fill the bag. Scared me.

I hope it lives.

This time we put rock in a critter keeper and then put it in the tank, w a rock on top, and 3 teeny blue and red hermits inside the keeper. Found them while aquascaping, bonus.
There was a flutter of pods when the octopus entered the LR!

The 15 hermits I bought while picking up the new ceph, are the size Taba could have devoured. They all look like small Jerk Faces.

The room is dim, I turned on the tank lights for a couple photos before turning them back off.

Enough adventure for the week.

Fingers crossed!
 
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Our fault for Taba having too many tank mates to really see her. But she went from reddish to a neutral, no texture.
This ceph is full of colors and textures and emotions. They seem to be around the same size upon arrival, this one seems a little bigger, longer arms for sure.
 
I hate to say it by I have no clue on species. Of the species we most commonly see from the Caribbean, the color and skin relief favor O. hummelincki but the arms are too long and lack the distinctive tapering. The arms are too long and papillae too distinct for a merc or a joubini and it looks nothing like O. briareus. I would also rule out O. vulgaris because of the eyes.

Are you sure this is from (as in captured in vs imported through) Puerto Rico? If not, I would tend toward an Indonesian species - one of the Abdopus complex, aculeatus being the first choice.
 
One thing you failed to mention in your PM (I liked the DM as my mind substituted interesting variations) is that the inking occurred between the store and home and NOT during shipment. This is a relief since it means gill exposure was very short and there is likely no gill harm done. It also is likely that your temperature differences were minimal and :fingerscrossed: and potentially your PH and salt density similar so that the acclimation parameter were already close.
 
Oi. I will call the LFS tomorrow and see if they can tell me anything else. They said it was from Puerto Rico - which my guess is that it was captured there. I know they have a few divers and such they acquire their fish etc from. Since I asked last time where Taba was caught, they made it a point to tell me Puerto Rico upon walking into the shop.

They were STOCKED today - must be for the holidays.
Blue stars, tons of hermits, shrimp, fish, sharks, these red fan looking starfish, it was nuts.

I got the call while helping customers at work, ignored it, then 10 minutes before it was time to go we got a rush, I looked at my phone, helped a few more customers, and jumped in the car to call them we were on the way. They close at 8pm, we were there around 7pm, probably 7:30.
Picked up the ceph.
Put it in the bag in the tank, to get the house and tank prepped for acclimation. Tried to take a few pics, and it inked.

It has been a world wind kind of day.

I'll take as many pics as I can for the ID, @DWhatley, I say it again, you are amazing.
 
The octopus is just now starting to come out of the rock hole it chose (time is now 10:48pm), I leaned in and it almost pulled itself back into the LR.
Alright, so, no pics tonight, and no sudden movements.
Check.
 
One thing you failed to mention in your PM (I liked the DM as my mind substituted interesting variations) is that the inking occurred between the store and home and NOT during shipment. This is a relief since it means gill exposure was very short and there is likely no gill harm done. It also is likely that your temperature differences were minimal and :fingerscrossed: and potentially your PH and salt density similar so that the acclimation parameter were already close.

oooh, sorry!
Yes, managed to get it home, put it in the tank to start the game plan, got too close or it was too bothered, and ink happened.

Now I know to treat getting an octopus like I'm 9 months pregnant and ready to pop any second
-- pack the bag
-- get the hot water and towels
 
This one is very good at mimicking the rock. I leaned in a little and it was out of the hole but on the back of the LR bobbing - lol. It spent a bunch of time watching me too.
Please live. Please. I'm already having fun - now that the world wind stopped for today.
 
Didn't call LFS yet, did some google with the types DW suggested, it does indeed look like Abdopus Aculeatus.
Woke up to it not living in the LR, but wedged in the corner, behind the LR, on the bottom of the CK. Wiki says this type of octo lives near/in vegetation next to the sand, using pebbles as a barrier.
I can try putting sand into the CK and see what the ceph does. A. Aculeatus is a small egg octo.

We'll have to see if it is most active during the day time.

Turned the lights on, sat on the couch, and the ceph is no where to be found... lol. That was quick.
Looks like it may have eaten one of the 3 teeny hermits.
 
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When you find yourself staring at LR waiting for it to move... you miiiight have an octopus.

When you are finding octopus shapes and in the LR and waiting for it to move and it isn't an octopus... you miiiight have an octopus.

When you are waiting for an octopus shaped rock to change color... you miiiight have an octopus.

When you are scrutinizing every piece of LR in your tank that you didn't put in the critter keeper, because maybe, just maybe, the octopus got out of it... you miiiight have an octopus.

When you find yourself checking the outside of the tank for unusual drips, clogs, or a trail... you miiight have an octopus.

I'm waiting for it to move, if ya'll can't tell already. Because I KNOW it is going to be right in front of my face, because that's what happens when... you miiight have an octopus.

<Jeff Foxworthy voice/cadence>
 

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