How does octopus reproduce

Their capacity to conceal themselves on any substrate by varying colour, skin, texture, and posture is challenged by few other cephalopod species. In the Catalonian Sea, more particularly in the area of Banyuls and Port Vendres, Octopus vulgaris seems to undergo seasonal migrations, mainly of vertical orientation.

In the early spring, large animals move inshore for spawning. The females tend to disappear during the summer; they lay eggs, brood, and die.

From late summer onwards, the largest size class consists mainly of males. They leave the coastal waters in autumn or early summer; at this time the males are mature, and the females at different stages of maturation. Some of these females probably spawn in autumn, others might leave the coastal waters over the winter season and spawn in early spring, joining the animals of the first group.

A third group, consisting of immature animals, invades the shallow waters in late spring. While males mature during the summer, females are likely to depart to deeper waters and return to coastal areas in spring for spawning. Doubtless, there is a vertical migratory movement in relation to spawning.

Generally, the abundance of this species decreases with depth and is nearly zero at the continental shelf. Octopus vulgaris is normally solitary and territorial.

Animals make their homes near to other octopuses of similar size. If animals share a tank, each will try to occupy a home or settle down at some distance from the other inhabitants. This individualistic behavior is only interrupted during mating and spawning, but even then females brood their eggs in isolation.

When not traveling in- or offshore, O. Underwater observations showed that the animals remain in their dens; they leave them at dusk for hunting trips and return at dawn. Excursions during the day in search of food are of shorter duration. Some octopuses may occupy the same home for a longer period while others change holes several times over a few days.

Octopus vulgaris is a typically nocturnal animal, not only in its normal habits but also in the laboratory. Octopus vulgaris are active predators that feed primarily on gastropods and bivalves. Small hatchlings typically spend several weeks as active predators in the plankton before they settle down to the benthic mode of life at a size of about 0.

In , some , tons of O. In , the number was , tons. There is the potential for the overfishing of these animals, which threatens their proliferation. However, at this time, they are not at any specific risk. It is the second largest ocean in the world after the Pacific Ocean. Referring to an animal that lives on or near the bottom of a body of water.

Also an aquatic biome consisting of the ocean bottom below the pelagic and coastal zones. Bottom habitats in the very deepest oceans below m are sometimes referred to as the abyssal zone. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria. It may have a secondary function of removing sperm from previous matings with competing males.

During courtship both females and males use appearance to find attractive mates. Males are looking for a large female that will produce more eggs, providing the male with a greater probability of passing on his genes. Females are looking for a male with a large ligula. The ligula will become enlarged with attraction and the male can try to woo the female with intricate color flashes and skin displays.

When the female lays her eggs, in some cases days or even months later, they will pass by this area and become fertilized.

The trick for the male is to prolong the encounter long enough to transfer at least one spermatophore, and preferably more. In some smaller species this might take just a couple minutes, but for big species like the Giant Pacific Octopus Enteroctopus dofleini , mating can last up to four hours or more. Of course, there are downsides to having a prolonged mating encounter! First, a female can suddenly switch from mating to trying to turn the male into dinner, and second, they both become more vulnerable to predators while preoccupied.

A fight ensues between the two males and after a wild flurry of sixteen arms, the inquisitive one jets off in hasty retreat. For males, mating triggers a quick decline in health as they enter a period of senescence, and death within a matter of days or weeks. Females can live for several months or even years after mating; laying eggs and protecting them until they hatch amazingly they do so without eating until they die. Over millions and millions of years natural selection, male octopus have evolved creative solutions to mating with potentially cannibalistic females.

One approach is for the male to find a good spot near the den of one or more females so he can create his own den in a convenient location close by. The trick is to have a female or two within reach of his extra-long hectocotylus without having to leave the den. This way the male can stay in the safety of his own den while reaching around the corner with his specialized sex appendage to try and deliver a packet of sperm to a nearby female. Which brings me to another fascinating adaptation — the detachable penis!!

The Argonaut Argonauta argo is a unique species of octopus that lives in the open tropical oceans. The male is tiny—less than three-quarters of an inch long—while the female can be up to 30 times his size.

Female argonauts have two specialized dorsal arms that secrete a chalky substance, forming a pleated shell in which she can hide, float, and brood eggs.

Males have no shell, but they do have a unique hectocotylus: a tentacle-like, detachable copulatory organ. Mating in argonauts is very unusual. When a tiny male argonaut encounters a female, he ruptures a pouch containing his specialized hectocotylus. He loads his arm with sperm, then detaches it from his body. At this stage, the hectocotylus is independent, and the male can pass it over to the female or he can just let the arm swim to the female on its own. The detached arm crawls under its own power into the gill cavity of the female where it attaches to her gills and is stored until it is required for fertilization.

Some females have been found with a collection of disembodied sperm arms stockpiled from several mates inside their gill cavities. Once the timing is right, the female will lay strings of eggs tethered to her shell where she can look after them as they develop. Scientists have never found a male alive without his reproductive arm. To avoid getting eaten, they'll often mate from a distance or after mounting the back of a female's mantle — positions that give them extra time to escape should their usually larger mate turn violent.

Unlike females, "males have a modified third right arm called a hectocotylus, which has a sperm groove down it and a specialized tip," Mather said. To mate, a male will insert his hectocotylus into the female's mantle cavity and deposit spermatophores sperm packets. This process may take up to several hours, depending on the species. In some genera, particularly those in which males are far smaller than females, such as Argonauta argonauts, or paper nautiluses and Tremoctopus blanket octopuses , males have a detachable hectocotylus, which they break off after inserting it into the female's mantle.

Females store their spermtophores until they're ready to lay their eggs. Typically, males die within months after mating, while females watch over their eggs until they hatch and then die shortly after. In one deep-sea species, Graneledone boreopacifica , females may brood over their eggs for up to 4. Toggle navigation Menu. Saturday, November 13, Login Subscribe. Sign Up Log In. Dashboard Logout. How does an octopus reproduce? Reproduction by this amazing eight-armed creature is as unique as the animal itself.

Sherry White works for the public affairs office of the N. Recommended for you. Thank you for reading! Log In. Digital Only Subscriptions.