Courtship with eight arms and a short patience
Males use a modified arm, the hectocotylus, to pass sperm packets. In the southern species the details are surprisingly specific.
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Author: Rick Morris
One clutch, then the brooding
Females lay a single clutch of about fifty eggs, hold them for months without eating, and die after the hatch.
Read the noteA life of one season, maybe two
Published lifespans run from about one year to two or three. Nutrition, temperature, and light all move the number.
Read the noteThe pounce, the arms, and the beak
A hunt is a short ambush: seize, pull the prey to the mouth, pierce the shell, and let the venom finish the movement.
Read the noteCrabs, hermit crabs, and the occasional small fish
The diet is small crustaceans first. The venom that worries people is, most of the time, a way to stop a crab.
Read the noteA day spent mostly out of sight
The working day is hiding, hunting, and keeping the rings off. Flight comes before the display, and the display comes before the bite.
Read the noteFrom Japan to the southern coast of Australia
The genus spans the Indo-Pacific shallows. Each species keeps a smaller map inside that wide one.
Read the noteTide pools, rubble, and a borrowed shell
The address is shallow: reef flats, seagrass, crevices, and any hollow that will serve as a den, including our litter.
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