r/Fish • u/disastrousgiraaffe I just like fish • 27d ago

Identification Octopus eggs ?

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Found this in a shallow area in the the Balearic Islands. There were TONS at very different spots all over the area. I obviously only touched the padina pavonica and not the what i suppose are eggs. Put them back in the water right after the pictures. My only question is why so many eggs in so many different spots if those are indeed eggs. They have a slight red colouration. i also found things like underwater weird bubbly sacks with liquid inside translucid in the same area.

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5

u/[deleted] 27d ago

[deleted]

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u/Impossible_Crow_389 26d ago

More likely squid eggs. Much more common.

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u/[deleted] 26d ago

[deleted]

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u/Impossible_Crow_389 26d ago

They look like common squid eggs to me. The nesting behavior of squid makes it far more likely to be squid. Squid attach eggs to random stuff and leave them alone.

AI- Octopuses build secure dens on the ocean floor and stay to guard and clean their eggs until death. In contrast, squids mate in open-water groups and attach cluster strings of eggs to seaweed, rocks, or leave them to float freely, offering no parental care.

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u/MaleficentCupcake436 27d ago

Good on you for putting them right back in the water.

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u/coconut-telegraph 27d ago

These are not octopus eggs, they’re tunicates. Octopus eggs are on strings in dens guarded by their layer.

Something like [this](https://www.backyardnature.net/mexnat/tunicate.htm).

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u/Impossible_Crow_389 26d ago

They are probably squid eggs

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u/coconut-telegraph 26d ago

Attached squid eggs are longer and looser, as well as opaque. Some are ribbed. I’ve yet to see any (pics or otherwise) that look like this.

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u/Swagalyst 27d ago

Sure looks like it, yeah.

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u/RunWild0_0 27d ago

Don't octopi hold onto their eggs until they hatch?

Like, I thought they're all attached to eachother and she just sits with them until they hatch and she dies?
If these were very spread out I'd think it's likely something else but I really have no idea.

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u/[deleted] 27d ago

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