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It was no small undertaking for the Clifford family in Oklahoma, in the US, to adopt a California two-spot octopus as a pet. The cephalopod, native to the Pacific Ocean, has tentacles that can grow up to nearly 60cm long, and its mantle, or "head", can grow up to 18cm long.
The Clifford's octopus, a female named Terrance, would need a big enough tank, filled with cool water carefully calibrated to the correct temperature, in which to live.
Dad Cameron bought Terrance last December for his son, Cal (9), who's been a huge fan of octopuses since he was little. But despite their careful research and planning, there was one thing they were not ready for – Terrance was pregnant.
"One of the funny things, the misconceptions I think that people assume, is that this was kind of like a flavour of the week for my son, you know, and we're kind of just these parents that will placate him with any material thing," Cameron told NPR.
"But he's a real bright kid, and he has absolutely loved octopuses since he was, like, two years old."
@doctoktopus Terrance signals the end of her life-cyxle, but we have no idea how mich time we have left wirh her. #octopus #marinebiology #shrimpdaddy #saltwateraquarium #fyp #cephalopod #petoctopus #aquarium #octomom #biology #mom ? Heartbeats - Remastered 2023 - José González
Terrance, or Terry, as the family calls her, has become something of an online star, as Cameron has been documenting her pregnancy journey on his TikTok page, @doctoktopus, since she began laying her eggs. His first post had over three million views.
"The amount of people invested is much more than I would’ve thought," he said.
Two months after Terrance joined the family, she laid her eggs, which is typically a sign that an octopus's life is near its end.
After a female lays her eggs, she usually stops eating and dies by the time the eggs hatch. This species typically lives for 12-18 months in the wild and up to two years in captivity.
To the surprise of the Cliffords, Terry not only survived, she continued to thrive.
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On top of that, it's exceedingly rare for California two-spots in captivity to lay fertile eggs which hatch and yet, as Cameron remarks, "it occurred three feet (about a metre) from (his) son’s bed in Central Oklahoma."
@doctoktopus SHRIMPIN’ AINT EASY (or cheap) ?? ?? #octopus #marinebiology #shrimpdaddy #saltwateraquarium #fyp #cephalopod #petoctopus #saltwatertank #mom #clambake #crabcake #aquarium #poseidon ? original sound - TikToktopus
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The Cliffords managed to keep all 50 hatchlings alive for about a week, “but unfortunately, we were not able to save all,” Cameron told the New York Post.
“Those that deal with this species regularly, in a controlled environment, only yield about 5% of the brood.”
Still, they were able to welcome Pearl, Melinda, Jay-Sea, Sea-yonceeé, Rocket Larry and their siblings to their home aquarium, but they're desperately trying to find them new homes.
As it is, there's only one other octopus they know of in their state, a giant Pacific octopus which lives in the Oklahoma Aquarium.
Cameron has contacted every aquarium, biology department and pet shop within a 150km radius. They're yet to find forever homes for them, for now they're living with a local reptile scientist known as Dr Tim.
Terrance, meanwhile, is being fed by hand, said the Cliffords, and she's doing well.
SOURCES: New York Post, News 18, NPR
