Overview
Interesting Facts
Common Names
Common Names in English:
East Pacific Red Octopus, Krake, Pacific Red Octopus, Polpo, Pulpo, Red Octopus
Description
Genus Octopus
A marine mollusk with eight long arms furnished with sucker disks.
Physical Description
Species Octopus rubescens
This small octopus
(8 arms, no fins
on body, no internal "pen"
skeleton) has skins
with papillae; white spots on the dorsal mantle
and on the web in front of the eyes but no large "ocelli"
spots. Arms 3-5 times the body length
. The mantle length is usually
less than 10 cm.[1]
The sixth pair of suckers
is enlarged on all but the ventral arm
of males. Male hectocotylus is conspicuous
, about 1/10 the length
of the 3rd right
arm, where it is located. The ink is reddish or
red-brown. The larvae have a double
row
of chromatophores
on each
arm (O. dofleini has only 1 row/arm).[1]
Habitat
Kelp beds (juveniles often washed ashore in kelp holdfasts ), rocky areas, sandy mud bottoms , under stones on low intertidal. Depth Range : Intertidal to 200 m. [1]
Biology
Diet
Adults eat crustaceans, mollusks, and fishes . Like to eat small crabs and hermit crabs.[1]
Reproduction
Females guard egg clusters intertidally or shallow subtidal from late spring through early winter in rocky areas. Peaks in breeding are in August and September. Young hatch in 6-8 weeks, spend a brief period in the plankton , and settle as juveniles in the kelp beds . Larger individuals migrate farther offshore on sandy mud bottoms . Mate in deep water in late spring, then move inshore again. (Ref. 109953)
Taxonomy
- Domain:
Eukaryota
(
)
- Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- eukaryotes
- Kingdom:
Animalia
()
- C. Linnaeus, 1758
- animals
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
()
- (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983
- Branch:
Protostomia
()
- Grobben, 1908
- Infrakingdom:
Lophotrochozoa
()
- Superphylum:
Eutrochozoa
()
- Phylum:
Mollusca
()
- (C. Linnaeus, 1758) Cuvier, 1795
- Molluscs
- Class:
Cephalopoda
()
- Cuvier, 1797
- Cephalopods
- Subclass:
Coleoidea
()
- Bather, 1888
- Superorder:
Octopodiformes
()
- Young et al., 1998
- Octopods
- Order:
Octopoda
()
- Leach, 1817
- Suborder:
Incirrina
()
- Grimpe, 1916
- Family:
Octopodidae
()
- Rafinesque, 1815
- Subfamily:
Octopodinae
()
- Genus:
Octopus
()
- Cuvier, 1797
- Specific name:
rubescens
- Berry, 1953
- Scientific name: - Octopus rubescens Berry, 1953
- Specific name:
rubescens
- Berry, 1953
- Genus:
Octopus
(
- Subfamily:
Octopodinae
(
- Family:
Octopodidae
(
- Suborder:
Incirrina
(
- Order:
Octopoda
(
- Superorder:
Octopodiformes
(
- Subclass:
Coleoidea
(
- Class:
Cephalopoda
(
- Phylum:
Mollusca
(
- Superphylum:
Eutrochozoa
(
- Infrakingdom:
Lophotrochozoa
(
- Branch:
Protostomia
(
- Subkingdom:
Bilateria
(
- Kingdom:
Animalia
(
Synonyms
Octopus pricei • Octopus punctatus Gabb
Notes
Name
Status: Accepted Name
.
