Octopuses are one of several species that die after they mate or give birth.
They are semelparous animals, which means they reproduce once and then they die. After mating, the male dies while the female octopus lays a clutch of eggs, she quits eating and wastes away; by the time the eggs hatch, she dies.
Octopus are soft-bodied, eight-limbed molluscs of the order Octopoda. The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids.
Octopuses vary greatly in size: the smallest, O. arborescens, is about 5 cm (2 inches) long, while the largest species may grow to 5.4 metres (18 feet) in length and have an arm span of almost 9 metres (30 feet). The typical octopus has a saccular body: the head is only slightly demarcated from the body and has large, complex eyes and eight contractile arms.
Why do the male octopus die after Mating
The male octopus has a modified arm called the hectocotylus, which is about 3 feet (1 meter) long and holds rows of sperm. Depending on the species, he will either approach a receptive female and insert the arm into her oviduct or take off the arm and give it to her to store in her mantle for later.
Death comes because the octopus has used up all of his body’s energy in growing, then in mating.
Why do the female octopus die during childbirth
Female octopuses die around the time their eggs hatch. An octopus that produces too few eggs will lose reproductive fitness. She will survive for a time after her eggs hatch but will soon die in any case and she has fewer progeny than she could have had.
This is because the female octopus will stops feeding – she’ll stay and watch over her eggs until they hatch, slowly starving to death. In captivity, towards the end, sometimes she’ll tear off her own skin, and eat the tips of her own tentacles.
What do they eat
Octopuses are carnivores, and the adults feed on small fishes, crabs, clams, snails, and other octopuses. They typically hunt at night, pouncing on their prey and wrapping it in the webbing between their arms.
Where do they live
Octopuses are found in every ocean of the world and along every coast of the United States. Octopuses live in coastal marine waters and spend much of their time in dens—small holes and crevices in rocks and coral. They are generally solitary and territorial.
Lifespan
Octopuses have a relatively short life expectancy; some species live for as little as six months. The giant Pacific octopus, one of the two largest species of octopus, may live for as much as five years……………Séé Móré
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