7 ms·

Though FWIW, they do protect their eggs quite well.

• yieldcrv 23d ago
  Isn't this tied to the senesce? Where their digestive tract has closed and they starve to death at the nest
  • zabzonk 23d ago
    Indeed, AFAIK. I've never seen an explanation for this. Most things that reproduce successfully want to do it again - or at least their DNA does. Perhaps octopuses are simply disappointed by the experience.
    • randomImmigrant 22d ago
      Octopus senescence isn’t a choice. It’s a fully programmed part of their life cycle. There’s a bunch of hormones released by the optic gland that put them in this stage where they stop eating, stop healing, and sometimes even mutilate themselves. For the mothers, the entire time is spent cleaning and blowing water over the eggs. It’s generally accepted this behavior is the necessary pair to their high aggression and cannibalism. It’s likely if they didn’t go through this they’d end up eating their babies. By dying, they make way for a new generation. And this is their reproductive strategy. Live a short very active life. If you survive, mate, then die and leave the hunting grounds to the next generation.
      • yieldcrv 22d ago
        That explains how the mutation was promoted But not whether other adaptations could be possible. Fix the digestive tract issue and keep the female well fed and defending the nest in a different way
        • randomImmigrant 22d ago
          There's no single mutation. Nor is their sensecense merely a digestive tract issue. This is a core feature of their lifecycle. If you mutate the genes that make the hormones that trigger it, or the receptors for those hormones, you won't just prevent their sensecense, because those genes have other functions important to other parts of their life cycle.