Varys' babies (O. mercatoris)

[gholland]

Well, over the last 2 weeks, I haven't seen Solo at all (the only one in the 8 gallon). He was always smaller than the rest and so shy that it was hard to feed him from the pipette. I hope he's just hiding and living on pods.

On the plus side, I have finally figured out where each of the other three 'podes hide in the 20 gallon. The smallest one stays in the piece of liverock on the left side (Tarzan), one of the big ones stays in the piece of liverock on the right side (Beluga), and the other big one typically shuffles between two empty snail shells along the front of the tank (Shelby -- until today when it moved to the liverock on the left-hand side ).

The really exciting thing is that the trio has quickly reduced a population of 8 fiddlers and 24 shore shrimp down to only 4 shrimp and zero crabs all by themselves! I have witnessed several take-downs of both shrimp and crabs. No baiting by the "food-slave" required. They stalk and pounce all by themselves. And they are growing like crazy. Below is a pic and short video compilation of "Shelby" this morning. His/her mantle is about 3/4" and the arms stretch about 3" tip-to-tip.

 

[gholland]

Woke up at 3 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. So I came out to see the 'podes... and got to play some tug-of-war with my finger!

 

[DWhatley]

You DO realize he is trying to eat your finger, right? I was amazed at how hard the suction is when they do that. My finger tip would tingle from the lack of circulation (I don't think they can break the skin). I never felt the beak at all but it would take a second or two before circulation returned to normal.

 

[gholland]

You DO realize he is trying to eat your finger, right?

That was my fear D! That's also why I jerked away the first time and didn't let him pull my finger much below the surface the other 3 or 4 times we did this!

They are definitely strong for such little critters!

 

[gholland]

Houston, we have a problem... counting.

Okay... so I'm about to go back to bed and want to take one last look at the 'podes before I go...

Tarzan in the rock on the left? Check.

Beluga in the rock on the right? Check.

Shelby on the back glass? Check and check.

And check? Wait a minute... 1,2,3... 4.

4?!?!? For the last 2 months I had thought there were only 3 in this tank! HAHAHAH! The odds of getting your LG a boyfriend just went up D!

 

[Animal Mother]

 

[DWhatley]

The odds of getting your LG a boyfriend just went up D!

Most excellent!

I don't think the Mercs' beak is large enough to give even a little pinch but they sure can "suck". Yes, I allowed mine to experiment all they wanted with my fingers. I DON'T let 'Tane take them under his mantle though (not that he really tries but if I annoy him sometimes he will attach one arm and pull - very rare, but he is in a foul mood tonight and did not want his normal attention - I hope it is temporary). OP has only touched my fingers but, so far, has not tried to attach.

 

[gholland]

I don't get quite as many good photo ops as you guys with diurnal 'podes, so I have to snap 'em and share 'em every chance I get! This is either Shelby or Tarzan... maybe. And at 9:30 a.m. no less.

 

[DWhatley]

My son reported seeing Sisturus out as late a 6:00 AM in the winter (still dark outside) on numerous occasions. He would always come out as soon as the lights went off (about 11:00) to be fed and Neal would call me down from the computer saying, "Some one is looking for youoooo" ;>)

 

[gholland]

And one more. I've never seen this blue-gray color from one of our mercs before. They've always been the typical red-brown or sometimes very pale (almost white). This was taken with a flash while the red lights were on just like so many of the other photos I've posted. Weird.