Octopuses are eight-limbed sea creatures. They live in oceans and seas all around the world. Most octopuses live on the seabed. Octopuses have a big head and two large eyes. Octopuses come in different sizes. Octopuses are invertebrates and carnivorous. Octopuses feed on shrimps, crabs, and lobsters. Octopuses are intelligent animals, and they camouflage to hide from their predators. This article will explain more about how octopuses reproduce.
The male octopus
You can differentiate a male octopus from a female through its hectocotylus. It is one of its tentacles or arms that stores and transfers sperms to the female octopus. A male octopus will use the hectocotylus to insert sperms into the female’s mantle cavity.
The hectocotylus is spoon-shaped. It has suckers that are near its tip. It helps when the male octopus is transferring the sperms into the female’s mantle cavity. Fertilization occurs in the female’s mantle cavity.
Can octopuses change gender?
An octopus will change its gender depending on the current situation. If need be, a male octopus will change and become a female octopus for mating to happen. An octopus also changes its color to communicate something. Octopuses are intelligent sea creatures. They can mimic other octopuses’ behaviors.
What happens to a male octopus after mating?
Octopuses are semelparous animals. A semelparous animal is one that only reproduces once in a lifetime. Mating for octopus is a rather risky event. It is because both the male and female octopuses will die after mating.
When a male octopus grows and becomes an adult, it will start looking for a female octopus to mate. Once the male octopus has identified the female, he will approach her. By doing this, the male octopus is risking his life because sometimes the female octopuses kill and feed on the male octopuses.
To avoid death, the male octopus will mate with the female from afar. This can help the male octopus escape if need be. Mating can take hours. In some species of octopuses, the hectocotylus will break off after mating. The female octopus will remain with it.
After mating, the male octopus will die. It is usually because it has used all the energy it had in mating. A male octopus lives for a few months after mating and dies.
How long do male octopuses live?
A male octopus will live for a few months after mating with a female octopus. A male octopus has used its energy to grow and reproduce. The fact that octopuses are also semelparous means that they will only mate and reproduce once in their lifetime.
How long do octopuses live if they do not mate?
Different species of octopuses have different lifespans. The common octopus can live from between six months up to two years. A large octopus can live up to five years. If octopuses do not mate, their lifespan increases. An octopus can live to a maximum of five years if it does not mate.
Do female octopuses kill males?
The answer to this question is yes! Female octopuses do kill male octopuses. Since octopuses are carnivorous, they sometimes tend to eat other octopuses. Female octopuses tend to be a bit larger than male octopuses.
Due to their size, a female octopus can easily overpower a male octopus. After mating, a female octopus can kill a male one by strangling him. A female octopus uses its tentacles to strangle the male octopus and hence suffocate him.
During mating, apart from strangling the male octopus, a female octopus can also tear apart the male octopus’s limbs and this will result in bad bodily harm.
If a male octopus is fast enough, after mating, it will swim away to avoid strangulation. This however does not mean that it will not die. The male octopus will stay alive for only a few more months before dying.
Do female octopuses die after mating?
During mating, the male octopus put its hectocotylus inside the female’s mantle cavity and put some sperms in it. This process takes close to four hours. After that, the female ejects her eggs and the male’s sperms fertilize her eggs. A female octopus can store the sperms until a time when she is ready to fertilize and lay her eggs.
Once a female octopus lays her eggs, she will stay there until they hatch. A female octopus will make this ultimate sacrifice. Once she has laid her eggs, a female octopus dies shortly after that process.
Female octopuses watch over their eggs until they hatch. While doing this, a female octopus makes sure she has cleaned the eggs. She also protects them from any danger. During the wait, the female octopus usually starves herself to protect her eggs.
A female octopus will fully concentrate on her eggs waiting for them to hatch. The duration taken for the eggs to hatch will depend on the species of the octopus. Either way, the female octopus will deny herself food and will become weak, lose weight and starve to death.
A female octopus will die shortly after her eggs hatch.
Do male octopuses lose memory after mating?
If a male octopus survives after mating, during the few months, it is alive it loses its memory. Both a male and a female octopus experience senescence. This is the last stage in the life of the octopuses.
At this point, the octopuses do not feed, they get wounds in their body, and they become confused. It makes them easy prey. The octopuses later die of starvation and infection.
How do octopuses kill themselves?
When a female octopus waits for her eggs to hatch, she will starve herself to protect her eggs. Starvation is one method octopuses use to kill themselves. Some female octopuses tear off their skin during the process.
During the egg hatching process, a female octopus will also slam itself against its tank. This can eventually lead to injury and death of the female octopus.
Some octopuses eat their tentacles. Octopuses do this because of boredom and stress. Tearing off their arms could lead to death by infection.
Conclusion
From this article, a male octopus can be killed during mating. If it survives, a male octopus has only a few months to live. Immediately after mating, both the male and female octopuses experience senescence.
A female octopus will starve herself to death to take care of its eggs. When the eggs hatch, the female octopus will die shortly after because of starvation. Sometimes female octopuses kill their male partners. Octopuses also kill themselves through starvation, slamming their bodies and eating their arms.
Mr. Mcman
I am Mcman a fish lover. I love fishing since my childhood as may father was also a fisherman. I share all of my experiences in this blog. Stay connected with me to know new findings on Fishing.
