Enteroctopus

Enteroctopus is an octopus genus whose members are sometimes known as giant octopus.

"Giant octopus" redirects here. For other uses, see Giant octopus (disambiguation).

Giant octopus
E. dofleini showing longitudinal folds and paddle-like papillae diagnostic for the genus.
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Octopoda
Family: Enteroctopodidae
Genus: Enteroctopus
Rochebrune & Mabille, 1889
Type species
Octopus megalocyathus
Gould, 1852
Species

Description

Enteroctopus is a genus of generally temperate octopuses. Members of this genus are characterized by their large size and are often known as giant octopuses. Enteroctopus species have distinct longitudinal wrinkles or folds dorsally and laterally on their bodies. Their heads are distinctly narrower than the mantle width. The hectocotylus of the males in this genus, found on the third right arm, is long and narrow in comparison with other genera in the family Octopodidae, often comprising one-fifth the length of the arm. Octopuses in this genus have large, paddle-like papillae instead of the more conical papillae in other octopus genera.[1][2]

Species

Genus Enteroctopus at present consists of four species, tabulated below:[3]

ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistribution
Enteroctopus dofleinigiant Pacific octopuscoastal North Pacific, along California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alaska, Russia, Japan, and Korean Peninsula
Enteroctopus magnificussouthern giant octopuswaters off Namibia and South Africa.
Enteroctopus megalocyathussouthern red octopussoutheastern coast of South America along the coasts of Argentina and Chile up to the Chiloé Archipelago, and the Falkland Islands
Enteroctopus zealandicusyellow octopuswaters surrounding New Zealand.

Type species

E. membranaceus has often been regarded as type species of the genus, not because it was designated as such by Rochebrune and Mabille when they erected the genus, but because it was the first named species in the genus. Robson in his 1929 monograph of octopods regarded E. membranaceus as a species dubium because the original description was insufficient to identify an individual species, the holotype was an immature specimen, and the type specimen no longer existed.

As such, the genus was considered invalid until Hochberg resurrected it in 1998. Hochberg noted that Robson had considered E. membranaceus a junior synonym of E. megalocyathus, the second species assigned to the genus by Rochebrune and Mabille in their 1889 description. Additionally, since Rochebrune and Mabille did not actually assign type status to E. membranaceus, Hochberg concluded that Enteroctopus was indeed a valid genus and transferred type-species status to E. megalocyathus based on his conclusion that E. megalocyathus and E. membranaceus are the same species.[1]

Distribution
Range map of Enteroctopus species. E. dofleini in blue, E. megalocyathus in red, E. magnificus in yellow, and E. zealandicus in purple.

Species in the genus Enteroctopus are restricted to the temperate areas of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. E. dofleini is the only member of the genus found in the Northern Hemisphere, and also the most widely distributed: It is found from Southern California, along the North Pacific Rim to Japan, including the Okhotsk and Bering Seas.[1] The other three species are found in the Southern Hemisphere; E. megalocyathus occurs on the southeastern coast of South America,[4] E. magnificus on the southwestern coast of Africa from Namibia to Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and E. zealandicus in temperate New Zealand.[2]

Size

The member of this genus that best embodies the common name "giant octopus" is Enteroctopus dofleini, which holds the record of being the world's largest octopus based on direct measurements of a 71 kilograms (157 pounds) individual, weighed live.[5][lower-alpha 1] This octopus had a total length near to 3.3 metres (11 feet). The remaining members of the genus are substantially smaller, with E. megalocyathus having an average mass of 4 kilograms (8.8 pounds) and reaching a total length of 1.0 metre (3.3 feet).[7][8] E. magnificus reaches a total length of around 1.5 metres (4.9 feet).[2]

See also

Footnotes
  1. The size record is held by an E. dofleini specimen that was 30 feet (9.1 meters) across and weighed more than 600 pounds (272 kilograms). Averages are more like 16 feet (5 meters) and 110 lbs (50 kilograms).[6]

References
  1. Hochberg, F.G. (1998). "Enteroctopus". Taxonomic atlas of the benthic fauna of the Santa Maria Basin and the Western Santa Barbara Channel. Santa Barbara, California: Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. p. 203.
  2. Norman, M. (2003). Cephalopods: A world guide. Heckenhaim, Germany: Conch Books. pp. 213–216.
  3. Norman, M.D.; Hochberg, F.G. (2005). "The current state of octopus taxonomy". Phuket Marine Biological Center Research Bulletin. Vol. 66. pp. 127–154.
  4. "CephBase: Countries' exclusive economic zones with Enteroctopus megalocyathus". Archived from the original on 5 September 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2007.
  5. Cosgrove, J.A. (1987). Aspects of the natural history of Octopus dofleini, the giant Pacific octopus. Department of Biology (M.Sc. thesis). Victoria, Canada: University of Victoria.
  6. National Geographic (2014)
  7. Perez, M.C.; Lopez, D.A.; Aguila, K.; Gonzalez, M.L. (2006). "Feeding and growth in captivity of the octopus Enteroctopus megalocyathus [Gould, 1852]". Aquaculture Research. 37: 550–555.
  8. Gleadall, I.G.; Salcedo-Vargas, M.A. (2004). "Catalogue of the cephalopoda specimens in the zoology department of Tokyo University Museum". Interdisciplinary Information Sciences. 10: 113–142.
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