You’re scuba diving around a gorgeous coral reef when a dark shadow appears above you. You look up, but there’s nothing there. You continue to investigate the coral, perplexed, when you notice it directly in front of you: a spectacularly large sea creature with many legs. Wait, that’s eight legs. That’s when you start realizing you’re in the presence of a massive octopus! What are you going to do? Are you in jeopardy? Will it devour you? So, let us enter the world of the octopus to find out.
Octopuses are highly intelligent predators that hunt along shores and in the open ocean. Their main source of food is mollusks, such as clams, oysters and sea snails. They also hunt many crabs, lobsters and shrimp. They are able to eat these thick-shelled animals with their powerful beak, which is located in the middle of their eight tentacles.
This beak allows them to drill a hole through shells and gain access to the meaty bits underneath. In the open ocean, octopuses hunt along the sea floor, usually catching prawns and fish through ambush tactics.
What Do Baby Octopus Eat?
Baby octopuses are tiny, and mostly eat plankton after they hatch. The mother watches after her young for around a month, and doesn’t hunt during that time. She may even eat some of her own arms to keep her babies safe! Once they are big enough for the ocean floor, the young octopuses eat baby starfish and crabs to grow big enough to hunt larger prey.
Baby octopuses are also referred to as larvae. The male octopus dies soon after mating, leaving the female adult octopus to care for the eggs. The female will die once the eggs hatch, releasing the newly hatched babies to survive for themselves. Larval octopuses resemble miniature versions of their adult counterparts. Initially, these baby octopuses will meander into plankton fields and begin to feed.
Plankton, copepods, small crabs, and sea stars are among their favorite foods. They are voracious eaters who put on weight quickly. Over the course of a week, an infant octopus’s size can double. A young octopus would then eat the same food as an adult octopus once it has grown large enough. Baby octopuses are notoriously picky when compared to adult octopuses, and as a result, often die of starvation, so they are rarely raised in captivity.
What Do Pet Octopus Eat?
Many people may choose keep octopuses as pets because of their intelligence, beautiful colors, and unique appearance. If you decide to keep an octopus as a pet, you’ll need to know what to feed it in order to keep it alive. They are high-maintenance pets that require a lot of space and attention. Octopuses need some live food to stay healthy, but they can also survive on pre-killed food.
As a result, it is safe to feed thawed frozen shrimp to your pet octopus. Having said that, the majority of its diet should consist of live shrimp, crabs, and small fish. To ensure that your pet octopus gets enough food without overeating, feed it once a day, six days a week. Replace uneaten food on a regular basis and keep your pet octopus’ tank clean. Before introducing new food to your pet octopus, always consult with a local expert.
