SueNami - O. briareus

[DWhatley]

Water Tank/Shipping
Temp: 74.7 F / 71F
SG: 1.025 /1.026
PH: 8.3 - 8.4/< 6
Nitrite: 0 /.5
Nitrate: 10/30

Begin time: 3:00 PM
Entered tank: 6:00 PM

I e-mailed Tom about the availability of a small briareus a couple of weeks ago and he told me he expected one in the next couple of weeks but that the young would not be generally available for a couple of months yet so I did not expect the e-mail that said he had one with roughly an inch and a half mantle. OhToo's tank had been empty too long so I asked him to ship this one half hoping for a female that still had time before brooding but had mated. We will see. I found that the Greek God Briareus (spelled in numerous ways) was a many-headed, many-armed giant that was responsible for sea storms so we went with tsunami but spelled like the girls name Sue. If SueNami turns out to be male - Oh well, we have a "Boy named Sue (blame that one on Neal).

I remembered to write and keep my acclimation numbers this time and will try to remember to record them hereafter. Note that the shipping water was very healthy under the circumstances except for the PH and I had difficulty getting that to come up so I acclimated for longer than I like and SueNami was very stressed by the time she finally entered the tank. This is the first octo I have had that has gone to and stayed on the wall rather than going to the LR and I think the longer acclimation time may be part of the difference. She stayed on the wall until long after lights out but eventually moved down and now stays mostly out of sight. I did not think to darken the room or turn out the tank lights when I put her into the tank so I am sure that added to the stress (I did in the acclimation room ).

It was interesting (and scary) to see that the thorny and the brittle star were immediately aware of a stressed animal and climbed the wall to check her out (bottom right picture shows them beginning their treck). The thorny star inched over, got flicked and went on its way but the brittle was far more sneaky (I did not see what he was doing until I watched the video as the back wall is black and shaded by the overflow). I am not sure how much shows in the smaller display but in normal mode from the camera the actions are quite clear. It was being very pesky with an arm and would not take, "Go Away" seriously. At the end of the video you can just see the brittle touching SueNami's webbing, and her reaction.

By morning she had gone behind the LR (not sure she has chosen a den) and had shed. When Neal started feeding the tank with the little stuff, she started moving around so I offered a piece of thawed shrimp to the arm that came up the back. She took the shrimp, wanted the stick and invistigated part of my finger. Tonight she took more shrimp and did come up far enough to show eyes so I think we are going to be OK.

She is missing the tip of one arm, all of the third right arm up to the webbing and probably all of the 4th right arm as well (at least I could not find it). The second right arm is short and growing back from a much earlier removal. Neither of the shortened arms have the tell-tale string of regrowth so the amputations are assumed to be very recent. The arm missing the tip is a bit odd in that the last sucker is at the tip end and I wonder if she will regrow it at all.

All that said, she is absolutely beautiful (the photos pick-up markings and irridecence you don't see with the naked eye but she looks great).

 

[spinycheek]

Beautiful! I like the name you picked, that's pretty sweet. Why do you think the amputations happened?

 

[DWhatley]

Why do you think the amputations happened?

Using my slight personal knowledge of the Keys, the time of year and the report that octos have been murder on stone crab catches this year, I would second guess stone crabs but grouper and moray's are also among the very common octo preditors (and I am not sure a crab could get the arm so close to the webbing). Just guessing, I can imagine that a crab trap would offer easy food but difficulty in manuverability, particularly if there is a banquet.

Most of the briareus and both my hummelincki have come in with newly missing arm parts (and I know how the hummelinckis were cared for before they were shipped) as well as signs of older regrowth but SueNami is missing more than I have experienced (limited). A missing tip could be a run-in with a power head but the two removed at the web, not likely. Tom is the only regular collector of this species (that I am aware of) so he is well familiar with their antics and knows how to house them appropriately.

 

[spinycheek]

Well, that's a bummer for the octo. Do they fully regenerate a functional tentacle or is more like a semi-functional appendage like when lizards re-grow tails that don't have any vertebrae.

