The octopus mother.(short story)

From: Highlights for Children | Date: August 1, 1997| Author: | Copyright information

Reaching toward the ceiling of the underwater cave, the octopus mother touched something white and delicate and beautiful. Her suckered arms stroked what looked like a piece of lace from a wedding dress.

This was her egg sac, containing perhaps two hundred thousand tiny octopus eggs, all stuck together. In each transparent eggshell was a baby octopus, as big as the head of a pin.

Many of the babies were already wiggling, nearly ready to be born. The mother octopus kept the egg sac clean so that water could filter through. The babies had to breathe through tiny holes in ...

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