Otto - A. Aculeatus

Jabba954

GPO
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Jul 21, 2009
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So, this is my third attempt at octopus keeping. The first was not really an attempt at keeping an octo - it was an attempt at getting my horn shark to eat (it did). Second time around was a pair of dwarf octos, they lasted ~5 months, but were VERY reclusive. Now for round three.

Otto was purchased from LiveAquaria. He is almost certainly A. Aculeatus, based on the descriptions I've heard here - notably the star pattern around the eyes. I suspect he's full grown, as his mantle is ~1.5" and arm length is ~5-6". So far he's a bit shy, so I haven't gotten many pics, but he is eating. I added 10 hermit crabs to his enclosure on day one, and he's devoured 8 of them so far (including throwing a shell at me this morning).

His "tank" is a 10 gallon critter keeper suspended in my 2000 gallon tank, and he'll be moving into a more permanent home this weekend (85 gallon tank designed specifically for an octo).
 

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Mantle is 1.5-2", arms are 6-8". He definitely exhibits the horns of Aculeatus too. Very prominent last night.
 
Otto may not be long for this world - plenty of eggs were laid in the past few days. While doing a water change, I accidentally knocked over a rock, which was apparently the cover to her den. I took a few pics before replacing... Any idea what gestation time is?
 

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Unfortunately, the small egg species (excluding the GPO) seem to have very short gestation and ten days to 2 weeks seems to be the norm.
 
The eggs never hatched - just sort of crumpled - went from grapes to raisins, so to speak.

Otto has been ultra reclusive - though she's still eating every day, but far less than before. :~(> She's on her way out.
 
Interesting that she has continued to eat. Trapper (O. mercatoris) ate for about half her brooding cycle and then would take Cyclop-eeze after the hatching (not conjecture as I could feed her with a pipette and have a video) her daughter, however stopped eating much sooner and could not be coaxed to accept the Cyclop-eeze. At the time I began to suspect that perhaps the buccal muscle weakens and normal food is too difficult to bite. Reading the paper I posted about their poison gland and digestion brings a new thought about a possible failure to produce the predigestive poisons. It would be interesting to see if she would take Cyclop-eeze offered similarly. Trapper lived 11 weeks post hatch but none of my other females of any species approached that kind of post brood longevity.
 

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