[Octopus]: This is Pete

[sedna]

Classic merc pose, front two arm thrown up between eyes. Sweet little one!

 

[Owen]

Congrats on your cephalopod.

 

[DrPusSea]

Hi Pete! Jealous... All I got on the weekend was a triangle crab and some triple fins

 

[CHolland]

Pete is still doing well!

There isn't too much too update. He is still active exclusively at night and still eating like a pig. He eats exclusively live ghost shrimp, which I finally got to see him hunt the other day, and are easy for me to find here. It's been a busy time of year, but I at least have some new pictures.

Sorry for the poor quality on the one with my finger, that's just for scale. He's only a couple inches from the glass. The other has better lighting. He's not happy in either photo.

He's not too exciting, but a Merc-sized Octo (still not 100% sure in the ID) in a 75 gallon makes for easy maintenance!

 

[sedna]

What a cutie! Glad you got to see some hunting action. Mercs can be tough because they are nocturnal and you have to be up late with red lights on to see much of them. They are one of the few types of octopuses that can be kept in groups. With a tank that size, you might want to give it a try! It's a lot of fun to watch the interaction.

 

[CHolland]

I was finally able to get some great pictures and video of Pete this morning, so I thought I'd go ahead and post an update. I was most surprised at how large he has gotten! He has easily doubled in size.

I haven't seen him as much the past several weeks, but that doesn't mean anything with these guys.

I've attached some more photos and here is a link to a video of him digging a new den: Pet octopus digging a new den - Streamable

I've been thinking he's a Merc, but I'm still not certain of that ID.

Enjoy!

 

[DWhatley]

Pete looks like a merc but I have never had one (or heard of one) that burrowed so the behavior is odd. There is another dwarf from the US Pacific, O. digeuti, that looks similar and that eye ruffle matches the one shown in @Neogonodactylusimages here but I don't know its habits.

 

[tonmo]

nice!!

 

[CHolland]

Pete looks like a merc but I have never had one (or heard of one) that burrowed so the behavior is odd. There is another dwarf from the US Pacific, O. digeuti, that looks similar and that eye ruffle matches the one shown in @Neogonodactylusimages here but I don't know its habits.

That one looks extremely similar to Pete! I think you might be into something!

 

[DWhatley]

The body patterning and eye frill look very, very much alike. Sadly, we don't have a known journal on a prior. Here is what Mark Norman has in his Cephalopods A World Guide pg 283. Years back we had a staff member that thought about trying to raise them for resale but decided the effort and cost was not viable.
@Neogonodactylus any observations/history you can share?