Just a month after mating, a female octopus can lay as many as 100,000 eggs. | National Geographic

Did you know baby octopuses start life as plankton? 🐙 After hatching, many octopus species enter a planktonic phase meaning they are tiny, drifting in the open ocean, & totally at the mercy of currents & predators. These floating babies, called paralarvae, feed on microscopic animals & can drift for weeks before settling on the seafloor to begin life as adult octopus. While in this phase they often latch onto drifting debris near the surface for protection. We got this one off a Doritos bag whi

Tiny tentacles, big dreams 🫶 Baby octopuses hatch ready to take on the ocean, able to change color and texture from the moment they’re born. | National Geographic Animals