The love life of octopuses is more complex than we imagine, as a team of scientists from the University of California at Berkeley has just revealed. Studying the behavior of the Abdopus aculeatus species in its natural habitat, in Indonesia, researchers have found that during their love affairs these animals cheekily flirt and hold hands passionately. Furthermore, male cephalopods jealously guard the lairs of their sexual partners for days, driving rivals away and even, if they get too close, strangling them.
Regarding sexual preferences, the most desired females are the most corpulent , since males "look for those who are going to produce more eggs," according to Professor Roy Caldwell, co-author of the study published in the journal Marine biology .
On the other hand, once they reach sexual maturity, octopuses usually mate several times a day . After all, Cadwell explains, that is the main task in the life of these cephalopods. The mother lays several thousand eggs and when after a month the young are born their mother dies exhausted. The father barely survives him a few more months.
