  The Octans association is one of several young stellar moving groups recently
discovered in the Solar neighbourhood, and hence a valuable laboratory for
studies of stellar, circumstellar disc and planetary evolution. However, a lack
of low-mass members or any members with trigonometric parallaxes means the age,
distance and space motion of the group are poorly constrained. To better
determine its membership and age, we present the first spectroscopic survey for
new K and M-type Octans members, resulting in the discovery of 29 UV-bright
K5-M4 stars with kinematics, photometry and distances consistent with existing
members. Nine new members possess strong Li I absorption, which allow us to
estimate a lithium age of 30-40 Myr, similar to that of the Tucana-Horologium
association and bracketed by the firm lithium depletion boundary ages of the
Beta Pictoris (20 Myr) and Argus/IC 2391 (50 Myr) associations. Several stars
also show hints in our medium-resolution spectra of fast rotation or
spectroscopic binarity. More so than other nearby associations, Octans is much
larger than its age and internal velocity dispersion imply. It may be the
dispersing remnant of a sparse, extended structure which includes some younger
members of the foreground Octans-Near association recently proposed by
Zuckerman and collaborators.
