Family OCTOPODIDAE d'Orbigny, 1839
Compiler and date details
C.C. Lu, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan
Type genus:
Octopus Cuvier, 1798.
Introduction
Octopodids are eight-armed cephalopods with muscular to gelatinous bodies. The arms are equipped with one or two rows of suckers without chitinous sucker rings. Animals of this family are benthic, found from the Arctic to the Antarctic and from the littoral to the abyssal zone.
The Octopodidae D'Orbigny, 1845, and particularly the genus Octopus, are very diverse. Worldwide 23 genera have been erected (11 occur in Australian waters) and over 150 species described (Jereb et al., 2016, WoRMs, 2024), with 45 species known from Australia. The taxonomy of the family is unstable—many described species are poorly delineated and many other new species are in the process of being described.
Despite the long history of studies on octopus of the Mediterranean—dating from Aristotle—more critical work began only in the 18th century. The genus Octopus was erected by Lamarck in 1798. Blainville (1826) made the first attempt to treat the group comprehensively and d'Orbigny (in Férussac & d'Orbigny 1835–1848) provided the first critical work on the group. Subsequently, many other workers such as Gray (1849), Tryon (1879), Appellöf, Wülker, Naef, Joubin, Berry, and Sasaki, all added to knowledge of the group. In 1929 Robson published his monograph on Octopodinae, laying the foundation for future comparisons. In recent years, Pickford and Voss have both contributed extensively to our knowledge of Octopodidae. More recently, Hochberg et al. (1991) provided an extensive identification guide to larval octopods, and literature on the order Octopoda.
The first scientific report relating to Octopus from Australia is that of Lesueur (1821), who mentioned two octopus as Sepia boscii and Sepia peronii. As both names were published without accompanying descriptions, reference to the type material or illustrations, they were considered nomina nuda by Robson (1929). Blainville (1826) assigned the names Octopus caerulescens, O. pustulosus and O. variolatus to Lesueur and Peron's specimens from Dorre Island, Shark Bay, Western Australia. Blainville's descriptions were brief and no type material was mentioned. The taxa cannot be recognised and also must be considered nomina dubia. Quoy and Gaimard (1832), Gray (1849) and E.A. Smith (1884) all contributed to knowledge of the Australian octopod fauna, describing Octopus superciliosus from Westernport Bay, and Octopus lunulata from New Ireland, Octopus cyanea and O. polyzenia from northern Australia, and Octopus tenebricus from Port Denison, Queensland.
The lists of Cox (1882) and Brazier (1892), though extensive for the period, serve little useful purpose today, due to the state of taxonomic knowledge at the time.
In 1928, Robson described a new octopodid genus, Grimpella, based on a single male specimen from Port Lincoln, South Australia. Robson placed the genus in the subfamily Bathypolypodinae.
Little progress was made on the studies of Australian octopod fauna for several decades after Robson's (1928, 1929) contributions. Lu & Phillips (1985) compiled the list of octopods known from Australian waters and pointed out that the list should be regarded as tentative only, and that the taxonomy of Australian Octopodidae was desperately in need of comprehensive studies.
In 1990, Stranks described three new species from south-eastern Australia, and Lu & Stranks (1991) described a new species, Eledone palari, from the slope waters of Australia, the first record of Eledone outside the Atlantic Ocean. More recently, Norman, through a series of articles and his dissertation (Norman 1991, 1992a, 1992b, 1993a, 1993b, 1993c) described many new octopodid taxa from the shallow waters of the Great Barrier Reef, and examined the classification and biogeography of the taxa involved.
Octopodids have degenerate shells or lack a shell completely; in species with a shell vestige, it is represented by a pair of cartilage-like stylets embedded in the mantle. The body is globular in shape and lacks fins, which makes movement by jet propulsion inefficient. The muscular arms with suckers are better suited for the more frequently used mode of locomotion—crawling on the bottom of the sea. The adhesive suckers are used to pull the animal along or anchor it to the substratum.
