Octopus has egg-brooding period

Researchers have observed a deep-sea octopus protecting and tending its eggs for four-and-a-half years until they hatched - the longest-known egg-brooding period for any animal. Throughout the four-and-a-half years, the female kept the eggs clean and guarded them from predators, said researchers at the University of Rhode Island and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in the US.