Varys' babies (O. mercatoris)

[DWhatley]

As another aside, Wiley was in the same tank, loose (not confined to a breeder net and a sitting duck) and survived with both males in the tank (it was a 45 gallon with lots of live rock though). What do you think you will try this time?

 

[gholland]

What do you think you will try this time?

Well... IF we end up with another round of babies, there are basically three options I'm considering:

1. Remove Quattro (though I'm not sure where I'd put him) and let the babies roam free in the 20 gallon with Beluga.

2. Dig out the Mercaplex Octominiums and give them another try in the 20 gallon with the two adults and hope Quattro continues to stay in his barnacle.

3. Kick the fiddlers out of the 8 gallon that the first batch of babies were born in and use it to raise the new round of hatchlings (either free or in the Mercaplex).

I did notice that Beluga is missing the very tips of at least two arms, though at least one more is complete.

 

[gholland]

No sign of enlarged suckers on Quattro or one arm always curled at the tip while the others are doing something else?

Here's a better pic of Quattro's suckers. I see two that are definitely larger than the rest. Looks male to me.

 

[gholland]

Quattro's Rattlesnake Shake

Just a short video of Quattro doing the same "rattlesnake" wiggle with an arm tip that Dwhatley reported with one of Trapper's babies. As with D's merc, it seemed to be initiated by stroking my finger on the glass in front of him. This is a different response than Beluga who always reached out to touch my finger instead of shaking an arm tip.

 

[DWhatley]

Uhhh, that would be Sisturus (http://www.vanishingspecieswildlife.../000059/Pygmy Rattlesnake/Sistrurus/Miliarius) Note the species name

 

[gholland]

Yeah, I realized that after I had posted! Heh. So that's two males that have shown this behavior? Did you see it on any of the others?

 

[DWhatley]

I believe Medusa did this as well but I always thought he was following Sisturus' lead in almost all behavior. If the two in the larger tank exhibited the arm wiggling, it was not often enough for me to remember. Sisty was quite overt and would get all eight arms going but it is not like the arm flailing that I saw with Trapper that was likely sucker shed behavior.

I went back and enjoyed remembering with my videos posted to photobucket and found this one that shows two arms in motion:

 

[gholland]

So cute! So that's 3 males? You said Trapper was different... Just wondering if this might be a behavioral distinction between sexes.

 

[gholland]

Just watched Quattro nab another crab where every arm was either holding the crab or reaching around and exploring... except the third arm on the right side. Finally! Too bad I didn't get a photo.

 

[DWhatley]

I never saw either female do the rattlesnake wiggle and I remember the first time I saw Medusa do it I thought that it may not be a male signature but then Medusa matured into a male so it might be some kind of male only/sexual maturity behavior.

I would swear that Sisturus' curled arm was easy to spot but I went back and review many photos when you were trying to sex the babies and I could not find one good example.

 

[gholland]

Quattro - Triple Threat Rattler

Caught Quattro wiggling three arm-tips at me tonight.

 

[gholland]

And just for documentary purposes, here's a clip of Quattro moving about with his hectocotylus (3rd arm on right) curled up for protection.

 

[DWhatley]

You just keep getting better at those red light clips!

The rattlesnake arm tips are exactly what I saw with Sisturus (roughly 5 months old, maybe closer to 6) and the arm curl fits the bill nicely. The last photo and video really show how transparent they are and how clearly you can see the gill hearts.

 

[gholland]

Although Beluga seemed to accept a crab claw the first night I tried, she has repeated refused claws, mysids, and cyclopeeze on every attempt since. Typical brooding behavior, so I'll keep up the late night watch. I've pulled the Mercaplex Octominiums out of storage and have them in the 20 gallon with Beluga and Quattro, but I've added the tops just in case. The small holes I've drilled in the tops should allow me to deposit hatchlings and food items without removing the lids while still keeping Quattro out (I hope) since the units stick about 2 inches out of the water.

 

[gholland]

January 4, 2009 - They're here!!!!

I can now confirm that Beluga is female and had gone into brooding!

Hatchlings are documented here.