Octopus how many eggs

Where do Octopus keep their eggs? For many a female octopus , laying eggs marks the beginning of the end. She needs to cover them and defend them against would -be predators. She needs to gently waft currents over them so they get a constant supply of fresh, oxygenated water. And she does this continuously, never leaving and never eating. Iriome Hildesheim Explainer. Do octopus hatch from eggs? Female octopuses lay their eggs and painstakingly weave them together into strands.

They then sit guard for weeks, months and sometimes as long as a year. At the end of the brooding period, nearly all of the octopus young hatch at once, creating a marvel for those lucky enough to witness it.

Britni Tahlifa Explainer. What do octopus do during day? While most octopuses hunt at night, this species spends its days stalking crabs, clams and fishes. Because it forages during daylight, it has exceptional camouflage skills, and can transform its skin into long, lumpy ridges, mimicking nearby corals, rocks or algae. Nicodemo Eguinoa Pundit. Do octopus reproduce sexually or asexually? When octopuses reproduce , the male uses a specialized arm called a hectocotylus to transfer spermatophores packets of sperm from the terminal organ of the reproductive tract the cephalopod "penis" into the female's mantle cavity.

Males die within a few months of mating. Jahaira Geary Pundit. Why do animals die after mating? These dads die after devoting all their resources and energy to mating , an effort that helps their sperm—and genes—win out.

In those species that have completely adopted the shorter mating system, all males die : Elevated stress levels cause a fatal immune system collapse and death by hemorrhaging and infection.

Lucien Manglkrammer Pundit. Is calamari baby octopus? Octopus is commonly confused with calamari , though both are surprisingly different in taste when served raw and cooking methods. Her body was nowhere to be seen. This epic brooding period—53 months in total—is the longest known for any animal.

The famous emperor penguin—a model of parental sacrifice—incubates its egg for just 2 months. The record-holder among octopuses was a captive Bathypolypus arcticus who guarded her eggs for 14 months. Among animals that raise their young internally, elephants do so for 21 months, frilled sharks for 42, and alpine salamanders for The female G. How did the octopus survive for so long?

Her inactivity and the near-freezing water certainly helped. Sitting mostly still at just 3 degrees Celsius, her metabolism would have slowed to a crawl. This marathon of maternal care makes sense for a deep-sea octopus. The longer she keeps it up, the bigger her young can grow and the greater their odds for survival when they hatch. And since she dies after brooding is over, she might as well keep at it for as long as possible.

Indeed, G. The clutches are also very small—for comparison, the giant Pacific octopus lays clutches of around , These are all signs of a reproductive strategy called K-selection , where mothers invest more effort into raising fewer offspring. Perhaps female octopuses give chemical signals to their eggs to speed up or slow down their development.

This could be tested in aquaria if mother octopuses are encouraged to look after eggs there and the water round them is regularly analysed chemically. Perhaps young octopuses are flexible in when they hatch.

While its mother can defend a young octopus its best survival strategy is to stay in its egg shell and continue its development there protected by its mother. After its mother weakens the best survival strategy for the young octopus is to hatch so it can react to predators and to be dispersed in the plankton.

The mother disperses the young and the young hatch. This could be tested in aquaria if eggs from one mother octopus are marked and moved to the den of another mother octopus where the eggs are slightly older or slightly younger. Scientists could check if the transferred eggs hatch with their biological siblings or with their foster siblings.

Category : Evolutionary Biology. Namespaces Resource Discuss. The amount of eggs a female octopus can produce and lay varies depending on the species.

The Giant Pacific Octopus for example will lay between 20, to , eggs. Speaking generally however, octopuses can lay up to , eggs! Octopuses have a short life span of only a few years. They are also semelparous creatures. This means they reproduce once and die. To put that into perspective: short life span, one shot at reproduction, and no chance of ensuring your babies survival.

Their methods of reproduction may be saddening, but they are necessary. And once you fully understand the process, you can begin to fully appreciate the flow of nature, no matter the ambivalence you might feel.

Octopuses are considered the darlings of the ocean. Intelligent, freaky, and majestic, they are known for their puzzle solving expertise and have a reputation as highly skilled escape artists. As we have learned, octopuses do, in fact, lay eggs in the thousands to ensure the survival of their species.

Both male and female octopus die after reproduction. There are many reasons for this, a lot of which are still being discovered. Because octopuses have no other purpose in life than to reproduce, it seems that this is natures way of keeping the balance and not having giant monster octopuses roaming our oceans.

Female octopuses spend months caring for their eggs, keeping them away from predators and parasites, ensuring all of them have a shot in open water. During these months, the mama does not leave their side. She brushes against them, using the current to keep the eggs clean and remains defensive. This means that she does not eat, or move, and by the time her babies are ready to hatch, she is near starvation.