Octopodids feed mainly on crustaceans, particularly crabs and molluscs, but also prey on other animals such as polychaete worms and fishes. Joll (1977) reported that Octopus djinda (formerley known as O. tetricus), in Western Australia, consumed about 200 000 pot-caught rock lobsters per year. Norman (1992b) reported that the majority of the Great Barrier Reef octopodids prey upon crustaceans, particularly brachyuran crabs; some species exhibit greater preferences for other prey species, among them hermit crabs and bivalves, and several species are cannibalistic. Elsewhere, Hapalochlaena fasciata (as H. maculosa) has also been reported to be cannibalistic (Tranter & Augustine 1973). Mangold (1983) and Boletzky & Hanlon (1983) reviewed the diets of octopodids both under natural conditions and in captivity.
Octopodids kill their prey using the secretion produced in the posterior salivary glands. The toxin appears to be able to penetrate the crab without any wound being made in the carapace of the victim (Ghiretti 1959, 1960). The toxin produced by the blue-ringed octopus is known to cause death in victims who have been bitten (Flecker & Cotton 1955; Croft & Howden 1972; Savage & Howden 1977).
External digestion is involved in the feeding process. Bidder (1966) believes that the body contents of crabs are reduced almost to soup by the enzymes in octopus saliva; the soupy contents of crabs are swallowed, leaving the exoskeleton almost intact.
Octopodids are also capable of boring holes in the shells of molluscs; they then eat the mollusc flesh. Arnold and Arnold (1969) described hole-boring predation by Octopus vulgaris on gastropods. The salivary papilla of Octopus is covered by a thin cuticle, forming very small teeth; larger teeth are present at the extremity of the salivary duct which can be everted for drilling shells (Nixon 1980).
Octopuses are preyed on by many species. Clarke (1986) listed eight cetacean species that are reported to have remains of octopodids among their stomach contents. Gales et al. (1992) reported Octopus maorum in the stomach contents of the pilot whales and O. pallidus and O. australis as components of the diet of bottlenose dolphins from Tasmania. Octopus maorum, O. australis, O. superciliosus and O. pallidus have been found among the stomach contents of Australian fur seals from Tasmania (Gales et al. 1994).
Mature male octopodids have their third right arm hectocotylised and in some species have some enlarged suckers at the bases of the second and third pairs of arms. Apart from these, little external sexual dimorphism exists in the Octopodidae.
During mating, typically a female submits to the demands of the male who will sit on or beside the female caressing her head and abdomen with the hectocotylised arm. The spermatophores are passed to the female after the hectocotylised arm is inserted into the mantle cavity of the female. Copulation may continue for an hour or more (Wells 1978).
Eggs produced by octopodid species fall into two categories, large and small. Boletzky (1977, 1978, 1987) proposed that egg size relative to mantle length of adults provides an indication of hatchling behaviour. Small eggs produce planktonic larvae while large eggs produce young that take up the adult benthic mode of life. Species that have small eggs usually produce large numbers of eggs (several thousand to 500 000) while those producing large eggs, produce only few (50 to 1000).
Octopodids are semelparous: the animals die after reproducing once. Van Heukelem (1973) reported that females of Octopus cyanea die after the egg hatch, while the male may mate several times with several different females, but do not outlive the females. In Hawaiian waters this species spawns throughout the year. Van Heukelem (1973) believed that timing of spawning is determined by the age of the female.
The taxonomy of Australian Octopodidae is largely unresolved. Only limited information is available on distributions. According to Norman (1992b), factors such as egg size and hatchling behaviour, habitat specificity and continuity, currents and some biotic variables all influence octopodid distribution in the Australian Region. Historical factors such as changing sea levels and changes in sea water temperatures and the position of temperature boundaries between tropical and temperate waters may also contribute to the patterns of distribution.
The studies of Stranks (1988) and Norman (1992b) indicate that species diversity of the family Octopodidae in Australian waters is high and that a large number of the species are endemic to Australia.
