Big long ribbon coming out of octopus gill

Fish & Invertebrate sightings and descriptions, hosted by resident NWDC ID expert Janna Nichols (nwscubamom).
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YellowEye
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Big long ribbon coming out of octopus gill

Post by YellowEye »

Hi
The octo outside of the den of another octo mentioned in this thread http://nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=23728, had a big long ribbon coming out of its gill. Anyone know what this is?
DSC_1717.jpg
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Tom Nic
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Re: Big long ribbon coming out of octopus gill

Post by Tom Nic »

Remnants of octo sex, if I remember correctly.

I don't remember the correct name, but I think it is the sperm packet that the male delivers to the female.

I'm sure someone will give all the correct nomenclature.
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Re: Big long ribbon coming out of octopus gill

Post by deep diver »

http://www.nwdiveclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=22034

found this awhile back, thought it was some kind of fishing lure but Greg Jensen thought too that it was spermatophore- probably a recently-mated female
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John Rawlings
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Re: Big long ribbon coming out of octopus gill

Post by John Rawlings »

Yep....spermatophore.
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Tidepool Geek
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Re: Big long ribbon coming out of octopus gill

Post by Tidepool Geek »

Greetings

That is a ribbon of poop.

At the Feiro Center we see this almost daily from our GPO's. From a good sized animal those things can easily be several feet long and are surprisingly resilient and kind of stretchy - I'd rather not discuss how I know this :eek:

The color on this example is slightly different from what our GPO's usually produce. Ours almost exclusively eat live Red Rock Crab and I would guess that this one had recently eaten something else.

Fecally yours,

Alex

P.S. If you've got a copy of Jim Cosgrove's book Super Suckers there are two pictures of GPO spermatophores on page 78.
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Waynne Fowler
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Re: Big long ribbon coming out of octopus gill

Post by Waynne Fowler »

Tidepool Geek wrote:Greetings

That is a ribbon of poop.
and are surprisingly resilient and kind of stretchy - I'd rather not discuss how I know this :eek:
.
:-D
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YellowEye
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Re: Big long ribbon coming out of octopus gill

Post by YellowEye »

Tidepool Geek wrote:Greetings

That is a ribbon of poop.

:eek: haha! :rofl: Thanks for the reply. I had grander hopes of this being something more rare and fantastic :)
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dtodd
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Re: Big long ribbon coming out of octopus gill

Post by dtodd »

Is this a spermatophore?

Spermatophore.jpg
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Greg Jensen
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Re: Big long ribbon coming out of octopus gill

Post by Greg Jensen »

yep- note the different color and shape as opposed to the poop shot
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Re: Big long ribbon coming out of octopus gill

Post by dtodd »

Thx!
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Re: Big long ribbon coming out of octopus gill

Post by Tangfish »

Could it be a piece of kelp, in there like a string of spaghetti going in the mouth and out the nostril?
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