 

[DWhatley]

If all goes well, their arms (generally speaking squid have two tentacles and 8 arms, octos have 8 arms only) fully regenerate. We have seen, however, arms that do not regenerate properly (see OhToo's journal) even in the wild. Neogonodactylus (Roy Caldwell - Berkeley) suggests that this may be from additional damage while the arm is regenerating but may also be from genetic defect. In-tank injuries, where additional damage is not sustained during regeneration, have shown a few missing suckers but even in the case of OhToo's extreme defomrity, the arm was functional and utilized.

 

[cuttlechris]

Yay, welcome sue nami!

 

[DWhatley]

Chris,
Did you checkout the video? Pretty good catch on tape even if it is distressing.

 

[spinycheek]

Cool thanks. Now I know they're called arms too!

 

[Animal Mother]

Awesome.

 

[cuttlechris]

Nice video. I wish i had something to record with but i don't. I noticed mine throws out a rare corkscrew. I probably need to change my water, egh. I'll go to the LFS tomorrow. Shivs said she's pretty .

 

[Nancy]

Welcome

Welcome to your new briareus - very imaginative name! To me, briareus are one of the prettiest and most graceful octopuses. She seems to getting along quite well already.

D, you certainly have provided us with a wealth of information about Sue and the water parameters upon arrival.
Since you need this information for acclimation, please follow D's lead and try to post it in your journal when you have a new octopus.

Nancy

 

[DWhatley]

SueNami is eating well and reacts immediately when Neal puts the Cyclop-eeze (and usually some other small stuff) in to feed everything else. She will put an arm or two up the back wall looking for her shrimp and sometimes come out enough to see her eyes but will not stay out long after she sees us. If we try to get her to come out for her food she withdraws completely. Tonight she did not eat the whole piece offered (but did eat most of it) so we will offer a live crab tomorrow for a diet change and a smaller portion. I put a fiddler in the tank the day she arrived that has never been seen again so I will assume she ate it at some point in addition to the 3 pieces of shrimp. So far (4 days) she has not ventured out while we have been near the tank (and I don't think she has come out at all) but she does move around in the open space behind the LR.

 

[sedna]

She's a beauty! You posted awesome information for the acclimation and I love how you have made the measurements in the critter keepers with her and Beldar. THANKS! I wasn't able to follow my own advice with Izabel because there was so little water in her shipping bag. Loved the vid of her with the stars!

 

[DWhatley]

I was pleased with the video (especially since I thought I had it and then thought the camera was off when it was supposed to be on!) but really neurotic watching her so stressed out at the time. She still is not showing the curiosity I expected and stays to the open area behind the LR. Since she knows feeding time now, we will attempt to coax her out more next week.

 

[DWhatley]

We have been worried about SueNami because she won't leave the security of the space behind the rocks. She did the stressed arm twitching thing almost nightly for the first week and has shed most of her sucker skin by the looks of what we have seen floating in the tank (I have seen the shed with nonstressed arm flailing from Trapper (mercatoris) but can't recall seeing it the arm movement at all with the hummelinckis). I have noted that the hummelinckis would sometimes seem to become recluse when they shed as if the fresh skin on the suckers was tender so we are hoping there is some relationship between the shedding and the recluse behavior.

She eats well as long as we will put food against the back wall. She will come out far enough for us to see her eyes, a couple of very long arms and a little mantle but that is all. When we tried putting food where she could see it but would have to come out, she never approached it (on the third day of trying this we put it in her accepted area and she came for it immediately). It has occurred to me that part of her shyness may be the recent amputations. As I have noted, two of the arms are missing right up to the mantle and one is guessed at half its healthy size. Not having had one lose arms (other than Octane after his ultimately fatal tank escape and air exposure), I don't know if being recluse for a recovery period is normal.

Tonight, for the first time, she showed arms after feeding time so Neal put his hand in at the back of the tank. She finally showed some curiosity and tried to pull him into her den. Later I wiggled my fingers near the back as well and she reached up and touched them (Neal must have tasted better because she did not try to pull me in). This was very encouraging and we are hoping next week we will see her out of her security area.