Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Cephalopoda | Octopoda | Enteroctopodidae | Octopodinae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Benthic; depth range 0 - 1500 m (Ref. 96968). Temperate; 67°N - 22°N, 127°E - 109°W (Ref. 275)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Indo-Pacific and Northwest Atlantic: from Baja California northwest to Alaska and west to Japan. Tropical to boreal.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm Max length : 300 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 275); max. published weight: 272.0 kg (Ref. 122030)

World's largest octopus species (Refs. 106261, 106263). It's mantle length is to at least 60 cm (Ref. 96968). Common weight: 2,000 to 10,000 g (Ref. 275). Females grow larger than males (Ref. 3722). Radial spread may measure up to 9.8 m (Ref. 99323). Not found in the deep, open ocean (Ref. 106263). It is found on rocky and soft bottoms near a home crevice or cave (Ref. 865) from the low intertidal (Refs. 865, 275), to a depth of 180 meters (Ref. 865). May occur to a depth of possibly 1000 m (Ref. 106261). Also occurs on mud, sand and gravel (Ref. 10624). Found from the coast to the edge of continental shelf. Primarily benthic (Ref. 106254). Generalist predator (Ref. 106264). Mainly consumes crustaceans and mollusks. Preyed upon by large fish and marine mammals (Ref. 106263).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Members of the class Cephalopoda are gonochoric. Male and female adults usually die shortly after spawning and brooding, respectively. Mating behavior: Males perform various displays to attract potential females for copulation. During copulation, male grasp the female and inserts the hectocotylus into the female's mantle cavity where fertilization usually occurs. Life cycle: Embryos hatch into planktonic stage and live for some time before they grow larger and take up a benthic existence as adults.

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Roper, C.F.E., M.J. Sweeney and C.E. Nauen. 1984. (Ref. 275)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 28 July 2014

CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; bait: usually
| FishSource | Sea Around Us

Tools

E-book | Field guide

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items

Common names
Synonyms
Predators
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development

Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Morphology
Larvae
Abundance

References
Mass conversion

Collaborators
Pictures

Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 2.4 - 9.7, mean 6.2 (based on 261 cells).

Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Very high vulnerability (90 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): High.

Nutrients: Calcium = 126 [75, 177] mg/100g; Iron = 4.79 [1.67, 7.92] mg/100g; Protein = 15.5 [13.7, 17.4] %; Omega3 = 0.414 [0.262, 0.566] g/100g; Selenium = 57.8 [48.5, 67.2] μg/100g; VitaminA = 0 μg/100g; Zinc = 1.97 [0.92, 3.02] mg/100g (wet weight).

Enteroctopus dofleini (Wülker, 1910)