Equipment: Nikon D500 camera, Sigma 105mm lens, Subal housing, two Ikelite DS160 strobes
Settings: 1/320 sec, f/16, ISO 100
Location: Tim’s Rock, Aiduma Island, Triton Bay, West Papua, Indonesia
Like many octopuses, the female greater blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena lunulata) is a semelparous animal, which means she reproduces once and then dies. After she lays a clutch of eggs, she quits eating and wastes away while protecting her eggs, dying shortly after her eggs hatch.
While other octopuses lay their eggs under rocks or in crevices and guard them closely, the greater blue-ringed octopus incubates her clutch of between 50 and 100 eggs in her arms for about 50 days until they hatch. The divemaster and I watched this female as multiple paralarvae hatched and floated to the surface to begin their planktonic stage before settling on the ocean floor to become adults.
This image shows three larvae that have just hatched, another in the mother’s arms close to hatching, and yet another needing more time to develop before hatching. I have seen a video of a similar hatching in an aquarium setting, but this may be the first documented sighting of a greater blue-ringed octopus hatching in the wild. scubashafer.com
© Alert Diver – Q3 2025