[Octopus]: This is Omikron - Abdopus aculeatus

[Benjie]

I do perfectly realize what fool i made of myself in that "crab incident". Nevertheless, Omikrons camouflage attempts are fun to watch. Here are some highlights.

"Look, I'm a snail" (and moves like one. Note that colored shell)

P1110167.JPG

• Benjie
• Sep 25, 2018

Snail

"look, I'm an anmone" (she thinks corallimorpharia)

P1110128.JPG

• Benjie
• Sep 25, 2018

Anemone

"look, I'm the ghost of an octopus" (insert uncanny music here)

P1110178.JPG

• Benjie
• Sep 25, 2018

Ghost octopus

"look I'm ... er, wait..." (whatever she thinks)

P1110168.JPG

• Benjie
• Sep 25, 2018
• 1

???

 

[DWhatley]

If it makes you feel any less silly, I always find "octo rocks" when first looking for a new animal. There is a rock in one of my empty tanks that I want to photograph because you can see suckers, a mantle and an eye even though there is no octopus in the tank

 

[Nancy]

Interesting photos! I especially like the last one, the “cone head” look.

Nancy

 

[tonmo]

Interesting photos! I especially like the last one, the “cone head” look.

Nancy

Me too - very awesome!

 

[Benjie]

Three weeks in now, and Omikron is getting more and more accustomed to the tank. She frequently goes over all the stones, and seems to enjoy foraging for any small animals. She takes usually two thawed (small) shrimp a day, although sometimes she will skip a meal. She takes them effortless from the feeding stick and reluctantly from the hand. Then again, she disappears for a couple of hours (but we are getting better in spotting her). Without feeding, she touched Kristinas hand, put in the tank, twice; both times, Kristina interrupted the interaction because quite soon she was pulling the finger towards her web what was, well, a little creepy. (She never bothered to touch my hand.) The missing arm has grown visibly; the whole octopus has grown visibly, in fact, she can easily stretch her arms up to 25 cm. We seem to be lucky, as so far, we really didn't have any problems with her.

Photos we have:

Sitting in the Kraken's Palace - an artificial den she really likes

Examining some new corals we put in the other day

King of the world (ok, the tank) pose (sitting on a bunch of shells she collected)

Abdopus photogenicus (yay, let's start the taxonomy stuff all over!!!)

... we'll keep you updated.

 

[Nancy]

Another interesting report! Omicron is doing purples and lavenders well, isn’t she?
What is the Kraken’s den? I can’t see very much, but it looks something like a flowerpot.
Sounds like everything is fine. Interaction seems to be going very well.

Nancy

 

[Benjie]

The Kraken's Palace is a clay ball with a diameter of 15 cm with a big main entrance and several outlets. Sometimes you'll find Omikron peeking through one of the outlets, sometimes she'll be sitting inside and have a couple of her arms hanging out through different holes, which looks really nice.

 

[Nancy]

I’m really curious about The Kraken’s Palace. It’s perfect for an octo den. But if I wanted to buy one, what would I look for? It’s not really a flower pot, so what is it, please.

Nancy

 

[DWhatley]

@Nancy, that may be a chicken and hens/ strawberry pot but I have not seen one quite like this with the extended chimneys.

 

[Benjie]

Well you wouldn't have seen that because a friend of ours made it according to our images still i'm glad you like it! Probably, a strawberry pot is the closest thing to this ... or you find a potter at your local market and show him or her this image.