Suckers on the left arm III were normal but other arms were damaged. The function of these unusually positioned iridophores is unknown. The increase in salivary gland size found in male Bolitaena pygmaea has not been documented in this species. We have seen a nearly mature male, however, that had a salivary gland over twice the size of a female of the same size. In addition the male salivary gland, in the fresh octopus, was a pearly, opaque white unlike the normal translucent appearance of the gland of subadults.
Females develop a ring-shaped light organ around the mouth.
Young are found between about 200 and 300 m or at much greater depths. The young paralarvae at the right have a different chromatophore pattern than that of Bolitaena pygmaea young. Unfortunately, the chromatophores are often lost during capture. Indeed, the smaller Japetella hatchling on the family page shows two posterior mantle chromatophores that apparently were lost from the paralarva illustrated here. The life history appears to be very similar to that of Bolitaena pygmaea .