Posted on 11/02/2018 3:24:48 PM PDT by ETL
When Octavius, a female common octopus at the University of Georgia’s Marine Education Center and Aquarium, went into hiding for roughly a month, officials at the aquatic center were baffled.
Normally a present creature, Octavius would greet visitors by sticking her tentacles on the inside of her tank. But in recent weeks, the sea animal — formally known as an Octopus vulgaris — spent more time hiding in a rock cave inside her tank, the Savannah Morning News reported.
Early last week, officials finally figured out why: Octavius was pregnant and eventually laid her eggs, which hatched into “tens of thousands” of baby octopuses, according to the newspaper.
“I noticed this cloud of moving dots and I realized, ‘Oh my God, she had babies. There are babies. There are babies everywhere,’” Devin Dumont, the curator at the aquarium, told the Savannah Morning News.
“I immediately started scooping them out and putting them in buckets and there were just buckets and buckets and buckets full of tiny octopi,” Dumont, who discovered the octopus's secret while cleaning her tank, added.
Female common octopuses can store a male octopus’ sperm for weeks before the eggs are fertilized and eventually laid. When the female is ready, it will "become restless and search for a sheltered place where they can lay and brood the eggs without disturbance," the University of Michigan's Museum of Zoology explains online.
"Fertilization takes place in the oviductal glands as the mature eggs pass through them on their way out of the oviducts," the museum continued, adding these creatures can lay up to 500,000 eggs.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
During a surface break from coral reef monitoring our Marine Biologists noticed something small when
they picked up several items of floating plastic marine debris. This beautiful little octopus was found among
the debris. On there next dive, our Geoscientists in Parks intern Ashley Pugh released the octopus safe and sound
in a small protected space.
Octopi. Just sayin’.
Stand bye as next we will hear(if they tell us) the tank cannot support that many off spring and most will die or have died
Cute little “suckers”
Cutie wear’en the green ball cap too
I think it's 5 or 6 in the past few weeks. And they're not even related or followups.
Posted on 11/1/2018, 11:01:30 AM by ETL
For an octopus mom, the miracle of life is bittersweet. After wandering the seas alone, she meets up with a mate, collects his sperm and then goes on to deprive herself of any food while caring for her now-fertilized eggs. When it nears time for the little eight-armed bundles to hatch, the mom wastes away, entering an aquatic death spiral.
She never even gets to see the fruits of her labor, having perished by the time her young emerge from their eggs.
-snip-
The brooding females, the scientists found, cared for their egg clutches for the first eight days, on average, blowing water over the eggs and stroking them with their suckers. The octo-moms also kept eating. "We were a bit surprised that there was a period of feeding while brooding that preceded the fasting period, because it hadn't been characterized before. Results like this demonstrate how much more there is to know in these animals," Wang told Live Science.
During the next stage of brooding, the females stopped eating; after about 11 days of fasting, the octopuses entered a rapid decline, the researchers wrote.
-snip-
The researchers watched as new mothers rammed their mantles into the glass sides of the aquarium or the gravel at the bottom of the tank, leading to deep wounds that didn't heal. ..."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
I’ve read that mama octopus doesn’t survive reproduction. Did this one?
Media blames Trump.
Lol!
The baby “octopi” gifs were unrelated to the Georgia Aquarium story.
True Facts about the octopus.
I think it’s a good idea by Fox. I, for one, am really interested in what these weird, near-aliens do. It’s so, so different than any other living thing. Octopi simultaneously weird me out and fascinate me.
Early last week, officials finally figured out why....
What do they do the rest of the week, work at Long John Silver’s...???
knew that
80,000 arms to hold you
Octopus: “what happened to that cool strange stuff I’d found?”
In a few years they’ll all be registered Democrats
Blue-Ringed Octopus
By far the most dangerous creature you can encounter when diving, this octopus measures only about eight inches in size and likes to hang out in shadows and tidal pools. Its bite delivers paralyzing venom to which there is no known antidote. So if you catch sight of one with its bright blue rings, the best thing you can do is keep your distance.
Quick, call a sushi chef
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