Hitchhiking Octupus

[Nikky.Werr]

Hey everyone,
About two months ago I noticed my sump/regugium was slowly emptying of turbo snails, hermit crabs and shrimp and being replaced with snail shells, hermit crab leftovers and shrimp leftovers. I thought I might have an aggressive gorilla crab or something and practically tore apart the rock work looking for it. Last night when I turned the sump lights on lo and behold a small reddish brown octopus an inch in diameter. He poofed out of sight before I could grab my camera or cell phone for a shot. I collected my live rock from Ocoa Bay two months ago, I live in the Dominican Republic so it is a Caribbean species but I'm not sure which. Now that I know what I'm looking for I'll try to take a picture of him next time I go for the lights in the sump. I've read contradicting points of view from different t people regarding keeping octopuses, naturally I'd like to return him to ocoa Bay on my next trip there but if not what dangers might he pose to my tank? He's been eating snails, crabs and shrimp that I can tell and he hasn't touched the firefish down there (cuz it was being bullied by my clowns). So what might happen if I do decide to keep him in the meantime?

 

[Nikky.Werr]

ahh finally, the elusive octopus is caught

ahh finally, the elusive octopus is caught

I know these picture aren't the best but you can see its coloration and somewhat tell skin pattern. I hope someone can ID this little fella. I gauged its size inaccurately, its about 3 cm diameter with its tentacles fully extended, its teeny. Any info about this little guy would be great, otherwise I'm just scrounging the web for info.

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

He is so cute! Lucky you! Are you planning to raise him?

 

[Nina51]

adorable! whatever you do, do NOT release him back into the ocean. we don't know what sort of bugaboos are in our tanks and you don't want stuff going back into any natural habitats.

i know nothing about these guys other than they are escape artists! hopefully, you'll get lots of answers. he's so cute!!

 

[Nikky.Werr]

I'd love to keep him and will do so until he becomes too big. You have a point Nina, I hadn't thought about what I might be adding to the ocean the isn't there. I wouldn't wanna mess up Ocoa Bay's beautiful eco system. I will have to research on octopus proofing the tank and I'm going to be aquascaping the DT so he has more places to hide. He's currently in the sump (where I found him) which is a 50 gallon and it's huge for his size (though I know the ocean is bigger so maybe it's actually small...). If anyone else knows anything about this little fella I sure would appreciate it. Thanks Whiterabbitrage and Nina for your replies!

 

[Woogiekids]

I don't know what species he is, but I did raise an octo from larval stage through end of life (1.5 years). What I did at that size is supply lots of hermit crabs for Kermit to eat. He loved them. I have a thread if you want to stalk me and take a look.

 

[Dans85]

Lucky you! I hope all goes well with him.

 

[jeffdenney]

Thats so awesome! i thought i found a cool hitchiker with a little gorrilla crab..

 

[TL1000RSquid]

Haven't kept one before would like to one day. I do know they very good escape artists and maybe for now he's ok in the sump but once he gets bigger I think it would be hard to contain him in a sump type environment, they can squeeze through the tiniest of openings. Your fire fish is likely on borrowed time once its bigger he'll be fair game. They need to be kept alone or with things you dont mind losing.A friend kept one in a 38 cube(don't recall the species other then being a pygmy) and would buy a few mollies and chromis every month to toss in, they were usually all gone with in a couple weeks.

 

[Nikky.Werr]

Woogiekids, thanks for allowing me to stalk your thread it's very impressive and informative.
Dans85 and JeffDenney, thanks I'm pretty excited about this little guy. I had never considered keeping an octopus before because of the complexity but this is amazing. Hopefully things pan out well.
TL1000RSquid, I'm currently moving some things between my 50g and my 100g so that he or she can have a mostly his/her own tank. I don't see the octopus often just a few glimpses before I turn on the sump light But I can tell it's eating what i've put in for it which are crabs, snails, and a few small clams I caught in the same area where I got the live rock this little fella hitchhiked on. I have a friend who works at the local aquarium so when [Megamind, is what I'm thinking of calling it] gets too big, he can live at the aquarium and I can check him out every now and then.

 

[Azedenkae]

Woogiekids, thanks for allowing me to stalk your thread it's very impressive and informative.
Dans85 and JeffDenney, thanks I'm pretty excited about this little guy. I had never considered keeping an octopus before because of the complexity but this is amazing. Hopefully things pan out well.
TL1000RSquid, I'm currently moving some things between my 50g and my 100g so that he or she can have a mostly his/her own tank. I don't see the octopus often just a few glimpses before I turn on the sump light But I can tell it's eating what i've put in for it which are crabs, snails, and a few small clams I caught in the same area where I got the live rock this little fella hitchhiked on. I have a friend who works at the local aquarium so when [Megamind, is what I'm thinking of calling it] gets too big, he can live at the aquarium and I can check him out every now and then.

That's a great idea. Would be a great attraction for the aquarium too!