Larger Pacific Striped Octopus gains attention for social, mating behaviors
A newly documented octopus species challenges assumptions about cephalopod solitude and reproduction.
What to know
- The LPSO is the first octopus species known to form stable social colonies of up to 40 individuals, contradicting the solitary nature of other octopus species.
- Unlike most octopuses, LPSO engage in intimate pair bonding and mate through beak-to-beak embraces rather than distance mating, and females do not cannibalize males.
- LPSO can reproduce multiple times throughout their lives and may pass acquired skills to offspring—unusual advantages in a species typically constrained by short lifespans.
- Despite 50+ years of scientific observation since the 1970s, the species remains undescribed and has no official scientific name, and basic facts like body size were initially absent from public documentation.
LPSO's intelligence and alien-like traits make it a uniquely fascinating species worthy of deeper study and longer lifespan to realize its potential.
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“They are probably the closest we'll get to an alien intelligence. Their nervous systems evolved along a completely different evolutionary path from us vertebrates.”
rolfus · Hacker News ↗
Wikipedia and scientific documentation on LPSO contain gaps and errors that should be corrected or clarified.
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“Irony: Nowhere on that page does it say how large that octopus actually is. An inch? 2 meters? Unclear.”
teiferer · Hacker News ↗
LPSO's ability to survive mating and reproduce multiple times opens evolutionary pathways for knowledge transfer and skill teaching—a rare advantage among cephalopods.
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“One critical feature of these octopuses is that they don't just die after mating (most species of octopus do)... Which opens up possibilities, like teaching their young skills they have acquired.”
NewJazz · Hacker News ↗
Larger Pacific Striped Octopus (LPSO) Subject species
How it unfolded 5 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump postscomments
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Commenters emphasize LPSO's alien-like characteristics
Discussion crystallizes around the proposition that the LPSO's combination of multiple brains, regeneration ability, color-changing capacity, and social intelligence makes it seem fundamentally alien compared to most known animal species.
“The more I learn about octopus, the more they seem like alien species. They have something like 8 different brains, can regenerate limbs, incredibly smart, can change colors & texture to match surrounds, and more.”
— tiffanyh -
Wikipedia didn't say it directly, but they already had a reference to a source that did> "The LPSO is a small animal, with a striped body about 7 centimetres long and spotted arms that make it look like it is wearing a polka-dot dress."Anytime you're looking for more info on topic while reading its wikipedia article checking the sources is a good…
2 more of the top 3 · 4 posts in this stretch
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Quite confusing how the referenced paper [1] juxtaposes Guatemala, Panama, and the (British) Columbia region of Canada.Unless they actually meant Colombia. But peer review would certainly catch that.[1]
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The more I learn about octopus, the more they seem like alien species.They have something like 8 different brains, can regenerate limbs, incredibly smart, can change colors & texture to match surrounds, and more.
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Discussion emerges on octopus intelligence and lifespan constraints
Multiple commenters on Hacker News discuss the LPSO's intelligence relative to other cephalopods and speculate on what potential could be unlocked if such intelligent species lived longer than typical octopuses.
“They are probably the closest we'll get to an alien intelligence. Their nervous systems evolved along a completely different evolutionary path from us vertebrates. It pains me that they are so short lived, though.”
— rolfus -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Being_the_Right_Size"The most obvious differences between different animals are differences of size, but for some reason the zoologists have paid singularly little attention to them. In a large textbook of zoology before me I find no indication that the eagle is larger than the sparrow, or the hippopotamus bigger…
2 more of the top 3 · 5 posts in this stretch
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I've been fascinated by Cephalopods since reading (the excellent) book "Other Minds" by Peter Godfrey-Smith. They are probably the closest we'll get to an alien intelligence. Their nervous systems evolved along a completely different evolutionary path from us vertebrates. It pains me that they are so short lived, though. I wonder what potential…
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Irony: Nowhere on that page does it say how large that octopus actually is. An inch? 2 meters? Unclear.To save you the google search, it's about "tennis ball size" according to https://30a.com/larger-pacific-striped-octopus/ . Somebody should add that to the wiki.
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background
Commenter identifies missing size information on Wikipedia — A Hacker News comment notes that the Wikipedia article fails to specify the LPSO's actual size, which research indicates is approximately tennis-ball sized (7 centimetres long).
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Commenter questions delay in scientific naming
A Hacker News comment expresses surprise that the species, first documented in the 1970s, still lacks an official scientific name after over 50 years of observation.
“Is that a joke? It takes over 50 years to come up with a scientific name for a species?”
— TulliusCicero -
> The species was first documented in the 1970s and, being fairly new to scientific observation, has yet to be scientifically described. Because of this, LPSO has no official scientific name.Is that a joke? It takes over 50 years to come up with a scientific name for a species?
2 more of the top 3 · 4 posts in this stretch
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Something about seeing "gregarious nature" used to describe a non-human animal feels so... whimsical? I like it. Likewise with "intimate embrace" and other descriptions that follow.
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One critical feature of these octopuses is that they don't just die after mating (most species of octopus do)... Which opens up possibilities, like teaching their young skills they have acquired.
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Mastodon user shares LPSO Wikipedia article
The article is shared on Mastodon, extending the discussion beyond Hacker News to other platforms.
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H
Larger Pacific Striped Octopus L: https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larger_P acific_striped_octopus C: https:// news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4 9621018 posted on 2026.09.09 at 00:32:22 (c=0, p=3)
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Wikipedia article on LPSO gains traction on Hacker News
A Wikipedia article on the Larger Pacific Striped Octopus reaches 120 points with 60 comments on Hacker News, drawing attention to the species' unusual social and reproductive behaviors that diverge sharply from typical octopus biology.
“Unlike other octopus species which are normally solitary, the LPSO has been reported as forming groups of up to 40 individuals.”
— Wikipedia article on LPSO · source
What people are saying 2 voices from 1 site · best of 14 · verbatim
- Why did it take over 50 years for the LPSO to receive scientific documentation and a formal species name after first observation in the 1970s?
- Do we know why the LPSO evolved to be social when most octopuses are solitary?
- What evolutionary or behavioral advantages does the LPSO's lack of post-mating cannibalism and ability to reproduce multiple times confer compared to other octopus species?
- Sep 10
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It's Wikipedia, I'm sure you can add it to the wiki in about as much time as it took you to write that post.
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Do we know why this species evolved to be social when most octopuses are solitary?