Octopus eggs

[Hadla]

Awwww they’re so cute! Such a devoted mother... hope you’re able to raise some of them!

 

[butler]

Several have flipped! When they flip back, approximately how long before hatching ? Other questions:

1. Best idea to keep them from going into filter intake and power head intake? Thinking of put course mesh filter around intakes which other octopuses I’ve have hated when they touched at top of tank.

2. Should I be very concerned about them crawling out of tank ? Although there are many reports of this, I have only had one octopus actually crawl out of the tank in my experience, and I would not consider my tank that secure.

3. For food, I was planning to buy lots of mysid shrimp online once per week and just dump them in. Then move to baby/very small prawns I can get from a local store. Any thoughts?

4. Expecting heavy losses the first week, just wondering what the majority of those losses will be secondary to?



[tonmo edit: uploaded video to our Gallery for easy embedding]

 

[DWhatley]

Watch that white bubble at the end of their arms. That is the yolk sack and should be gone at the time of hatching.

I would not do anything to keep them from crawling out of the tank. I only had one O. mercatoris hatchling attempt this and it died from being out of the water before escape was a concern.

Hatchling proofing the overflow is problematic. If you block it with something fine (like netting or sponge) it may trap and kill the hatchling. I had numerous hatchlings endup in the filter sock and am not sure that that is not a great place to leave a couple as that is where I discovered Momma Cass and I think she had been there awhile. Others I simply dumped back into the tank and checked for escapees regularly. If you don't have a filter sock attached to the sump drain, I would suggest adding one.

Multiple daily spot/target feedings worked best for me with both O. briareus and O. mercatoris. The mercs I kept in small floating tanks but the briareus roamed freely and I hunted down all that I could find and fed both with a pipette initially filled with Cyclop-eeze (no longer available) and later thawed frozen mysis.

Here is a link to other papers and discussions for raising hatchlings that may be useful.

This quote below is from a researcher in Japan that is exploring raising hatchlings for commercial use. I will add this info to the above link later but am posting it here because of minor technical difficulties

In regards, to live feeds, we're mainly looking at amphipods and mysids, which we recently discovered can be easily shoveled and sieved out of the sands at the local beaches here provided it isn't too cold. The mysids in particular were plentiful at the transition between the sand and a rocky shoreline. Not sure if anything like this exists in the states though (I presume it does somewhere if a related species exists, try genus Archaeomysis). Hand feeding these critters to our babies last year proved successful, although we had already been keeping the babies for a couple weeks on a mix of chopped up dead whelks, mussel, and crab meat prior to the discovery by the Prof. from a local source. The dead feeds kept them alive long enough for us to establish a supply of live animals, but we found none of these feeds could sustain juveniles for sustained periods (probably two months max, with most not getting to that age). As these juveniles had already become acclimated to being fed, we just did as we always did even after switching to live food. Still, the response was definitely much stronger with live prey, and the struggling definitely provoked much more active feeding among juveniles. This year we're thinking about just releasing the 'pods into the enclosures with the octopuses, and putting some sand in to encourage the critters to stay at the bottom. Not sure if the octopuses will like the sand, but there have been reports that juveniles of other species do burrow in the sand, which would allow them to encounter the prey, unlike in the previous cases we had with pelagic mysids.

 

[butler]

Thank you so much for your help!!

 

[Nancy]

You might ask if there is anyone in your area with a mature tank able to take a few hatchlings. It gives them a chance, even if not a very good one. I participated in a briarius hatchling giveaway a few years ago. Each person picked up 6 plastic cups with one little octopus, a mysid shrimp, and a little sprig of seaweed. I put all six in the tank and hoped. After two weeks I didn’t see them any more. So I gave up. Then, after about 3 months, a small reddish octopus showed herself!

Nancy

 

[DWhatley]

I also made a "come and get it" offer to my semi-local aquarium club (not really very local and I was only an on-line member but could post the offer). Several people came out to get hatchlings. Sadly, none survived but it was a good experience.

 

[Liamandjen]

My octopus laid eggs in her den about two weeks ago, appear to be the large variety, and she’s been out of the ocean in my tank about 4 weeks before laying eggs. 2 questions: What are chances eggs are fertile? How long before should I expect to see development (eyes?)? Any advice appreciated!

Hi, if you are looking to rehome a couple of your babies, shoot me a message. I have previously raised sepia bandensis from eggs so have some experience with cephs and currently have a tank ready awaiting an octopus. Been after one for years but only recently had space xxx

 

[Tomh]

Same here!!!

 

[butler]

Thank y’all. I’m sure I’ll be looking for homes for them.

 

[butler]

First hatchling !

Butler's octopus hatchling

• tonmo
• Mar 10, 2018
• eggs hatchlings

See Butler's thread here: https://www.tonmo.com/threads/octopus-eggs.24190/