The Unusual Mating Habits of This Octopus Totally Blow Biologists’ Minds

This handout photo provided by Roy L. Caldwell shows a small male larger Pacific striped octopus stalking its prey. The researchers speculate that beak-to-beak mating may let brooding females stay near their eggs while they mate again, or let males keep other males away from females they’ve mated with. The species has still not been officially described and has no scientific name.

Professor Roy Caldwell said: “I’ve never seen anything like it. There are lots of species of octopus, and most have never even been seen alive in the wild and certainly haven’t been studied”.

LPSO, approximately tennis-ball-sized, had been reported to have engaged in unusual behaviors for an octopus, including living in large colonies and living in dens as pairs after mating – but behavioralists studying marine animals hadn’t had much opportunity to confirm the early research. Their results appear in PLoS One today.

“But where the logistics allow them, studies are showing us that octopus behaviors are far more complex than assumed”. Instead of mating from a distance, the male and female octopuses of this group can live together in one shell or den for a number of days to mate.

Hunting for food is a pantomime for a species of octopus that reaches out and taps its prey on the shoulder.

While many species of octopus are known for their showy displays of color, the larger Pacific striped octopus is particularly notable for its striking high-contrast display of colors and patterns, which can vary from a pale to dark reddish-brown hue to black with white stripes and spots with both smooth and uneven skin textures.

“The next step to understanding the unique behaviors found in the larger Pacific striped octopus will be to observe groups in their natural habitat”, says Caldwell. The female is the lighter animal on the left.

“Personally observing and recording the incredibly unique cohabitation, hunting and mating behaviors of this fascinating octopus was beyond exciting – nearly like watching cryptozoology turn into real-life zoology”, Ross said. In fact, even when mating, their unsocial character comes out as some male octopuses prefer to mate from a certain distance. The females would then reproduce multiple times. Such freakish reproductive behaviors are proof that scientists still have much to learn about these bulbous and intelligent sea creatures. Females took care of the eggs until they all hatched, over a total period of eight months. Unlike the usual characteristic of octopuses, this specie tend to have the human’s romantic and social character.

Caldwell said although they “tolerate one another and sometimes pair up” he didn’t think they were highly social.