North Pacific Giant Octopus

Range - The giant Pacific Octopus are found in the Pacific Ocean from California to Alaska to Japan. Several Subspecies of the giant Pacific octopus are known. Ours is a north Pacific giant octopus.

Sex -

Sexes are separate and males mature at a smaller size than females
Males have a modified arm called a hectocotylus (a/k/a the sperm shovel). This arm is used to place the sperm cells on or inside the female. A male impregnates about six females, subsequently moves into deeper water and dies.
In the spring, females lay 20,000 to 100,000 eggs in the den. Eggs are tended , cleaned and aerated by females until they hatch. Incubation takes 150 days to seven or more months, depending on the temperature. Females do not feed while tending the eggs and die when the eggs hatch or shortly thereafter. Many of the eggs will die if not tended by the female.
Eggs hatch as free swimming planktonic larvae. The larvae undergo metamorphosis and settle on the ocean floor after four to 6 weeks.
The giant Pacific Octopus lives 3 to 5 years before spawning and dying. In the absence of reproduction, they may live up to 5 years. Studies have shown that the hormone that regulates sexual maturation is also associated with the natural death of the octopus.
Even unfertilized females lay eggs, then die.

Eating

Octopuses are opportunistic feeders and prefer live prey. They will eat crabs, mussels, fish and more! They are typically nocturnal hunters - seizing prey and returning to dens to feed in security.
Octopuses have several tools for food acquisition - they may use their rasping tongue to drill, may use venom to paralyze, may use their beak to break, or may use combinations of these tools to capture and consume prey.

Relationship to Humans

While humans are not on the octopuses' preferred food item menu, most recommend that you look but do not touch.
All octopuses have a venomous bite - it depends on the species how strong it is. Many of the smaller species have a worse bite than larger ones. The venom is in their saliva.
Reactions to octopus bites range from fiery, numbing pain and swelling that eventually subsides to death in minutes.

Gee Whiz

Mature female E. dofleini (giant Pacific Octopus) have 2240 suckers (280 on each arm), but males have fewer suckers because there are only about 100 on the hectocotlized arm.

Growth

Giant octopus grow rapidly weighing 2 pounds after the first year and can weigh 22 pounds at the end of their second year of life.
The giant Pacific octopus is the largest octopus species in the world - averaging between 60 and 80 pounds but capable of reaching 150 pounds, with a 20 foot armspan.
Although it is very unusual to find individuals over 100 pounds, one large individual captured near Victoria, British Columbia in 1967 weighed 156 pounds and was almost 23 feet from arm tip to arm tip. There are records that seem to be well referenced of a few individuals that were more than 300 pounds and one that was more than 400 pounds! (Ref: Dr. F.G. Hochberg, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History).

The Den

Dens are important to Octopuses during all of their bottom-dwelling (benthic) life stages. Dens are used both as brooding chambers and as refuges from predators. Most dens can be a naturally occurring space, an excavated cavity in the sand, or some have been known to use discarded human made objects like cans and bottles.

Predators

When they are in their planktonic stage, anything that eats plankton can consume an octopus. Once they are adults, they become the prey of other octopuses, various fishes, sharks and rays, and many marine mammals.

Color Changes

Octopuses have advanced nervous systems and, thorough muscle movement and ink distribution in their chromatophores, they can make themselves yellow, orange, brown, red, blue and black. Iridocytes are reflective cells that produce greens and blues by refraction and white by reflection.

You could say that Octopuses where their emotions on their skin since it is believed that the color red is anger and white is fear.

Eyes

This cool fact is courtesy of Jim Haggard in his listings of "What's New - What's cool" for the October 17, 2001 Member night.

"The more that we learn about cephalopods, the more interesting they become. Octopuses, squid and cuttlefish have "equilibrium" cells (called statocysts). This enables them to keep the orientation of their complex eyes in constant position in relation to gravity - their pupils will always be horizontal!

North Pacific Giant Octopus

Range - The giant Pacific Octopus are found in the Pacific Ocean from California to Alaska to Japan. Several Subspecies of the giant Pacific octopus are known. Ours is a north Pacific giant octopus.

Sex -

Sexes are separate and males mature at a smaller size than females

Males have a modified arm called a hectocotylus (a/k/a the sperm shovel). This arm is used to place the sperm cells on or inside the female. A male impregnates about six females, subsequently moves into deeper water and dies.

Eggs hatch as free swimming planktonic larvae. The larvae undergo metamorphosis and settle on the ocean floor after four to 6 weeks.

The giant Pacific Octopus lives 3 to 5 years before spawning and dying. In the absence of reproduction, they may live up to 5 years. Studies have shown that the hormone that regulates sexual maturation is also associated with the natural death of the octopus.

Even unfertilized females lay eggs, then die.

Eating

Octopuses are opportunistic feeders and prefer live prey. They will eat crabs, mussels, fish and more! They are typically nocturnal hunters - seizing prey and returning to dens to feed in security.

Octopuses have several tools for food acquisition - they may use their rasping tongue to drill, may use venom to paralyze, may use their beak to break, or may use combinations of these tools to capture and consume prey.

Relationship to Humans

While humans are not on the octopuses' preferred food item menu, most recommend that you look but do not touch.

All octopuses have a venomous bite - it depends on the species how strong it is. Many of the smaller species have a worse bite than larger ones. The venom is in their saliva.

Reactions to octopus bites range from fiery, numbing pain and swelling that eventually subsides to death in minutes.

Gee Whiz

Mature female E. dofleini (giant Pacific Octopus) have 2240 suckers (280 on each arm), but males have fewer suckers because there are only about 100 on the hectocotlized arm.

Growth

Giant octopus grow rapidly weighing 2 pounds after the first year and can weigh 22 pounds at the end of their second year of life.

The giant Pacific octopus is the largest octopus species in the world - averaging between 60 and 80 pounds but capable of reaching 150 pounds, with a 20 foot armspan.

The Den

Predators

When they are in their planktonic stage, anything that eats plankton can consume an octopus. Once they are adults, they become the prey of other octopuses, various fishes, sharks and rays, and many marine mammals.

Color Changes

Octopuses have advanced nervous systems and, thorough muscle movement and ink distribution in their chromatophores, they can make themselves yellow, orange, brown, red, blue and black. Iridocytes are reflective cells that produce greens and blues by refraction and white by reflection.

You could say that Octopuses where their emotions on their skin since it is believed that the color red is anger and white is fear.

Eyes

This cool fact is courtesy of Jim Haggard in his listings of "What's New - What's cool" for the October 17, 2001 Member night.