Excluded Taxa
- Misidentifications
OCTOPODIDAE: Hapalochlaena lunulata (Quoy & Gaimard, 1832) [associated data: Octopus lunulatus Quoy & Gaimard, 1832, Quoy, J.R.C. & Gaimard, J.P. 1832. Mollusques. pp. 1–320 in, Zoologie du voyage de l'Astrolabe sous les ordres du Capitane Dumont d'Urville, pendant les années 1826–1829. Zoologie. 2 vols Paris : J. Tastu, Editeur-Imprimeur. [86]; type data: Holotype MNHP 4-12.973, New Ireland (as le havre Carteret, à la Nouvelle-Irlande); ecology: benthic, littoral, sublittoral] — Norman, M.D. & Reid, A.L. 2000. A Guide to Squid, Cuttlefish and Octopus of Australasia. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing 96 pp. [57] (recorded species from Australia: WA, NT, QLD); Norman, M.D. 2013. pers. comm. (excludes this species from Australian waters)
OCTOPODIDAE: Octopus aegina Gray, 1849 [associated data: Octopus aegina Gray, 1849, Gray, J.E. 1849. Catalogue of the Mollusca in the Collection of the British Museum. 1. Cephalopoda Antepedia. London : British Museum (Natural History) 164 pp. [7]; type data: Holotype BMNH 1928.2.14.1 ♀, unknown; secondary sources: Robson, G.C. 1928. Notes on the Cephalopoda. 4. On Octopus aegina Gray; with remarks on the systematic value of the octopod web. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 10 1: 641-646; Robson, G.C. 1929. A Monograph of the Recent Cephalopoda. Pt 1 The Octopodinae. London : British Museum (Natural History) 236 pp., 7 pls] — Norman, M.D. & Reid, A.L. 2000. A Guide to Squid, Cuttlefish and Octopus of Australasia. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing 96 pp. [59] (states distribution from India to Philippines, but does not include Australia); Lu, C.C. 2001. Cephalopoda. pp. 129-308 in Wells, A. & Houston, W.W.K. (eds). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 17.2 Mollusca: Aplacophora, Polyplacophora, Scaphopoda, Cephalopoda. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia xii 353 pp. [Date published 3 July 2001] [160] (lists the species as occurring in QLD)
OCTOPODIDAE: Octopus filamentosus Blainville, 1826 [associated data: Octopus filamentosus Blainville, 1826, Blainviile, H. de. 1826. Poulpe. Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles 43: 170-214 [188]; type data: Status unknown, Mauritius (as l'Isle de France); secondary source: Robson, G.C. 1929. A Monograph of the Recent Cephalopoda. Pt 1 The Octopodinae. London : British Museum (Natural History) 236 pp., 7 pls] — Lu, C.C. 2001. Cephalopoda. pp. 129-308 in Wells, A. & Houston, W.W.K. (eds). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 17.2 Mollusca: Aplacophora, Polyplacophora, Scaphopoda, Cephalopoda. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia xii 353 pp. [Date published 3 July 2001] [162] (species listed from SA); Norman, M.D. 2013. pers. comm. (excludes the species from Australian waters)
OCTOPODIDAE: Octopus macropus Risso, 1826 [associated data: Octopus macropus Risso, 1826, Risso, A. 1826. Histoire Naturelle des Principales Productions de l'Europe Méridionale et Particulièrement de Celles des Environs de Nice et des Alpes Maritimes. Paris : Levrault Vol. 4 439 pp. [3]; type data: Holotype MNHNN (not traced), Mediterranean; secondary source: Voss, G.L. 1963. Cephalopods of the Philippine Islands. United States National Museum Bulletin 234: 1-180] — Lu, C.C. 2001. Cephalopoda. pp. 129-308 in Wells, A. & Houston, W.W.K. (eds). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 17.2 Mollusca: Aplacophora, Polyplacophora, Scaphopoda, Cephalopoda. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia xii 353 pp. [Date published 3 July 2001] [162] (records the species from QLD, NSW, WA, but also states that these records are probably misidentifications)
OCTOPODIDAE: Octopus vulgaris Lamarck, 1798 [associated data: Octopus vulgaris Lamarck, 1798, Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de M. de 1798. Extrait d'un mémoire sur le genre de la sèche, du calmar et du poulpe, vulgairement nommés, polypes de mer. Bulletin des Sciences, par la Société Philomathique de Paris 2: 129-131 [130]; type data: Status unknown, unknown; secondary source: Robson, G.C. 1929. A Monograph of the Recent Cephalopoda. Pt 1 The Octopodinae. London : British Museum (Natural History) 236 pp., 7 pls] — Cox, J.C. 1882. Australian Octopodidae. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 6: 773-789 (the only record of Octopus vulgaris from Australian waters); Lu, C.C. 2001. Cephalopoda. pp. 129-308 in Wells, A. & Houston, W.W.K. (eds). Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 17.2 Mollusca: Aplacophora, Polyplacophora, Scaphopoda, Cephalopoda. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing, Australia xii 353 pp. [Date published 3 July 2001] [165] (specis listed, but Lu states that the Australian species may not be conspecific)
Diagnosis
The body is muscular to gelatinous. The eight arms are equipped with one or two rows of suckers without chitinous sucker rings. The webs connecting the arms are shallow to moderately deep. The mantle aperture is not reduced and the funnel-mantle locking apparatus is absent. Internally the digestive gland is located anterior to the stomach and caecum. The crop may be present or absent and the ink sac may be present, vestigial or absent.
