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What about infection in Octopus vulgaris?

marla

Pygmy Octopus
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Feb 20, 2008
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Hi!
I'm new in this forum.
I've a problem with my octopus that present a sort of cutaneus wound on the head and between eyes.
The parameters of my aquarius are correct for the life of the octopus and there aren't things that could damage it.
so what could be?
which are the most common infections for the octopus vulgaris?
I send 2 images of the lesions.
Thank you!

(sorry for my english)
 

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:welcome: to you and your octopus!

It looks like the lesions that we see frequently in cuttlefish, when they rub up against the glass of the tank walls (often called "butt burn") although it could probably be some sort of skin infection as well... I'm not sure we've ever seen that sort of thing in octos, at least not that I can remember. A lot of the pro aquarists and researchers have seen a wider variety of ceph conditions and are likely to be able to shed more light on this, though...
 
How long have you had this specimen?

From my experience, those type of lesions begin to manifest themselves during senescence and could be a sign the the octopus is nearing death. Although, it could also be a senescent type symptom brought about by stressors on the animal. That is why it is crucial to know the age of the octopus. If it is old, any type of treatment would be in vain.

Greg
 
If it's an older animal it could be the first signs of old age and there is little you can do. If it's a newly acquired animal it could be scar tissue from some wound. We've had octopus come in with marks like that and they'd survived just fine it seems that re-grown skin does not produce chromatophores.

Octopus seem to be surprisingly resistant to infections.

J
 
Jean;111094 said:
We've had octopus come in with marks like that and they'd survived just fine it seems that re-grown skin does not produce chromatophores.

Just because I'm curious, did you check under a microscope if the chromatophres were absent, or just not "wired" to the brain's chromatophore lobes?

I'm rather curious about the implications of one or the other for tissue regeneration, since I've wondered for quite a while how a regrown arm manages to connect up to the nervous system. Chromatophores seem to be added as the animal grows, and somehow continue to be connected to the brain in such a way that it can map to the visual system and such... I wonder if that growth happens in a way that re-growth over a lesion can't recreate the developmental conditions that got it right the first time... or if the chromatophores come from a different tissue type somehow or something like that...?
 
I would think the tissue that grows over the lesion is scar tissue,and the new arm is not tissue but a brand new appendage.So the scar tissue would not connect to the nervous system but the new appendge would.A completely uneducated statement so please correct me.
 
not so old

gjbarord;111074 said:
How long have you had this specimen?

From my experience, those type of lesions begin to manifest themselves during senescence and could be a sign the the octopus is nearing death. Although, it could also be a senescent type symptom brought about by stressors on the animal. That is why it is crucial to know the age of the octopus. If it is old, any type of treatment would be in vain.

Greg

The octopus is about 9 months old..that I think is not so old..also because the lesions starts about 3 months ago.
So what about skin parassite?:cry:
 
Octopus senescence: the beginning of the end

Anderson R.A. Wood J.B. and Byrne R.A.

Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science
In press

Senescence is a normal stage of an octopus's life cycle that often occurs before death. Some of the following symptoms typify it: lack of feeding, retraction of skin around the eyes, uncoordinated movement, increased undirected activity, and white unhealing lesions on the body. There is inter- and intraspecific variability. Senescence is not a disease or a result of disease, although diseases can also be a symptom of it. Both males and females go through a senescent stage before dying, the males after mating, the females while brooding eggs and after the eggs hatch. There are many aspects of octopus senescence that have not yet been studied. Ecological implications of senescence are discussed.
 

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