Wolf Eel and Octopus Habitat Design Ideas

[pdxpilot]

One of the members of my dive club owns a house in Hoods Canal with a private beach and has created many underwater features. He's considering creating habitats to try to attract more than rock fish and crabs. Specifically, he would like to create habitats that would possibly attract wolf eels and giant pacific octopus. Both prefer cave-like habitats... so he was thinking of using concrete of some similar material. Anyone have any thoughts on design ideas?

 

[fisheater]

Check with your local public aquarium(s). They likely have some on display. Their designers would likely be happy to share their design ideas with an admiring member of the public.


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[ADeadlierSnake]

Rocks. Lots of rocks. Big piles of rocks. If you want to create habitat, they are the best bet

 

[TSandM]

Not a scientific opinion, but I've been diving here for seven years, and I have to agree with ADeadlierSnake. The majority of the dens I've seen for GPOs or wolf eels have been crevices created by angles between boulders. Which is not to say that that is the only place those animals live -- I have seen wolf eels among the concrete structures at Les Davis in Tacoma, and GPOs under just about anything you can burrow beneath.

But I have also dived several artificial rock reefs, and haven't seen the same density of those animals, so either the composition of the rock is important, or the precise size and shape of the holes is important, or the water conditions (depth, current, or whatever) are important, because some sites have a high density of animals and others don't. Why every boat at Redondo (a silty, not very current-swept, open site) has a GPO under it, and the Alki Fishing Reef rocks (large boulders in piles) don't, has puzzled me for years.