General References
Adam, W. 1939. Céphalopoda. 2e Partie. II Revision des espèces Indo-Malaises du genre Sepia Linné, 1758. III. Revision du genre Sepiella (Gray) Steenstrup, 1880. Siboga-Expéditie Report 55b: 1-135
Arnold, J.M. & Arnold, K.O. 1969. Some aspects of hole-boring predation by Octopus vulgaris. American Naturalist 9: 991-996
Bidder, A.M. 1966. Feeding and digestion in Cephalopods. pp. 97-124 in Wilbur, K.M. & Yonge, C.M. (eds). Physiology of Mollusca. New York and London : Academic Press Vol. 2.
Blainville, H. de 1826. Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles. Tom. 43.
Boletzky, S.v. 1978. Nos connaissances actuelles sur le developement des octopodes. Vie et Milieu 28/29: 85-120
Boletzky, S.v. 1987. Juvenile behaviour. pp. 45-60 in Boyle, P.R. (ed.). Cephalopod Life Cycles. Vol. 2. Comparative Reviews. London : Academic Press xxi 441 pp.
Boletzky, S.v. & Hanlon, R.T. 1983. A review of the laboratory maintenance, rearing and culture of cephalopod molluscs. Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne 44: 147-187
Clarke, M.R. 1986. Cephalopods in the diet of odontocetes. pp. 281-321 in Bryden, M.M. & Harrison, R. (eds). Research on Dolphins. Oxford : Oxford University Press.
Cox, J.C. 1882. Australian Octopodidae. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 6: 773-789
Croft, J.A. & Howden, M.E.H. 1972. Chemistry of maculotoxin: a potent neurotoxin isolated from Hapalochlaena maculosa. Toxicon 10(6): 645-651
Flecker, H. & Cotton, B.C. 1955. Fatal bite from Octopus. Medical Journal of Australia 2: 329-331
Gales, R., Pemberton, D., Clarke, M. & Lu, C.C. 1992. Stomach contents of long-finned pilot whales (Globicephala melas) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in Tasmania. Marine Mammal Science 8(4): 405-413
Gales, R., Pemberton, D., Lu, C.C. & Clarke, M.R. 1993. Cephalopod diet of the Australian fur seal: variation due to location, season and sample type. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 44: 657-671
Ghiretti, F. 1959. Cephalotoxin: the crab-paralysing agent of the posterior salivary glands of cephalopods. Nature (London) 183: 1192-1193
Ghiretti, F. 1960. Toxicity of octopus saliva against Crustacea. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 90: 726-741
Heukelem, W.F.v. 1973. Growth and life-span of Octopus cyanea (Mollusca: Cephalopoda). J. Zool. Lond. 169:. Journal of Zoology, London 169: 299-315
Hochberg, F.G., Nixon, M. & Toll, R.B. 1992. Order Octopoda Leach, 1818. pp. 213-280 in Sweeney, M.J., Roper, C.F.E., Mangold, K.M., Clarke, M.R. & Boletzky, S.V. (eds). "Larval" and juvenile cephalopods: a manual for their identification. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 513: 1-282
Joll, L.M. 1977. The predation of pot-caught western rock lobster (Panulirus longipes cygnus) by Octopus. Report of the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Western Australia 29: 1-58
Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de M. de 1798. Extrait d'un mémoire sur le genre de la sèche, du calmar et du poulpe, vulgairement nommés, polypes de mer. Bulletin des Sciences, par la Société Philomathique de Paris 2: 129-131
Lesueur, C.A. 1821. Descriptions of several new species of cuttlefish. Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 2: 86-101
Lu, C.C. & Phillips, J.U. 1985. An annotated checklist of Cephalopoda from Australian waters. Occasional Papers of the Museum of Victoria 2: 21-36
