Global demand for octopus seafood has been increasing over the past 30 years. This demand is projected to increase further with coastal communities and seafood consumers seeking alternative sources of protein as finfish stocks decline. The establishment of a sustainable octopus aquaculture would alleviate fishing pressures off wild octopus populations; however, commercial-scale aquaculture has not been achieved due to the difficulty in supplying a feasible diet to rear octopus paralarvae. Our research investigated the prey size and density preferences of Octopus tetricus paralarvae to improve food acquisition during rearing. Groups of paralarvae from multiple broods were observed for successful captures when given prey with total lengths of < 0.5 mm, 0.9 – 1.0 mm, and 1.4 – 1.8 mm. Likewise, groups of paralarvae were observed when given prey densities of 0.2, 0.6, 1.0, 1.4, 1.8, and 2.2 prey mL-1. Paralarvae were shown to make the most successful captures when presented with large prey (1.4 – 1.8 mm) and at densities of 1.0 – 1.8 prey mL-1. These preferences should be applied when designing optimal feeding regimes for paralarval octopuses and contributes to improving survivability of paralarvae reared in aquaculture.