really cool, but really kind of sad

[rivendellrose]

So, The Boy and I were hanging out in the International District this evening, and stopped in on an aquarium shop down there, just to look around... and found what looked an awful lot like a juvenile mimic octopus in a little plastic travel tank set within one of their larger salt water tanks. I'm no expert, and I realize it sounds kind of crazy, but I'm pretty sure there aren't any other species with the features you see on these guys - they're pretty damned distinctive. The little guy was about five inches across, "head" roughly half an inch, arms very long, very thin for an octopus and zebra striped, with little "horn" type features above his eyes and the very peculiar stiff movement style that I've only ever seen from mimic octopi, not any other species.

As awesome as it was to see the little guy (and ohmygod, believe me, I was enthralled) I'm all sad and worried now, very concerned that any buyer they find won't be aware of how big these things get (2 feet, fairly huge for a personal tank / private collector), how to care for them, and that they're pretty delicate in captivity. This article talks some about how delicate they are, as well as why they don't make good pets, and, most importantly, how the pet trade in them is causing real problems for the wild populations.

The Boy and I have both emailed the Seattle Aquarium to let them know about this, and suggest that a rare specimen like this would be far better off in their collection being properly cared for and studied than it would in some random guy's private collection, where it has a good chance of dying within weeks from poor treatment. I don't know if it's even something they can handle, let alone whether or not they would, but we figured it was worth a shot, and better than me sitting around feeling faintly guilty and worried. Everything I've read indicates that they're insanely hard to keep in private collections, extremely delicate, and tend to stress themselves to death or die from improper treatment after only a few weeks in captivity. Short version? I hope I'm wrong about what it was. I hope I totally missed turning up some completely inane species that just happens to look like a mimic. Or I hope that the Seattle Aquarium happens to have received a windfall recently and decides they want to try having a mimic octopus in their collection. :P

Comments

[sentientcitizen]

Eeee. I hope the aquarium steps up to deal with that. :/

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Me too. I don't know if they can or not, but... poor little guy.

[stormkpr.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with you, and thank you for contacting the acquarium about this.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

Thanks. We'll see if they can do anything about it... and also if I'm right about what the little guy is, I guess. I haven't heard anything back yet.

[phillipalden.livejournal.com]

Good for you! Some animals are just not meant to be companions to humans.

I don't know why some people think delicate and/or wild creatures make good "pets."

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

I don't either. I mean, I'm sure we've all had that impulse of wishing we could watch a delicate or wild animal all day, even pet it or something, but I like to think most people are sane enough to realize it's a bad idea. The only really good pets, IMHO, are animals that are adapted to human contact and care, survive well in private residences, and have minimal potential for endangering their human (or other animal) housemates.

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

I think you did the right thing. They might be able to pass the message onto a local marine biology unit or university department or something.

The trade in octopi for pets is distressing. And not just for the octopus -- there are stories of people being sold a blue ringed octopus, being told it's something else, and then dying a horrible death.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

there are stories of people being sold a blue ringed octopus, being told it's something else, and then dying a horrible death.

I've heard about that, too, and it's damned scary. Hey, let's ignorantly sell the most poisonous creature in the world to someone who also doesn't know what it is! :P

A biologist at the aquarium got back to me just a bit ago, and they're going to look into it. Sounds like they've considered getting a mimic for their collection before, so they might be willing to purchase this little guy as a "rescue" if it turns out I was right in my ID. Which makes me feel much better.

(Of course then another friend checked the little guy out, and she thinks he might be Octopus chierchia (http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/9/inverts), which I'd never even heard of. So I may have been wrong all along, but... better to overreact instead of just carrying on without concern, I suppose.)

[lizbee.livejournal.com]

(Of course then another friend checked the little guy out, and she thinks he might be Octopus chierchia, which I'd never even heard of. So I may have been wrong all along, but... better to overreact instead of just carrying on without concern, I suppose.)

Even that sounds like it would be worth having. And, you know, NOT IN A PRIVATE AND INADEQUATE COLLECTION.

[rivendellrose.livejournal.com]

And, you know, NOT IN A PRIVATE AND INADEQUATE COLLECTION.

Precisely. I mean, god, I have that vague "gee, I'd love to have a big fancy salt-water tank with a pet octopus" child dream that everybody who likes wild animals has. But wild animals =/= pets. Goldfish are pets. Cats are pets. Ocelots and octopi are NOT. They're not happy in private captivity, people. It's just not okay.