Student Article

Why mother octopuses die after laying eggs.

The ultimate mom sacrifice

Few animals display the extreme level of parental sacrifice that female octopuses do. After laying their eggs, female octopuses enter a dedicated brooding period, staying with their clutch and refusing to leave — even for food. They constantly tend to the eggs, keeping them clean and aerated until the hatchlings emerge.

She stops eating to protect her babies

This devotion comes at a steep cost: the mother stops eating and dies of starvation before her offspring hatch. Some have been observed engaging in self-mutilation, tearing off their own skin or limbs. While this appears tragic, research has uncovered a surprising explanation rooted in biology.

Why her body makes her stop eating

At the heart of this self-destructive behavior is the optic gland, a structure located near the brain. This gland regulates reproductive and maternal behavior. When researchers removed the optic gland in experiments, octopuses resumed feeding and lived significantly longer — showing that death after reproduction is not due to physical exhaustion but rather a pre-programmed biological process.

A sad but powerful way to protect her babies

Why would evolution favor such a fatal outcome? One hypothesis is that octopuses have a cannibalistic nature and might eat their own young if they remained alive. Death, in this sense, becomes a reproductive strategy — eliminating the risk that the mother could harm her offspring.

A natural strategy

In the end, the death of the mother ensures the survival of the next generation. Though it may seem grim, it's one of nature’s most remarkable examples of self-sacrifice for the sake of reproduction.

© Stuart Blackman / Our Media