Happy Mother's Day Redux

I've been watching this proud momma for almost two weeks now. The babies finally hatched (I missed that! URMPH@!*&!) about a week ago but she's still kicking. She's still in her lair with only empty egg casings. I really hope she's strong enough to survive although science says she wont. But then again nature doesn't always follow science's rules.

That is very cool, Laz.

I like that you can see the babies through the eggs.

Alex

That is very cool, Laz.

 

I like that you can see the babies through the eggs.

 

Alex

I second Alex's compliment!!!

I love that shot! And especially because you can see the developed little octos clearly.

Do the mother octos always hang around the hatched eggs I wonder? I've heard too that they usually die but I wonder if this "mom" still thinks there are babies to be tended?

Wonderful, Thanks, Carol

Great photo Laz - really tells the story. She almost looks sad :-(

Cheers

James

Really cool; what lens, how close did she let you get?

Not meaning to be dumb or admit i missed that episode of Blue Planet ... why is her strength for survival in question ?

I believe she spends all her energy aerating and protecting the eggs, and doesn't eat for ??? long, correct Laz?

Hence Octos literally starve themselves to death.....

dhaas

I believe she spends all her energy aerating and protecting the eggs, and doesn't eat for ??? long, correct Laz?

 

Hence Octos literally starve themselves to death.....

 

dhaas

That is what the studies suggest. Depending on the species, the method of caring for the eggs defers. In this particular individual (O. vulgaris), she is known to attach the eggs to the roof of her den. Everything I've ever read on octopus has given a vast difference of time ranges for egg development -- somewhere between one and five months. The one other time I saw O. vulgaris with eggs (last year) she was in her den for over 2 months before finally disappearing.

Other species such as the sand dwellers (Mimics, etc.) are known to carry their eggs under their mantles where ever they go. I have yet to see our local mimic, O. defilippi, carrying eggs but I'm hoping I will some day.

It is believed the female octopus (O. vulgaris) never leaves the den and does not feed during egg development. She sits there and aerates the eggs the whole time. From my personal observations I have noticed their breathing rate is much higher elevated than normal. I will continue to observe our little octo momma and see what results turn out.

One thing is certain in my book of observations... Octos are very seasonal. In the past two months an explosion of octos have occured throughout our waters and it is now slowly starting to dwindle. Maybe another years worth of notes with regards to prey availability and conditions might help me start to find some kind of pattern to them. It's all very exciting, although nowhere being scientific as it's only the observations of little ol' (unscientific) me.

As a side note, the most interesting thing I've read about octopus is the fact that they believe they have a hormone in their body that indicates to them how long they will live and thus use the opportunity to reproduce.

Laz

Really cool; what lens, how close did she let you get?

I took these photos with a 100mm and the Canon 500d diopter on a Canon 20D. She allowed me to get very close... Approx. 8 inches or so from her. She is deep inside a tube so strobe placement and getting the shot was a bit difficult. I have full frame shots of the eggs alone as well. I'm hoping to put together a little octo story one of these days with my enormous collection of photos and videos. I just need the diving around here to become a little uninteresting for a couple of days so I can get some work done and not have more photos added to my library. Not gonna happen any time soon, I'm afraid, considering the Leatherback turtles have begun nesting around here, I'm finding mating pairs of frogfish all over the place, and sightings of Sawfish keep coming in.

I second Alex's compliment!!!

 

I love that shot! And especially because you can see the developed little octos clearly.

 

Do the mother octos always hang around the hatched eggs I wonder? I've heard too that they usually die but I wonder if this "mom" still thinks there are babies to be tended?

 

Wonderful, Thanks, Carol

Good point, Carol. I will go see her today and get some video of her. Perhaps her breathing rate will give me a clue as to whether she still thinks there are babies to tend to. I will let you know my results.

Where exactly are you diving right now; I'm planning a West Palm/Jupiter trip?

Carol?

Laz, please do keep us up to date and defo do the little octo story - it's threads like this that get me through the days I am stuck in the office and can't dive or can't dive with the camera - I love it! Huge bravo and a plea for more to come please!

I almost didn't make it to momma octopus yesterday after 4 hours in the water (darn seahorses, frogfish, etc!). Unfortunately, it appears momma octopus is gone to OctoHeaven (maybe). The den has been abandoned and only the bristle worms remain feeding on any tidbits of food. A friend of mine photographed momma octo while I was away last week and she didn't look too good in the photo. She has a very, very pale coloration unlike the white defensive coloration they get when scared. She also had some blotches on her skin.

On a separate note, I did see another couple of octos in the area. I watched for over half an hour a mimic (O. defilippi) hunting. He/She came across a second mimic and for a split second their was an all out battle. Octo arms were flying everywhere! I got some video of it. I'll put it together later tonight.

The highlight was watching O. vulgaris hunt, capture some sort of mollusk, and eat it right in front of me -- with his mouth open! Where are its manners?!?! I got video and a whole series of photos of it. Surprisingly it took the octo about 15-20 minutes to eat the mollusk and it redirected its jet under it to blow away any of the mollusk's gooey defensive slime (how's that for scientific terminology). Here's one of the photos:

Where exactly are you diving right now; I'm planning a West Palm/Jupiter trip?

Carol?

I am still in Palm Beach working for Jim Abernethy and hopefully will be until I get fired for getting a picture of mating Leatherback turtles. Do you have any specific plans for your trip?

Pretty amazing stuff. I will call and get the scoop from Rachel, hopefully get down there soon. My last trip with you guys down there a couple of months ago we did not see much.

Awww not good news for mommaocto but another great story and pic! Thanks Laz