The octopus

pairs in winter and breeds in spring, lying hidden
for about two months. Its spawn is shaped like a vine-tendril, and
resembles the fruit of the white poplar; the creature is
extraordinarily prolific, for the number of individuals that come from
the spawn is something incalculable. The male differs from the
female in the fact that its head is longer, and that the organ
called by the fishermen its penis, in the tentacle, is white. The
female, after laying her eggs, broods over them, and in consequence
gets out of condition, by reason of not going in quest of food
during the hatching period.