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Animal profile

Deep-sea Brooding Octopus

Graneledone boreopacifica

CephalopodaDeep continental slope and canyon walls of the North Pacific, roughly 500 to 2,800 metres

Field profile

Graneledone boreopacifica is a warty, pale deep-sea octopus of the North Pacific slope. It came to attention through a long-running submersible study that recorded the longest egg-brooding period known for any animal.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2024-07-26

Deep-sea Brooding Octopus

One octopus guarded her eggs for 53 months

Researchers revisited a single female on a Monterey Canyon rock face 18 times over 53 months. She never left, was never seen feeding, and her eggs hatched at the end of the longest brood on record.

Read with evidence →

Deep-sea Brooding Octopus | Daily Animal Facts