As we said, living in the deep is hard. Many dumbo octopuses do not survive and those that do only live about three to five years. To compensate for this, dumbo octopuses have a high reproductive rate. In fact, scientists believe that they do not have breeding seasons. Rather, the female can store her eggs, and lay them any time of the year.
As with other octopuses, mating occurs when the male octopus hands the female a sperm packet. The female uses the sperm as she sees fit, fertilizing the eggs when she thinks the time is right. When they are fully developed, she lays them and like other octopuses, leaves them alone to fend for themselves.