The female octopus meticulously takes care of her eggs until they hatch, not eating the entire time. She blows current across the eggs to keep them clean and protects them from predators. They incubate from two to 10 months depending on the species and water temperature and are on their own once they hatch, giving them a 1% survival rate.

A juvenile octopus grows rapidly, possibly because of its short life span (3 to 5 years). By the end of its life it will weigh one-third of the food it has eaten.