..got bimac pics.....Chris, wanna ID it for sure?

[OctoMonkey]

I was trying to pass it a bit of squid last night and the bimac decided that my hand was more interesting than the small bit of squid so jumped on. It sat there for about 10 mins, exploring my hand and nibbling. It wasnt sore in the slightest.

It was an excellant photo opportunity, but not so easy because i had an octopus on my hand but I did get a couple that are okay for IDing it properly, including a close up of the ocellus.

What do you think Chris???????

[OctoMonkey]

and another.......

[OctoMonkey]

...last one just to make sure.......

[cephalopoder]

Boy that litte guy is small. You should have him for a long time:D The eye spots look correct. So it looks like a good match for a bimac. As it gets bigger we will be able to tell better. But it looks good colin! Have you seen the joker effect yet?
chris

[OctoMonkey]

Yeah it is small, I just asumed that would be a typical size for a bimac to come into the trade. How much bigger is a typical bimac to get over where you are? I have got the temp lowered to 68degF and it is feeding every 2 or so days.

What life span should I get from an octo that size at that temp?

I havnt seen the joker at all, but i have seen bursts of white in the first few days i had it. I think that with it being so small it settled in much quicker than perhaps a big one would have, The briareus never became curious or all that friendly. I certainly never expected the bimac to jump staright onto my hand liek it did.

One thing is that i have never seen it raise its skin in any way. Most pics i have seen of bimacs have that as a common feature, any ideas?

Thanx again
C

[cephalopoder]

Thats the strange thing Colin. The ocelli looks like a bimac, but something about it looks different. The little guy is so small still its hard to say. Bimacs do raise their skin a bit in texture at times.
If it is a bimac you should get between 9-12 months out of that guy. They can live up to 16 months from birth.
Long live the bimac!

[OctoMonkey]

I'll give the wee guy a couple of months and try and get some more photos just to check ID again. Maybe once it grows a bit bigger... I have noticed another octo in Norman's book that has an eyespot called O. filosus page 273. I cant rule that out of the equation because remeber my importer couldnt be specific about an octopus if it came out a box with a name tag and a passport :D
I was told that my briareus was a vulgaris from Indonesia! I think they get mixed up with all the imports they have coming in every week and that nobody really bothers about octos. either way I dont care what species it is, it is active and healthy. Well I hope its not a pygmy :( hehe

[Rudiger]

Even my pygmy is bigger than that guy. Must be very young... or maybe its a blue ring, heheh :D

[Iwantacephalopod]

Octomonkey..if tahts a bimac it certainly is very good looking. I wish when I get mine it looks like that..its very pretty....Chris, what do typical bimacs look like when they are young...Are they just a plain brown color....or...? you tell me?
thanks again..
beautiful octo once again...I really like it.:D :D :D
Best regards,
Devon

[cephalopoder]

Colin
O. filosus is what I was thinking the other day. And the color looks good too.It is also in the briareus range and your collector seems to get species from that area. Bimaculoides is on the pacific side of the USA. A long way from you:( I don't know of any one who has kept a O. filosus so that would be cool too.
chris

[OctoMonkey]

Well when i asked him he said it came from California, so someones geography is all wrong if its filosus!

It doesnt get as big as a bimac but thats okay too.....


Remeber I had a source of amphipods over here? Well, I spoke to the guy last night and he has a small Eledone chirosa for me in a holding tank. I am off to scrounge a beer chiller from a bar today. It cant go above 16deg C!

BTW the pic in normans guide makes Eledone look horrible compared to other pics Ive seen. Its the only scottish octopus apparantly, vulagaris stops in southeren england :(

Colin

[cephalopoder]

Way cool on the chirosa snag. Have you looked at ceph base . It has some filosus pics.
http://www.cephbase.utmb.edu/imgdb/imgdb.cfm

[OctoMonkey]

To be on the safe side do you think i should put them temp up a bit from 68/70 to say 75 degF in case its not a bimac?

No luck with a chiller yet and i refuse the £300 for a proper aquarium model. I'll use a fridge if i have too :)

[cephalopoder]

I would slowly raise it up to 75 and see if you notice any changes in behavior. A bimac can handle 75 and if it is a tropical species, 75 would be more suited to is needs.

[OctoMonkey]

will do, thanx again