These Adorable Octo-Babies Are Taking The Internet By Storm

Featured Image Credit: Virginia Aquarium
By Emily Persico

Fifteen or so octo-babies hatched at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center early this month and became instant celebrities. In two days, the birth of these young Caribbean reef octopodes had attracted the attention of 600,000 viewers worldwide. Now, just a few weeks later, the original video posted by the Aquarium has garnered over 4 million views on their social media platforms.

Octopodes have pigmented cells called chromatophores that allow them to change color and camouflage themselves. It is believed that the stimulation of hatching causes the chromatophores to fire, briefly changing the octo-baby’s color to brown.

“…This was a really exciting time for us to be able to share something that is not often seen and then talk about it with our fans and really provide the science behind what’s happening,” said Matthew Klepeisz, an Aquarium spokesperson.

The excitement behind the hatch has incited a ton of questions. Will the mother octopus die? How long do octopodes live for? How did the eggs become fertilized? For all these questions and more, the Aquarium has an answer. The entire lifecycle of a Caribbean reef octopus (Octopus briareus) can be gleaned from Aquarium staff’s dutiful answers on the comments below the video. But let me sum it up for you.

When octopodes are born, they are roughly the size of a pinkie nail. The tiny creatures at the Virginia Aquarium subsist off a diet of mysid shrimp (seen flitting away from the scene of the hatch in the video above).

Within three to four months, the young octopodes will have grown to roughly the size of a golf ball, and they will be ready to join exhibits across AZA-accredited locations. At this point, the youngins will also have reached sexual maturity. Eager to fulfill their purpose in life, a male will release his sperm sac when the opportunity arises. Shortly thereafter, the accomplished octopus will slump off and die. The cycle for the female is not too different.
“Once a female octopus lays eggs and enters senescence, it is unfortunately common that they will guard the eggs until they hatch and pass,” explains Aquarium staff on Facebook. “This mama octo still has some eggs she is aerating and guarding, and has been eating and still somewhat active.”

While 15-20 octo-babies have made it thus far, a female’s clutch can be as large as 500 eggs. Many of these obviously do not make it and it is likely that, despite the Aquarium’s best effort, many of the hatched octos will simply not make it to adulthood.

The individual lives of these octos are short and fleeting, but the entire species has been skirting the Atlantic Ocean for millions of years. We have a lot to learn from this intelligent creature, and the Virginia Aquarium is eager to teach us.

“We would be lying if we said it wasn’t an incredible opportunity,” admits Aquarium staff.
To learn more about the Caribbean Reef Octopus, visit Octopus Worlds. Thanks to the Washington Post for their original article about the octo-babies.