# Why do Octopi have such short lifespans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 28, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541 "2005-03-28T02:45:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541/1 "2005-03-28T02:45:13Z")
I was reading about people keeping them as pets, and they sound like wonderfully fun animals to have around, cats with tentacles, but apparantly the thing stopping that from happening is they only live about a year, 2 at the most. Does anyone know why that is? ---
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541/2 "2005-03-28T06:17:08Z")
Go to Google; type in octopus lifespan. The sites there will tell you everything known about octopuses (not octopi) : how to keep them in a tank, how to feed them, etc. Plus the very little that is known about their lifespans. I just scanned some sites, and it looks like they’re quite difficult to keep. They are fascinating creatures, though. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541/3 "2005-03-28T07:39:13Z")
> [@ageless6](#): > > Go to Google; type in octopus lifespan. > The sites there will tell you everything known about octopuses (not octopi) : how to keep them in a tank, how to feed them, etc. > Plus the very little that is known about their lifespans. > > I just scanned some sites, and it looks like they’re quite difficult to keep. They are fascinating creatures, though. Fascinating and intelligent. The are able to learn from watching others do things. I saw a video of an octopus trying to open a jar with a crab in it and not succeeding. Its tank was then put next to one with an octopus who did know how to unscrew the lid. Octopus No. 1 watched intently as No. 2 did the job on a jar put into its tank. The another jar with crab was put into No. 1’s tank and it took the lid off in just one try. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541/4 "2005-03-28T08:40:01Z")
> [@Silentgoldfish](#): > > Does anyone know why that is? Octopi are the rats of the sea? ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541/5 "2005-03-28T10:56:00Z")
To quote George MacDonald Fraser in _The Pyrates_: ‘…"Sheba hangs naked in her cage down a great black cliff o’er pool o’ ravening octopi-" “Not octopi. Sorry to interrupt, but it’s Greek, not Latin. Octopods, octopod_es_ , take your pick, but not octopi.” “O’er pool o’ ravening octopusses, then!” snarled Blood. “And there she swings, mocked by lewd Spanish soldiers takin’ pictures and offerin’ her bananas through the bars.”’ ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541/6 "2005-03-28T17:58:07Z")
> [@ageless6](#): > > I just scanned some sites, and it looks like they’re quite difficult to keep. It looks like the soon-to-open [Georgia Aquarium](http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/) is going to give it a shot. Reportedly, Bernie Marcus (Home Depot co-founder and the money man behind the aquarium) has an obsessive fascination with octopi, and the new aquarium will feature them prominently. Or make the attempt, anyway. I’d always imagined them to be too reclusive to be good public aquarium livestock. Hiding in a hole does not entertain the masses. /hijack ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541/7 "2005-03-28T17:59:42Z")
_Octopodes_, then. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541/8 "2005-03-28T18:06:09Z")
You never hear about “octacock.” [/Elayne Boosler] ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541/9 "2005-03-28T19:07:22Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > You never hear about “octacock.” > [/Elayne Boosler] Who’s clamoring for more “octacock?” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541/10 "2005-03-28T19:18:25Z")
> [@Padeye](#): > > You never hear about “octacock.” > [/Elayne Boosler] Interestingly enough, in male octopusses one of the tentacles becomes modified to serve as an intromittent organ in mating. So adult male octopusses are actually heptapusses. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541/11 "2005-03-28T19:22:44Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > I’d always imagined them to be too reclusive to be good public aquarium livestock. Hiding in a hole does not entertain the masses. > /hijack Actually I saw the coolest little octopus at an aquarium once. It was little, it’s “body” was probably about the size of a tennis ball and its arms maybe a foot or a foot an a half long. It was in a tank with all sorts of knobbies and cubby holes he was climbing all around on, falling off, changing color…he was facinating to watch! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541/12 "2005-03-28T19:32:04Z")
> [@Case Sensitive](#): > > To quote George MacDonald Fraser in _The Pyrates_: > > ‘…"Sheba hangs naked in her cage down a great black cliff o’er pool o’ ravening octopi-" > > “Not octopi. Sorry to interrupt, but it’s Greek, not Latin. Octopods, octopod_es_ , take your pick, but not octopi.” > > “O’er pool o’ ravening octopusses, then!” snarled Blood. “And there she swings, mocked by lewd Spanish soldiers takin’ pictures and offerin’ her bananas through the bars.”’ **adds _The Pyrates_ to Amazon Wish List** ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541/13 "2005-03-28T19:34:58Z")
There’s a large one in the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla that has been there for at least 5 years. Its “head” is about the size of a basketball when it’s full of water (the octopus, not the basketball.) It doesn’t seem terribly reclusive and is often moving around the tank when we visit. They also have a lobster or two that rival “Bubba.” They are connected with the Scripps Institute, so I suspect they know what they are doing. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541/14 "2005-03-28T19:40:15Z")
Well, perhaps my impression of octopeoples is mistaken. Maybe they are not as reclusive as I had thought. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541/15 "2005-03-28T21:00:24Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > **adds _The Pyrates_ to Amazon Wish List** If you like pirate movies, or pirates in general, you _must_ read this book: I was banned from reading it in bed for laughing too loudly. **Colibri** , if they used two tentacles in mating would they be sexapusses? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-octopi-have-such-short-lifespans/296541/16 "2005-03-28T21:09:16Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Well, perhaps my impression of octopeoples is mistaken. Maybe they are not as reclusive as I had thought. Octopuses can demonstrate a wide range of “personality” traits even among members of the same species. Some love to entertain and interact, others are shy and reclusive. As for the OP, no one really knows why most species of octopus have such short lifespans. There hemocyanin-based oxygen metabolism is significantly less efficient (about 20%) compared to the hemoglobin transport mechanism in vertebrates. Whether this has anything to do with their truncated mortality or not I don’t know. (Females, once they’ve laid eggs, usually stay with the nest until they starve, but males don’t live much longer.) _Enteroctopus dofleini_ (which was incorrectly identified in the Cousteau book I referenced in the other thread\*), which lives in the Pacific Northwest, may live for a decade or longer. You aren’t going to keep one in a tank in your living room, though. I’d really encourage people not to keep one at home. They need space, privacy, and stimulation, which they aren’t going to get in a living room tank. In a public aquarium they can be well cared for and live in a somewhat natural environment, but keeping one in a small tank is as cruel as keeping a puppy locked up in a crate all of its life. Stranger \*That’ll teach me to rely on Cousteau as reference material for marine biology. Geez, the guy made some great documentaries, but as a scientist he left much to be desired. Now, looking about on the Internet, I’ve found three seperate classifcations for family and genus for octopus. Hmm…it seems there’s a wide range of disagreement for the taxinomy. You wacky classifiers; get it togehter, will ya’?