What octo has the longest lifespan?

[agoutihead]

What octo has the longest life span of all the ones kept in the hobby?

Other than the blue ring, which octo is the most impressive visually?

 

[marinebio_guy]

The Giant Pacific Octopus is the longest lived octopus in captivity with records of them living 6 years, but they might be able to live longer. It's hard to say which octopus is the most impressive, everyone will have a different answer. Some of the most interesting ones aren't found in the pet trade.

 

[agoutihead]

I specifically was asking for octos in the hobby, not overall.

 

[gjbarord]

Captive life spans of octopus is heavily correlated to water temperature. Octopus bimaculoides can be kept for up to two years if conditions are correct and the water temperature is cool enough.

All octopus are impressive!

Greg

 

[monty]

of the ones commonly kept by TONMO folks, bimacs and briareus tend to last the longest. vulgaris can live for quite a while, too, but needs a larger tank than most people are inclined to have at home... also, a lot of short-lived dwarf species are sold as "baby vulgaris" so it's pretty common to get a dwarf that will den up and lay eggs less than a month after it's bought, even if you think you're buying a vulgaris.

 

[Animal Mother]

Other than the blue ring, which octo is the most impressive visually?

As stated, that's a matter of opinion. It seems to me that the day active species have a broader spectrum of colors, patterns, and textures... but that's just my take on the subject.

 

[shipposhack]

The bigger the octopus is supposed to get full grown, the longer it will live. In home aquaria, you can prolong their life by cooling down the tank and by feeding infrequently (don't starve your octo though!). The giant pacific octopus is (I believe) the biggest of all octopuses so far discovered; they can live much longer than smaller octopuses.

 

[Nancy]

From what I've been able to find out, the octopuses in the arctic live the longest, so maybe it's water temperature. I've read that some of them may live as long as 7 years.

Nancy

 

[agoutihead]

Animal Mother, blue rings are cool... but that one in your avatar is probably the coolest one I have seen so far!

What kind is it? Is it always blue like that?

 

[DWhatley]

 

[Animal Mother]

Animal Mother, blue rings are cool... but that one in your avatar is probably the coolest one I have seen so far!

What kind is it? Is it always blue like that?

Hah, Thanks!

That was my Octopus Mercatoris Einy. That was the only time EVER he showed that coloration, and it was during acclimation so I'm sure he was trying every disguise he could to be less conspicuous. Other than that he only changed from red to black to white. The first few weeks I had him he did have some spikey texture occasionally with white dots, but smooth and dark red for the most part.

Mercatoris' are very shy and secretive. The only time I saw him was at night, with a red light on over the tank, and even then it was far and few between sightings. He only lived with me for 4 months. Now he resides in a specimen jar full of formalyn.

If you have a tank set up and ready (CYCLED a few months) you should consider ordering one from Saltwaterfish.com if you are serious about wanting an octopus right now. They are still on sale for $49, and I must say the one I got is completely opposite of Einy. She is out most of the day into the night, has an extremely broad range of colors, patterns and textures, and isn't shy at all. She accepts food from my fingers, and comes to me when I dangle a finger in the water. I can't tell you how long her life span will be, but she has already been everything I could want out of a pet octopus. She's small enough to fit into the palm of my hand right now, but if she is Octopus Filosus as I suspect, she will grow to about 4 times larger, with legs just over a foot long and a mantle about the size of a lemon. Several other TONMO members have received octopus from them recently, and for the most part, have had similar experiences as myself with their new octopuses.

 

[Nancy]

The Mercatoris that i need cuttle kept at his high school last year kept the blue green coloring as it grew.

Nancy

 

[Swimdude776]

lol im going to get a blue ring..... lol .........

 

[Animal Mother]

...and that's so funny because?

 

[DWhatley]

AM,
Hey, I thought it was funny simply because I have dwarfs and would never consider a blue ring. Debra (of Mote) said that the blue rings look like dwarfs unless they are irritated and would easily be mistaken by a diver. Given that your fantastic picture of Einy could be almost anything exotic, I found humor in the mis-id.