Two juvenile red octopuses among the first to ever be raised in captivity are making their debut at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, it was announced Wednesday.
Ten months ago, they hatched from eggs the size of a grain of rice. The octopuses on display are among six who reached the juvenile stage, an important milestone in Birch Aquarium's cephalopod care. In the wild, only about 1% of octopuses survive to adulthood.
"Watching them grow over the last 10 months has been such an incredible experience, and I've gained such a newfound appreciation and respect for red octopuses," said Maddy Tracewell, senior aquarist of animal health. "Being able to finally share them with our guests and move two on display is such an exciting milestone."
Aquarium guests can see the two animals in one of the small nursery habitats in the Coastal California section of Adam R. Scripps Living Seas Gallery. A divider separates the habitat into two spaces, allowing the octopuses to grow side by side while keeping them safely apart.
The octopuses hatched last October as tiny, free-swimming paralarvae before settling to the seafloor, aquarium officials said. It took around nine months for their transition to juveniles to occur.
"Seeing them transform so dramatically has been an incredible journey to witness," Tracewell said.
As they grew, their camouflage abilities improved and their eyes developed horizontal pupils, while their bodies became more opaque as leucophores — light-reflecting cells that help produce white coloration — continued to develop, according to an aquarium statement. They also formed more defined skin papillae along their heads and bodies, giving them greater control over texture and helping them blend into their surroundings.
Tracewell and the Birch's Animal Care Team waited until they had completed their settlement metamorphosis and reached the juvenile stage before the animals were declared ready for display.
"But because no one had previously raised this species from hatching to juvenile in aquarium care, there was no way to know exactly when that milestone would occur," the statement said.
As a result of her team's work, Tracewell recently presented her findings on rearing red octopus paralarvae through settlement at the 2026 Regional Aquatics Workshop, where she won the Best First-Time Presenter Award.
"The last few months have been such a remarkable journey, and I'm excited to continue sharing what I've learned with aquarium colleagues and scientists around the world to help advance the care and understanding of this remarkable species," she said.
