The Sad Sex Secret of Octopuses

A great cartoon about the mating behavior of octopuses.

Octopuses are considered the most intelligent of all invertebrates. Worldwide there are around 300 recognized octopus species. The amazing facts about octopus are vast. But did you know that octopus has a dangerous sex life? But before watching a great cartoon by Seeker “Mating Kills Both Male and Female Octopuses” let’s check how many Octopus facts you know.

Amazing Octopus Facts

Octopuses are highly intelligent and studies have shown evidence of a memory system that can store both short- and long-term memory.

The word octopus comes from the Greek, októpus, which means “eight foot”.

Actually, octopuses have four pairs of arms.

Each arm seems to have a mind of their own. So an octopus can explore with one arm a cave and with another crack open a shellfish.

Octopuses have three hearts. One pumps blood through the body and the other two through each of the two gills.

Octopuses mimic is amazing. Octopuses are able to mimic other animals by changing their body shape. To do so, they are using a network of pigment cells and specialized muscles.

The common octopus is an artist: It collects crustacean shells and other objects with scope to construct “gardens,” around their lairs.

When it feels attacked and for protection, an octopus has a theatrical defense mechanism. It will release a cloud of black ink that gives it time to swim away.

Octopuses vary in size. The giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) is the largest octopus. It can grow up to 5 meters long with a weight 50 kg. The smallest one is the Octopus wolfi, which is smaller than 2.5 cm long and weighs less than a gram.

Octopuses have a soft body, with no internal or external skeleton. Hence, it can squeeze into very small cracks where its predators can’t follow.

But if all else fails, an octopus can lose an arm to escape a predator’s grasp. No worries, it will re-grow later and thus without any permanent damage.

And sadly, for them, sex is a death sentence. But why?

Sex is octopuses death sentence

One out of the eight arms of an octopus serves as a penis. It is called hectocotylus. A specialized mating arm, with a groove that runs along the tentacles. It carries sperm to be distributed from the tip.

But sex is rare in an octopuses life, as most octopuses live solitary. During their lifetime they focus on hunting and scavenging for food.

But when the time arrives for mating, the do this in their very own way.