Octopuses torture and eat themselves after mating. Science finally knows why.
DannyB writes:
Octopuses torture and eat themselves after mating and science finally knows why:
She even eats pieces of her own arms.
Many animal species die after they reproduce. But in octopus mothers, this decline is particularly alarming: In most species, as an octopus mother's eggs get close to hatching, she stops eating. She then leaves her protective huddle over her brood and becomes bent on self-destruction. She might beat herself against a rock, tear at her own skin, even eat pieces of her own arms.
Now, researchers have discovered the chemicals that seem to control this fatal frenzy. [....]
[....] No one knows the purpose of the behavior. Theories include the idea that the dramatic death displays draw predators away from eggs, or that the mother's body releases nutrients into the water that nurture the eggs. Most likely, Wang said, the die-off protects the babies from the older generation. Octopuses are cannibals, she said, and if older octopuses stuck around, they might end up eating all of each other's young.
[....] If the nerves to the optic gland were cut, Wodinsky found, the mother octopus would abandon her eggs, start eating again and live for another four to six months. That's an impressive life extension for creatures that live only about a year.
But no one knew what the optic gland was doing to control this cascade of self-injury.
Wouldn't it be more efficient if the parent octopuses could become nourishment for the young hatchlings?
See Also:
Scientists discover why female octopuses self-mutilate to death after laying eggs
Journal Reference:
Z. Yan Wang et al., Steroid hormones of the octopus self-destruct system, Curr Biol, 2022.
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.043
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