Octopus Mating

2020-11-01 trivia nsfw

Octopus mating behavior is weird (at least from a human perspective. In terms of animal behavior in general, not so much):

  • For many species, both partners die afterwards (Males shortly after mating, Females after their eggs hatch) 1
  • The “penis” of a male octopus is actually one of its arms. 23
  • In Argonauts, the penis is detached during mating. Sources differ about the timing: Wikipedia reads like the arm is first inserted and then detached. Other, sometimes less reputable, websites claim that it is detached and thrown to the female.

  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus#Lifespan ↩︎

  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus#Reproduction ↩︎

  3. Spiders do not find this particularly weird. Their copulatory organs are located on their pedipalp - their frontal appendages. Think “penis hands”. ↩︎