MBARI researchers discover supermom octopus who sits on her eggs for four-plus years. (Really.)

Move over, Nadya Suleman.

This octomom just had 160 babies, give or take, and incubated them for 53 months—the longest-known egg-brooding period of any animal.

Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) scientists observed a deep-sea octopus brooding a clutch of eggs in the Monterey Submarine Canyon from May 2007 to September 2011.

Most shallow-water octopuses protect their eggs for 1-3 months, according to the paper by MBARI biologist Bruce Robison and two former MBARI post-docs. But in the deep ocean’s cold, dark waters, the metabolic process slows dramatically. 

Using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), the team found the Graneledone boreopacifica 4,600 feet deep. In April 2007, they saw the pale purple octopus creeping across the sediment; a month later she was guarding a clutch of eggs on a rocky ledge.

The team returned 18 times over the next four and a half years. “Each time…we found the same octopus clinging to the vertical rock face, arms curled, covering her eggs,” the paper states. 

The researchers found no evidence the octopus ate while brooding. She pushed away crustaceans within her reach and ignored chunks of crab offered by the ROV. 

After the initial sighting, Robison made a habit of checking in on her, according to MBARI spokeswoman Judith Connor.“He started saying, ‘Wow, let’s see if she’s still there,’” she says.

The ROV sends live video by cable to a control station on the MBARI vessel, where pilots control the robot. 

The bigger goal, Connor says, is to study how ocean acidification is affecting marine life. 

Here's the MBARI video about the discovery: