DockRat
10-24-2012, 07:17 PM
See pics at website. DR
http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/EuronCrowseye/cephalopod.jpg
Unusual octopus specimen found in waters off San Pedro
By Sandy Mazza Staff Writer
Posted: 10/16/2012 07:28:24 PM PDT
Updated: 10/16/2012 07:56:49 PM PDT
This unusual specimen of octopus, known popularly as the paper nautilus, was scooped up by fishermen in coastal waters off of San Pedro and brought to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium this week. (Cabrillo Marine Aquarium / Gary Florin)
Like the unusually warm weather this week, the ocean currents just off the coast are especially balmy, creating conditions that are just right for a species of cephalopod almost never seen in this area.
A female Argonaut, commonly called a paper nautilus, was accidentally scooped up by some fishermen a few miles out from Angel's Gate lighthouse in San Pedro and brought to Cabrillo Marine Aquarium this week.
The strange octopus is a rare sight here because it only lives in tropical and subtropical waters, where it often floats near the surface of the open ocean, grasping small crustaceans and molluscs with its eight thin, silvery tentacles and gnawing on them with its tiny beak.
Aquarium workers are treating the new guest like visiting royalty. They even grew excited when it performed mundane tasks.
"She's pooping!" shouted lab assistant Emily Mumper, as a thin white string of excrement floated to the bottom of the tank. "That's a good sign!"
The baseball-sized animal is making herself at home in a 4-foot-tall tank in the aquatic nursery, where she bobs up and down slowly and without much grace, furling and unfurling her sucker-covered arms over her ridged shell. No one has ever been able to keep an Argonaut alive in captivity for more than two weeks, so little is known about this species, aquarium officials said.
"Usually they're out in the boonies - far out in the ocean where nobody's fishing, nobody's swimming,
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nobody's looking," said aquarist Jeff Landesman. "There's probably more about her that we don't know than we do know."
Unlike other octopuses, female Argonauts have shells that they use to store their eggs. The ridged shells stand upright as the cephalopod moves itself around using its siphon, a kind of translucent mouth tube, to buoy itself through the water "like a turkey baster," Landesman said.
Aquarium workers said the Argonaut was visibly upset when they moved her into a
A fishing boat out catching squid for bait found the paper nautilus and recognized it as a rare find so they turned it over to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. These animals are a member of the pelagic octopus group and this one is a female, detectable by her eggcase.
tank, and she spent some time resting weakly on the bottom. But they managed to get her to eat nearly two shrimp tails and, since then, she has been bobbing around curiously. Workers and visitors who gathered around the tank to stare at the odd creature on Tuesday theorized about how comfortable she was, whether she enjoyed the food options they offered her, and if the water was too cold or the nursery lights too bright. One thing is clear: She doesn't like people poking fingers close to her. She retracts, visibly offended by such gestures.
"Maybe tomorrow we'll try to feed her a piece of smelt," Landesman said. "The bone might be good for her."
Mumper said she seemed to be a picky eater: "I gave her shrimp and she took it like she was going to eat it. She played with it for a while, and then she spit it out."
Aquarium Director Mike Schaadt said the creatures spend their lives caught up in a warm current, where they are often gobbled up by swordfish, sailfish, tuna or blue sharks. Male Argonauts are considerably smaller than females - only about an inch long - and shell-less. They fertilize the female by setting a sperm sac on one of their tentacles and inserting it into the female's shell, where she holds her eggs. The tip of the tentacle is chopped off as the sperm packet is accepted, Landesman said.
"You can tell how many times she's been fertilized by how many tentacles tips are trapped in her shell," Landesman said.
Females also use their shell to trap air bubbles to help them float at the ocean's surface, he said. Like other octopuses, they can change color to camouflage themselves. Schaadt said there is also research showing that Argonauts - like other octopi - could also be exceptionally intelligent, in that they have the ability to learn from their surroundings. They also may be able to give birth repeatedly - unlike other female octopuses, who die shortly after their children are born.
