Cuvier, 1797

Description
Larvae of 2.4 mm mantle length (not depicted): arms subequal, 4-6 suckers; arms with four chromatophores in one row; mid-dorsal region of mantle with two large posterior spots of one chromatophore each; ventral mantle with16-18 large chromatophores.
Juvenile of 6.0 mm mantle length (see right figure): arms subequal, 7 mm long, with 20-26 suckers; arms with 20-28 chromatophores in one row proximally and two rows distally; funnel with 2+2 chromatophores; mid-dorsal region of mantle clear, ventral mantle covered with 25-30 chromatophores.
Adult benthic [O.vulgaris ]. Adult body distinctly warty, up to 1000 mm total length, with maximum arm spread of 3000 mm, but commonly much smaller. Mantle aperture wide. Arms are thick and stout, bearing two longitudinal rows of suckers. Arm length is 70-85 % of total length.

Size
Mantle length of planktonic larva up to 6.0 mm, but 10.0-11.0 mm has been reported also. Adult total length up to 100 cm.

Depth range
Larvae and juveniles epipelagic; adults benthically on rocky coasts, from the shallow sublittoral to 100 m.

Distribution in the North Sea
Rare in the S North Sea, rare in the N North Sea.

World distribution
Cosmopolitan, widely distributed in warm and temperate waters of the E and W Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Carraibbean Sea, Mexican Gulf, and W Pacific. In the Atlantic Ocean, it reaches its NE limit in SW Britain and the W English Channel, where it varies in abundance from year to year.

[Description of larva after Hochberg et al., in Sweeney et al., 1992]

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca
Class Cephalopoda
Subclass Coleoidea
Order Octopoda
Suborder Incirrata
Family Octopodidae
Subfamily Octopodinae
Genus Octopus
Species Octopus vulgaris

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Octopus vulgaris Cuvier, 1797

Scientific synonyms and common names

Octopus rugosus| Bosc, 1792

de Kluijver, M., S. Ingalsuo and R. de Bruyne, 2000. Macrobenthos of the North Sea. Vol. I - Keys to Mollusca and Brachiopoda. World Biodiversity database, CD-ROM Series. Expert Centre for Taxonomic Identifications (ETI), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam.

Muus, B.J., 1959. Skallus, Søtaender, Blaeksprutter. Danmarks Fauna, Band 65. 239 pages, 117 figs. Gads Forlag, København.

Muus, B.J., 1963e. Cephalopoda. Order: Octopoda, Sub-order: Cirromorpha, Families Cirrotheutidae, Stauroteuthidae, Opistoteuthidae; Sub-order: Incirrata, Family Octopodidae. Fiches d'Identification du Zooplancton, 95 (1963). Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer, Kopenhagen.

Rees, W.T. and J.R. Lumby, 1954. The abundance of Octopus in the English Channel. J. mar. biol. Ass. UK, 33: 515-536.

Sweeney, M.J., F.E.R. Roper, K.M. Mangold, M.R. Clarke and S. v. Boletzky (editors), 1992. "Larval" and juvenile cephalopods: a manual for their identification. Smith. Contr. Zool., 513: 1-282.

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