[Octopus]: Tatanka - O.briareus (tank hatched)

I had hoped Tank would outlive his sister by a considerable time but tonight his color is grey, he is not opening one eye and has no interest in eating. He has been very affectionate the last three nights and has wanted to play squish for half an hour or more. I suspect this is because his skin is beginning to become "itchy". He still feels muscular close to the base of the thicker arms but along the ends and the thinner arms have a definite squishy feel (Monty had very little muscle when he passed on and it was quite detectable when he would pass through my fingers). He is also showing a desire to sit in the current or in front of the Koralia, likely for the same reason he has decided to "play" squish again (he has not done this since being transferred to Cassy's tank).
 
Sadly, Tank is starting to show serious signs of aging. He sleeps most of the time now and rarely eats. I have only seen him twice this week and only late at night. He did take a crawfish tail last night but that is the first appearance and food he has accepted in over a week. Tonight he came to the front for some attention and his arm muscles are notably weaker (I noticed this with Monty as well) and feel squishy rather than the normal firm feeling. I still think that their skin must do something equivalent of itch and the willingness to interact as they age may provide a scratching posts. Tank does not want his mantle or head rubbed but will offer front arms (but not the back 4) over and over to slide them between my fingers. He will linger with the tip or place the base suckers back on my hand at the end of the slide through the fingers excersize.
 
Tatanka at 13 months



Tatanka is still with me and senescence has been kind so far. He started coming out again (but not eating) between 7:00 and 8:00 PM and again after midnight. I have found that if I will "wake" him up when I get home he will come out within the hour for a stroll at the front of the tank, otherwise, he may or may not sleep in. When he comes to the front he will spend time letting me tickle his suckers and running his arms through my fingers. When he has had enough "play" he often sits in front of the Koralia. Occasionally he will come back to the front a couple of times and then goes back to bed until well after dark. If I see him on the glass during his late night strolls he will accept a little handling again. He never moves quickly now and has eaten little to nothing that has been offered (he has taken a few things but I never know if he eats them). When he is not in front of the Koralia or squishing through my hand, I have noticed cork screwing on a couple of arms but only at the last couple of inches. The word, sweet, applies to his personality at this point and I dread the day I come home and he does not wake up.


I have seen starfish and cucumbers shrink and then seem to stabalize to the food supply in an aquarium and I have thought my ageing octos looked smaller than at their most robust times but was never sure. Still only with preception, I am sure Tank's mantle is much smaller than when he mated with Cassy. It may only be the way he holds it but it does appear to be shrinking. His arms definitely lack the muscle tone of his youth but are not shorter.

 

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We lost Tatanka today at almost 14 months. Last night I noticed a spot on his arm that looked like infection and about 2" of another arm that was withered and not functioning so I expected time was very short. I feared he would start eating his arms so I am glad he has passed on his own rather than having to decide to euthanize. His senescence was longer but far better than any of the others I have kept. He has not eaten in over a month and was shrinking but continued to come out most nights and often twice a day. Up until this last week he would come to my hand when I saw him out to be petted (likely the gentle strokes felt good on his aging skin). This week he would come to my hand but did not want to be petted.
 
A long time, and a good time, with the inevitable sad and poignant ending.

Thank you for allowing us to follow along, from Tatanka's (and Cassiopeia's) baby pictures to their healthy and active growth and nearly successful propagation into the future.

It has been a pleasant and interesting time for us, and I would wager that your own octopodian charges would agree.

Best wishes!
 
from Tatanka's (and Cassiopeia's) baby pictures
Does this mean Cassy will extend her life in print (that I might, eventually, get to read :wink:)?

If we take guestimates of a 1 year life span then both Tank and Cassy (as well a Legs and several others where we have a good guess on age when they are introduced to an aquarium) show we seem to getting a handle on the proper environment for aquarium keeping. Not many of the animals we keep in aquariums can boast that success. The failure of their hatchlings to survive (Tank and Cassy's as well as many others), however, suggests we have a ways to go.

