Freshwater Octopus

[Dany]

*Thought* i wonder if there are any freshwater/bracish octopai anyone know?
dany

 

[nmonks]

No. None of the Cephalopoda (squids, octopuses, cuttlefish, etc.) have ever made it into brackish water, let alone fresh. This goes for extinct as well as living forms.

Cephalopods are notoriously sensitive to water quality. One biologist hypothesised that their 'kidneys', which are relatively inefficient, are the limiting factor. Cephalopods evolved from a snail-like ancestor, and have pushed that basic design to its absloute limit. They have, for example, very sophisticated sense organs and nerves. But some fundamental parts of their body plan may be holding them back because they haven't been able to 'evolve' any better than they are now. So, the theory goes, an octopus has a space-age motor stuck on a steam-age chassis.

Snails and clams can live in brackish and fresh water because they place very low demands on their physiology. Cephalopods place a huge demand on their (limited) physiology even in the sea; trying to go into brackish or fresh water would be one demand too many, and so this option isn't open to them.

Cheers,

Neale

(Who did his PhD on cephalopods and considers them even cooler than fish.)

 

[BigIan]

I would love an octopus as a pet, however i`m guessing they are great escape artists,

But aparently no one actualy know how long they live for (according to a documentery) and the never stop growing, so i want a swimming pool sized tank where i could feed one up to gigantic sizes untill i could use him as my minion for world domination


mwahahahahahahha!!!!!

 

[_cRaCkEr_]

I would love an octopus as a pet, however i`m guessing they are great escape artists,

But aparently no one actualy know how long they live for (according to a documentery) and the never stop growing, so i want a swimming pool sized tank where i could feed one up to gigantic sizes untill i could use him as my minion for world domination


mwahahahahahahha!!!!!

lol yeah

 

[nmonks]

Yes, they do grow continuously through their lives. So do fish, and reptiles, and in fact most animals apart from insects, mammals, and birds. What the documentaries leave out is that while they may grow continuously, they don't grow at the same rate all the time, the growth rate slows down the older they get.

Most octopuses live for 1-4 years, and as far as we can tell, most breed only for one season, then die.

If you're into these animals, I HIGHLY recommend this web page:

http/www.thecephalopodpage.org/

This is also a fun place to hang out:

http/www.tonmo.com/

If you want to see some fossil cephalopods, particularly what they looked like when alive, I have some stuff on ammonites on the research part of my web site:

http/homepage.mac.com/nmonks/ammonites/ammonites.html

Cheers,

Neale

 

[BigIan]

plan was never to let him mate...

Mwha ha ha ha ha doubly evil...

great sight Mr monks, is it true the nautilus has 50 arms??? is always thought they were simply coiled little things that fed on plankton via sifting water though gills or some such?

 

[Fella]

http/www.stickycricket.com/aquarium/movies/index.html


If you like cephalopods, this cuttlefish site is well worth checking out for some fantastic videos.

 

[kubora666]

you can get fresh water morays. they have one where i work and it keeps trying to climb out and escape
big teeth lol.

 

[andywg]

There are no freshwater morays.

There are morays that have the common name "freshwater" but all require mid level brackish to marine as adults.

 

[kubora666]

There are no freshwater morays.

There are morays that have the common name "freshwater" but all require mid level brackish to marine as adults.

yeh sorry thats what i meant, you can keep them in fresh/brackish when young but as they grow you have to eventually add more salt until you reach full marine.