Watching Octopus Babies Hatch Is Fascinating

March 25, 2020

In a short clip posted to Twitter, a single tiny Caribbean reef octopus (Octopus briareus) is shown wriggling free of a small cluster of eggs.

The octopus immediately changes its pigment after hatching.

In Port Phillip Bay, pale octopus (Octopus pallidus) lay their eggs in small caves. The female stays with her eggs until they all hatch.

"Over about 3 weeks I checked the progress of one female and her eggs," writes Pang Quong, "this footage was the result."