Everytime I lose one, I can't help but reflect on the oddity of the animal. Not so much that their biology is so different but more on why an almost perfect food animal with a short lifespan would have evolved to be curious and interactive with another species. Other aquatic, non-mammals, will train to come for food but most of my interaction with octopuses has nothing obvious to do with feeding. I can't help but wonder what they would be like if they lived longer.
 
DWhatley;179812 said:
Does this mean Cassy will extend her life in print (that I might, eventually, get to read :wink:)?
*chuckle*

I've just directed a friend (and client!) to this particular thread, and it would be terrible to have her think that I spend all my time writing fictional stories about intelligent future octopuses.

Until she finishes Age of Octans, at least (she's reading it now, and was just interacting with a large male GPO at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium), and then might be joining the chorus for the sequel. :smile:

DWhatley;179812 said:
If we take guestimates of a 1 year life span then both Tank and Cassy (as well a Legs and several others where we have a good guess on age when they are introduced to an aquarium) show we seem to getting a handle on the proper environment for aquarium keeping. Not many of the animals we keep in aquariums can boast that success.
You, in particular, are doing an excellent job, and have many successful experiences to your credit. Your animals have been fortunate, I think, and they have rewarded you in their interactions. And, vicariously, us as well. Particularly for my own case; I no longer have my reef tank, and it would not have been good for an octopus anyway — 240 gallons, but it would have been nearly impossible to seal the in-wall top of the unit. So I have been able to enjoy your octopus friends through your good offices as a caretaker ... and as a journalist.

DWhatley;179812 said:
The failure of their hatchlings to survive (Tank and Cassy's as well as many others), however, suggests we have a ways to go.

That is sadly true, I think. Your own succession of generations has been quite impressive! It is probably true (and unfortunate) that none of Mama Cass's offspring survived, though you might get a surprise there. But that lineage under your care is a testament to your patience and ability.

DWhatley;179812 said:
Everytime I lose one, I can't help but reflect on the oddity of the animal. Not so much that their biology is so different but more on why an almost perfect food animal with a short lifespan would have evolved to be curious and interactive with another species. Other aquatic, non-mammals, will train to come for food but most of my interaction with octopuses has nothing obvious to do with feeding. I can't help but wonder what they would be like if they lived longer.

I am convinced — as you know from my writing — that the octopus has the seeds of greatness in its genetic potential. Given time for the intelligence to continue to evolve, especially with the human aspect entirely changed, these fascinating creatures can become their own sort of "people." One other change that would be needed is the current tendency to be loners; a social octopus would evolve rather rapidly, I think. (And there's more to the story ... but that's a sequel to the sequel.)

It may well be that you might encounter a Cassi in print, and find her familiar.
 
I believe the "loner" thing is under investigated and likely to be only for some species. One of our members has reported them living in groups (specifically JuggleMatt's thread) and returning to live in groups after destruction of the environment. O. mercatoris is often caught in live rock from live rock farms and are numerous in the set of rocks collected when there is a good year. Additionally, I saw a documentry where a scientist laid out a series of "dens" in an attempt to draw octopuses to be observed and all dens (close together) were occupied within a very short time (I want to say 1 week but that is guess remembering) by O.vulgaris.

The problem I have with octopuses making advances toward creating a society is that they are older than we are and it has not happened. It would seem that they would rule the ocean if they would survive to teach their young. I have often wondered if the reason they no longer feed at the breeding stage is to prevent them from consuming their offspring.
 
I remember that thread, and I remember the sad video of the school of fish converging on one of the octopuses.

But so far, it still seems that they are a log way from "social" as a general thing. The variations between species are large, but except for mating — during which it seems that the demand for reproduction briefly "overpowers their better natures" — they don't seem to form cooperative relationships.

But with such a broad range of adaptation, and ecological niches, someday this will change. Many species of squid and cuttlefish have made that jump already.

The octopus is intelligent; he just needs some time in schools.
 
Tatanka's Final Measurement Photo

Because it is difficult to measure octopuses we have started a loose tradition of taking a final photo next to a ruler. An animal that goes through senescence will be smaller than at its peak and the pictures are sad to take and review but they give the only available common reference.
 

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