Little is known about the behavior of these enigmatic creatures. They have relatively short lifespans with some only living for 6 months the giant Pacific octopus can live for approximately 5 years. Lifespan The average longevity of the Giant Pacific Octopus is 4.5 to 5 years in both captivity and the wild. Before a courtship can begin between two octopuses, they first need to find each other. The size record is held by a specimen that was 30 feet across and weighed more than 600 pounds. After mating, a female will lay up to 74,000 eggs or more in a deep den or cave and live there for seven months watching over them. A few species have fla… ", University of Lethbridge animal psychologist Jennifer Mather, a pioneering researcher into octopus cognition and personality, sees octopuses as "the poster child for invertebrate animal welfare"—worthy of the same rights as animals that look more like us. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), by agreement with the Fish and Wildlife Service, obtained the invoices for imports of aquarium species during three complete years (2008, 2009, and 2011) and parts of 2004 and 2005. They’re master escape artists, able to slop through thin cracks and out of all but the most securely sealed tanks—one of many traits that make them uniquely challenging and costly animals to keep. The Giant Pacific octopus hunts for food at night and has a lifespan of four years. An adult of these cephalopods has enough strength to move more than 700 pounds. When found, the pair will swim deeper into the water, within 40 and 170 feet, to search for a den where they can copulate. All octopuses probably carry some venom, but only the various golf ball-size blue-ringed species, which range from southern Japan to Australia, are known to pack a lethal dose. It can lay between 120,000 and 400,000 eggs which are intensively cared for by the females. The giant Pacific octopus starts life as tiny as a grain of rice, living in the surface water of the oceans for the first three months of their life. Even if that demand continued exponentially, it would be legal: None of the 300-plus known species of octopus is listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES), which regulates cross-border trade in wildlife, or the U.S. Slemp isn't opposed on principle to keeping these big-brained, unusually smart mollusks as pets, but he won’t sell octopuses to just anyone. The adult giant Pacific octopus weighs around 33 lbs. Some, such as the California two-spot octopus, appear to fare relatively well in captivity. Because they’re solitary, they can fare better in captivity than animals whose rich familial and social lives can’t be reproduced there—as long as they're provided a suitably rich environment. Both the sexes can breed year round. Sometimes, an individual would spend in a cave for weeks, crawling out only when hungry. All rights reserved. The short life span and reclusive tendencies of this species have proved a challenge for researchers. Some robust common species, such as the California two-spot octopus, get along relatively well in captivity. They can protect them by changing their colors and patterns so accurately that they can blend themselves with the environment, including the minutely-detailed corals, rocks, and plants on the seabed. The Giant Pacific Octopus: Enteroctopus dofleini. Scientists have … Your email address will not be published. Vendors and importers sometimes conflate the two species, but that doesn’t stop them from offering both to collectors willing to pay $200 or more for one. Endangered Species Act (ESA). It would lay the eggs in a safe den, with a single egg being the size of a rice grain, while the total count can range from anything between 18,000 and 74,000 (with an average of 50,000). "If anything,” says the sales manager at one aquarium-animal import company who requested anonymity because he was speaking without authorization, “I’ve seen a downturn over the years.". (See what happened at the most recent CITES conference.). Such traits make octopuses stars of the page and screen. The Giant Pacific octopus facts for kids is an amazing collection of some of the most interesting facts about Giant Pacific octopus. Octopuses typically die shortly following breeding. Image from Wikimedia Commons. Wood and other experts fear that too much enthusiasm may endanger two of the most dazzling and mediagenic, but little studied and potentially rare, species: the striped or wunderpus octopus (discovered in the 1980s) and its cousin, the mimic octopus (identified only in 1998). When it comes to mating, a single female will move out in search of a male that should be typically larger than it. U.S. imports of the highly venomous greater blue-ringed octopus have outpaced those of all other species, according to the sparse available records. Habitat: Where do the North Pacific Giant Octopus Live, Feeding Habits: What do the Giant Pacific Octopuses Eat, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enteroctopus_dofleini, https://www.arkive.org/north-pacific-giant-octopus/enteroctopus-dofleini/, https://wwwtest.tnaqua.org/our-animals/invertebrates/giant-pacific-octopus, https://www.georgiaaquarium.org/animal-guide/georgia-aquarium/home/galleries/cold-water-quest/gallery-animals/giant-pacific-octopus, http://aquarium.org/exhibits/giant-pacific-octopus/. It may come as a surprise for many, but the death of these creatures is related to their reproduction process. The result was a suggestive snapshot of the marine wildlife trade into the U.S., but even this small trove of data—all that we have on octopus imports—is outdated and imperfect. James Wood also hails the idea. ), “Word got out,” Ross says. “It’s cool now to be a nerd, and they’re the ultimate nerd animals.” So it’s only natural that ardent aquarium hobbyists and newly sea-struck fans alike may get the urge to have their own eight-legged marvels. NOAA funded Roger Williams University's Marine Aquarium and Biodiversity Trade Flow project to digitize and analyze the information in them. The female stops eating during this care and her life ends soon after the eggs hatch. Adults usually weigh around 15 kg (33 lb), with an arm span of up to 4.3 m (14 ft). The male dies not long after mating while the female is such a devoted mother that she does not leave her young to get food and usually dies … Find out about these and other octopus facts. The service uses the volume of shipments received to determine staff needs and resources at the nation’s ports of entry. "Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada is home to a giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini). “I’ve seen them in pet shops and home aquaria where owners didn’t know what it was,” Slemp says. The giant Pacific octopus is considered to be long-lived compared to other species, with lifespans typically 3–5 years in the wild.