"We're recording everything that happens to her," Mumper said. "She's fun to watch. I've never seen anything like it."
http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_21787526/unusual-octopus-specimen-found-waters-off-san-pedro
http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/ab221/EuronCrowseye/cephalopod.jpg
Unusual octopus specimen found in waters off San Pedro
By Sandy Mazza Staff Writer
Posted: 10/16/2012 07:28:24 PM PDT
Updated: 10/16/2012 07:56:49 PM PDT
This unusual specimen of octopus, known popularly as the paper nautilus, was scooped up by fishermen in coastal waters off of San Pedro and brought to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium this week. (Cabrillo Marine Aquarium / Gary Florin)
Like the unusually warm weather this week, the ocean currents just off the coast are especially balmy, creating conditions that are just right for a species of cephalopod almost never seen in this area.
A female Argonaut, commonly called a paper nautilus, was accidentally scooped up by some fishermen a few miles out from Angel's Gate lighthouse in San Pedro and brought to Cabrillo Marine Aquarium this week.
The strange octopus is a rare sight here because it only lives in tropical and subtropical waters, where it often floats near the surface of the open ocean, grasping small crustaceans and molluscs with its eight thin, silvery tentacles and gnawing on them with its tiny beak.
Aquarium workers are treating the new guest like visiting royalty. They even grew excited when it performed mundane tasks.
"She's pooping!" shouted lab assistant Emily Mumper, as a thin white string of excrement floated to the bottom of the tank. "That's a good sign!"
The baseball-sized animal is making herself at home in a 4-foot-tall tank in the aquatic nursery, where she bobs up and down slowly and without much grace, furling and unfurling her sucker-covered arms over her ridged shell. No one has ever been able to keep an Argonaut alive in captivity for more than two weeks, so little is known about this species, aquarium officials said.
"Usually they're out in the boonies - far out in the ocean where nobody's fishing, nobody's swimming,
Advertisement
nobody's looking," said aquarist Jeff Landesman. "There's probably more about her that we don't know than we do know."
Unlike other octopuses, female Argonauts have shells that they use to store their eggs. The ridged shells stand upright as the cephalopod moves itself around using its siphon, a kind of translucent mouth tube, to buoy itself through the water "like a turkey baster," Landesman said.
Aquarium workers said the Argonaut was visibly upset when they moved her into a
A fishing boat out catching squid for bait found the paper nautilus and recognized it as a rare find so they turned it over to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. These animals are a member of the pelagic octopus group and this one is a female, detectable by her eggcase.
tank, and she spent some time resting weakly on the bottom. But they managed to get her to eat nearly two shrimp tails and, since then, she has been bobbing around curiously. Workers and visitors who gathered around the tank to stare at the odd creature on Tuesday theorized about how comfortable she was, whether she enjoyed the food options they offered her, and if the water was too cold or the nursery lights too bright. One thing is clear: She doesn't like people poking fingers close to her. She retracts, visibly offended by such gestures.
"Maybe tomorrow we'll try to feed her a piece of smelt," Landesman said. "The bone might be good for her."
Mumper said she seemed to be a picky eater: "I gave her shrimp and she took it like she was going to eat it. She played with it for a while, and then she spit it out."
Aquarium Director Mike Schaadt said the creatures spend their lives caught up in a warm current, where they are often gobbled up by swordfish, sailfish, tuna or blue sharks. Male Argonauts are considerably smaller than females - only about an inch long - and shell-less. They fertilize the female by setting a sperm sac on one of their tentacles and inserting it into the female's shell, where she holds her eggs. The tip of the tentacle is chopped off as the sperm packet is accepted, Landesman said.
"You can tell how many times she's been fertilized by how many tentacles tips are trapped in her shell," Landesman said.
Females also use their shell to trap air bubbles to help them float at the ocean's surface, he said. Like other octopuses, they can change color to camouflage themselves. Schaadt said there is also research showing that Argonauts - like other octopi - could also be exceptionally intelligent, in that they have the ability to learn from their surroundings. They also may be able to give birth repeatedly - unlike other female octopuses, who die shortly after their children are born.
"We're recording everything that happens to her," Mumper said. "She's fun to watch. I've never seen anything like it."
http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_21787526/unusual-octopus-specimen-found-waters-off-san-pedro