NEW OCTOPUS! HELP ID PLEASE!

[AprylWillis]

Hi guys!


The new octopus is doing wonderful! He's eaten 3 meals since he came home! He's a little hard to tell what kind of breed he is though. Can any of you help me identify him? I'm stumped! I think he might be a briareus?

I don't have pics yet, so I'll just describe him:


He's about 2-4" from tip-to-tip. Reddish, brown. The red is more dominant in color. He has little protrusions coming from his mantle that resemble spikes and he's very, very curious in nature. (He stalked a crab an hour ago and sucked him dry!) He's (or she) has also been nesting and gathering rocks to sleep in. He turns different shades of color, like, black, black and gray/white to just stone white.

What could he be? I'm very curious now.

 

[mucktopus]

does it have ocelli (false eyespots) on the arm crown and white spots on the arms?

 

[AprylWillis]

No, we haven't seen an eyespot on him yet. He does have white tentacles though and we're guessing that he's at least a month old from his size.

 

[skydivemcbain]

I am a little confused did you get your new friend from the ocean or from a pet shop? If you got him from the ocean... What Ocean? If it was a pet shop then I have no idea..... I frequently visit the Atlantic, The Caribbean, and the gulf. If it came from this side of the world I am thinking filosus or hummelinki, or maybe even a jeuvenile vulgaris. I usually note the briareus as an iridescent green/blue but mine is a little red sometimes. More importantly their arms are usually 4-6 times longer than their body length, the filosus, and the vulgaris have shorter arm to body ratios. Plus its hard to miss the eyespot on a filosus. Get some pictures...

 

[AprylWillis]

I got my new "friend" from a pet shop: Saltwaterfish.com.

He does appear to have 2 brown colored eyespots. His body is mostly a tan/yellowish color. He flashes black and gray, sometimes even a light green around the front of his mantle. Sometimes his whole body appears to be purple. He turns white when sleeping.

He has been healthy for about a week since we got him. I think we finally have a pet octopus!

 

[skydivemcbain]

Sorry I can't be of anymore help, my guess would be a bimac, but that’s just a guess, it really helps to see a picture. I love your enthusiasm I am very excited for you and judging by his/her size you probably have a juvenile which means a long life (For an octopus) to look forward to.

McBain