Ecology Summary - Octopus tehuelchus

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Ecology of Octopus tehuelchus

Main Ref.	Roper, C.F.E., M.J. Sweeney and C.E. Nauen, 1984
Remarks	Inhabits intertidal and shallow subtidal zones, on reefs and sandy areas. Found on crevices, boulders and empty gastropod and bivalve shells. Selectively feeds on grapsid crabs and small bivalves. Known to extract living hermit crabs on gastropod shells via drilling. Major source of food for juvenile shark in Argentinean waters (Ref. 96968).

Aquatic zones / Water bodies

	Marine - Neritic	Marine - Oceanic	Brackishwater	Freshwater
Marine zones / Brackish and freshwater bodies	supra-littoral zone littoral zone sublittoral zone	epipelagic mesopelagic epipelagic abyssopelagic hadopelagic	estuaries/lagoons/brackish seas mangroves marshes/swamps	rivers/streams lakes/ponds caves exclusively in caves

Highighted items on the list are where Octopus tehuelchus may be found.

Habitat

Substrate	Benthic: mobile; demersal; Soft Bottom: sand; Hard Bottom: rocky;
Substrate Ref.	Jereb, P., C.F.E. Roper, M.D. Norman and J.K. Finn, 2014
Special habitats	Coral Reefs;
Special habitats Ref.	Jereb, P., C.F.E. Roper, M.D. Norman and J.K. Finn, 2014

Associations

Ref.	Roper, C.F.E., M.J. Sweeney and C.E. Nauen, 1984
Associations
Associated with
Association remarks
Parasitism

feeding

Feeding type	mainly animals (troph. 2.8 and up)
Feeding type Ref.	Roper, C.F.E., M.J. Sweeney and C.E. Nauen, 1984
Feeding habit	hunting macrofauna (predator)
Feeding habit Ref.	Roper, C.F.E., M.J. Sweeney and C.E. Nauen, 1984

Trophic Level(s)

Estimation method	original sample		unfished population		Remark
Estimation method	Troph	s.e.	Troph	s.e.	Remark
From diet composition
From individual food items	3.42	0.56			Trophic level estimated from a number of food items using a randomized resampling routine.
Ref.