Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
 
 
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Two-Spot Octopus

Octopus bimaculoides

   

Fun Facts

    Octopus are extremely intelligent and have well-developed eyes.

    They have a beak used for crushing prey.

   
 

Description

 
 
This intelligent marine invertebrate is appropriately named because of the two obvious blue spots located behind the eyes.  The two-spot octopus, which grows up to a 2 foot arm span, lives in holes and crevices in the intertidal area to depths up to 70 feet from San Simeon to Baja, California.  They move primarily utilizing their arms but can also jet propel using their siphon.
 
The adults feed on mollusks, crustaceans, and occasionally fish.  Prey are subdued with a parrot-like beak and toxic secretions through a salivary gland.  Their food is then scraped out with a radula.  Predators of two-spot octopus include adult moray eels, scorpionfish and humans. They often loose arms during a fight with a moray eel, but they can regenerate. Females lay up to 150,000 eggs under rocks from late winter to early summer, then guard them continuously for 2-4 months. During brooding, the female doesn't feed and usually dies just around hatching time. The young remain on the bottom after hatching and have a life span of 2-3 years. 
 
Two-spot octopus are usually found at the Aquarium in tank number 17.
 
   
 
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