Gender-Neutral Octopus Arrives At South Jersey Aquarium

CAMDEN, NJ — Charlie the octopus arrived to Adventure Aquarium as a bit of a mystery.

The cephalopod has been on exhibit for about a week, the Camden aquarium said, taking the place of another giant Pacific octopus who is reaching the end of her life.

The giant Pacific octopus is the largest octopus species in the world, and though aquarium staff know how to care for this species, Charlie threw them for a bit of a loop.

The way to tell the gender of an octopus is to observe their third arm, say Adventure Aquarium staff. In an Instagram post, aquarium biologist Kim explained that female octopi will have suction cups going up the entirety of that arm, and males will have missing suction cups on the tips.

"When Charlie came to us, they were missing a portion of their third right arm, and unfortunately that is the only way that we can tell if an octopus is a male or a female," Kim said.

"Because Charlie is missing a portion of that arm, we will never know if Charlie is a boy or a girl," Kim said.

Kim and another staff member offered Charlie a chance to speak into the microphone, but they declined.

"This means that the Aquarium team won’t know Charlie’s sex until they potentially lay eggs (indicating female) or upon completing a necropsy (autopsy) following the animal’s death," the aquarium explained further.

A female giant Pacific octopus named Europa was taken out of the exhibit after entering senescence, "a normal stage of an octopus’ life cycle that often occurs before death," said Adventure Aquarium. "Europa is now being kept in a back-of-house exhibit where she can live out her remaining days comfortably. Adventure Aquarium’s internal veterinary team will evaluate her quality of life and health status daily during this time."

The aquarium continued, "It is important to note that Senescence is not a disease or a result of disease, and there are still many aspects of octopus senescence that have not yet been studied. Both males and females go through a senescent stage before dying- the males after mating and the females while brooding eggs and after the eggs hatch. The lifespan of a giant Pacific octopus is typically around 3-5 years old."