Last scrutiny: 21-Jul-2000
Similar Species
Octopus dofleini is larger (also red), male has a larger hectocotylus (about 1/5 the length of the arm vs 1/10 for O. rubescens), and its skin has abundant wrinkles along with the papillae. (Ref. 109953)
Members of the genus Octopus
ZipcodeZoo has pages for 119 species and subspecies in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:
O. abaculus (Krake) · O. aculeatus (Krake) · O. alatus (Krake) · O. alecto (Krake) · O. alpheus (Capricorn Night Octopus) · O. araneoides (Krake) · O. arborescens (Krake) · O. areolatus (Krake) · O. aspilosomatis (Krake) · O. australis (Hammer Octopus) · O. balboai (Krake) · O. berrima (Krake) · O. bimaculatus (California Two-Spot Octopus) · O. bimaculoides (California Two-Spot Octopus) · O. bocki (Bock's Pygmy Octopus) · O. briareus (Caribbean Reef Octopus) · O. brocki (Krake) · O. bunurong (Krake) · O. burryi (Brownstripe Octopus) · O. californicus (California Bigeye Octopus) · O. campbelli (Krake) · O. capricornicus (Krake) · O. carolinensis (Carolinian Octopus) · O. chierchiae (Krake) · O. conispadiceus (Chestnut Octopus) · O. cyanea (Big Blue Octopus) · O. defilippi (Atlantic Longarm Octopus) · O. dierythraeus (Krake) · O. digueti (Diguet's Pygmy Octopus) · O. exannulatus (Krake) · O. fangsiao etchuanus (Gold-Spot Octopus) · O. fangsiao typicus (Gold-Spot Octopus) · O. favonius (Krake) · O. filamentosus (Krake) · O. filosus (Bumblebee Octopus) · O. fitchi (Fitch's Pygmy Octopus) · O. fujitai (Krake) · O. gardineri (Krake) · O. gibbsi (Krake) · O. globosus (Deyyapu-Kandavaya) · O. graptus (Krake) · O. guangdongensis (Krake) · O. hardwickei (Krake) · O. hattai (Krake) · O. horridus (Krake) · O. hubbsorum (Hubb's Octopus) · O. joubini (Atlantic Pygmy Octopus) · O. kagoshimensis (Krake) · O. kaharoa (Krake) · O. kaurna (Krake) · O. lechenaultii (Krake) · O. lobensis (Krake) · O. longispadiceus (Krake) · O. luteus (Krake) · O. macropus (Atlantic White-Spotted Octopus) · O. maorum (Krake) · O. marginatus (Krake) · O. maya (Krake) · O. membranaceus (Krake) · O. mercatoris (Krake) · O. mernoo (Krake) · O. microphthalmus (Krake) · O. micropyrsus (California Lilliput Octopus) · O. mimus (Krake) · O. minor minor (Krake) · O. minor pardalis (Krake) · O. minor typicus (Krake) · O. mototi (Krake) · O. mutilans (Krake) · O. nanhaiensis (Krake) · O. nanus (Krake) · O. neglectus (Krake) · O. niveus (Krake) · O. nocturnus (Krake) · O. occidentalis (Krake) · O. ochotensis (Krake) · O. oculifer (Galapagos Reef Octopus) · O. oliveri (Krake) · O. ornatus (Krake) · O. oshimai (Krake) · O. ovulum (Krake) · O. pallidus (Krake) · O. parvus (Japanese Pygmy Octopus) · O. penicillifer (Krake) · O. pentherinus (Krake) · O. polypus (Red-Spot Mudsucker) · O. polyzenia (Krake) · O. prashadi (Krake) · O. pumilus (Krake) · O. pyrum (Krake) · O. rapanui (Krake) · O. rex (Krake) · O. robsoni (Krake) · O. roosevelti (Krake) · O. rubescens (East Pacific Red Octopus) · O. salutii (Krake) · O. sanctaehelenae (Krake) · O. sasakii (Krake) · O. selene (Krake) · O. siamensis (Krake)
More Info
- Search for Pictures: images.google.com
- Search for Scholarly Articles: Google Scholar
- Search using Scientific Name and Vernacular Names: All the Web | AltaVista Canada | AltaVista | Excite | Google | HotBot | Lycos
- Search using Specialized Databases: GenBank | Medline | Scirus | CISTI/CAL | Agricola Periodicals | Agricola Books
Further Reading
- Annual report - Western Society of Malacologists. Pomona, Calif., Western Society of Malacologists. url p. 11, p. 5.
- Fishery bulletin / U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service. Washington, D.C.: The Service: url p. 453.
Notes
Contributors
- Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed January 15, 2012.
- Cowles, Dave. Key to Invertebrates Found At or Near The Rosario Beach Marine Laboratory (a campus of Walla Walla University) Fidalgo Island, Anacortes, WA.
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 28, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from provider.
- Ruggiero M., Gordon D., Bailly N., Kirk P., Nicolson D. (2011). The Catalogue of Life Taxonomic Classification, Edition 2, Part A. In: Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2011 Annual Checklist (Bisby F.A., Roskov Y.R., Orrell T.M., Nicolson D., Paglinawan L.E., Bailly N., Kirk P.M., Bourgoin T., Baillargeon G., Ouvrard D., eds). DVD; Species 2000: Reading, UK.
- Wood, James (from CephBase).
Data Sources
Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 28, 2008:
- Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: Gwaii Haanas Invertebrates (OBIS Canada)
Identifiers
- Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2694949
- Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-82606
- Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 82606
- Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 153493
