Sexing Octopus and life span?

[johnism]

Newbie here so bare with me on this question?
I have read that once a female octopus lays eggs they seam to give up- correct .
How can you tell a male from a female octopus(I haven't seen info on this yet) ?
When you order one form a breeder can you request ( male or female ? )
I am assuming if you wanted one with a longer life span go with a male?
If I remember correctly form my reading of post their life span can be from 6 months to two years - what is the longest yours have lived?
Thanks-
John

 

[WhiteKiboko]

try here:

TONMO Cephalopod Community

 

[Nancy]

The life span depends on the species.

Most people here keep O. bimaculoides (bimac). The life span is usually given as 1-1 1/2 years.

We don't know exactly how old the last generation of bimacs was, becasue they were wild caught, but we assume they were between 4 and 6 months when they arrived, and the longest we've been able to keep them is 10 months.

Not a very long life span for any of the species, but the some of the larger octpuses (like the Giant Pacific Octopus) are supposed to live from 3 to 5 years.

Males do not live much longer than females, by the way, and females can live on after egg laying, as we saw with one of our bimacs.

Nancy

 

[joel_ang]

But the females in general die after the first eggs start hatching. The males will also die off after a few matings.

You can tell a male octo from a female one by looking at their third right arm. If it has no suckers at the tip, its a male. Its not easy sexing octos while they're moving, so requesting for one of a specific sex is not going to guarantee you'll get what you want.