Lu, C.C. & Stranks, T.N. 1991. Eledone palari, a new species of octopus (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) from Australia. Bulletin of Marine Science 49(1/2): 73-87
Mangold, K. 1983. Food, feeding and growth in cephalopods. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 44: 81-93
Nesis, K.N. 1982. Cephalopods of the World. English Translation from Russian. Levitov, B.S. (Transl.), Burgess, L.A. (ed.) (1987) Neptune City : T.F.H. Publications, Inc. 351 pp. [English Translation from Russian]
Nixon, M. 1980. The salivary papilla of Octopus as an accessory radula for drilling shells. Journal of Zoology, London 190: 53-57
Norman, M.D. 1991. Octopus cyanea Gray, 1849 (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) in Australian waters: description, distribution and taxonomy. Bulletin of Marine Science 49(1–2): 20-38
Norman, M.D. 1992a. Ameloctopus litoralis, gen. et sp. nov. (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae), a new shallow-water octopus from tropical Australian waters. Invertebrate Taxonomy 6: 567-582
Norman, M.D. 1992 [1993]c. Ocellate octopuses (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia: description of two new species and redescription of Octopus polyzenia Gray, 1849. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 53(2): 309-344 [imprint date 31 December 1992; available 1993]
Norman, M.D. 1993a. Octopus ornatus Gould, 1852 (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) in Australian waters: morphology, distribution, and life history. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 106(4): 645-660
Norman, M.D. 1993b. Four new octopus species of the Octopus macropus group (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 53(2): 267-308 [Date published 1993: imprint date 31 December 1992; available 1993]
Robson, G.C. 1928. Notes on the Cephalopoda. 6. On Grimpella, a new genus of Octopoda, with remarks on the classification of the Octopodinae. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 10 2: 108-114
Savage, I.V.E. & Howden, M.E.H. 1977. Hapalotoxin, a second lethal toxin from the octopus Hapalochlaena maculosa. Toxicon 15: 463-466
Smith, E.A. 1884. Mollusca. pp. 34–116, 487–508, 657–659, pls 4–7. In, Report on the Zoological Collections made in the Indo-Pacific Ocean during the voyage of the H.M.S. 'Alert ' 1881-2. London : British Museum Trustees, printed by Taylor & Francis. [Part I. Collections of Melanesia, pp. 34–116; Part II. Collections from the Western Indian Ocean, pp. 487–508; explanation of plates pp. 657–659]
Stranks, T.N. 1990. Three new species of Octopus (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) from south-eastern Australia. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 50(2): 457-465
Tranter, J.H. & Augustine, O. 1978. Observations on the life history of the blue-ringed octopus Hapalochlaena maculosa. Marine Biology, Berlin 18: 115-128
Tryon, G.W. Jr 1879. Cephalopoda. Manual of Conchology. 1: 1–316. 1-316 pp.
History of changes
| Published | As part of group | Action Date | Action Type | Compiler(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05-Jun-2024 | CEPHALOPODA Cuvier, 1795 | 05-Jun-2024 | MODIFIED | Dr Mandy Reid |
| 16-Jun-2022 | CEPHALOPODA | 15-May-2023 | MODIFIED | |
| 07-Feb-2014 | OCTOPODIDAE | 05-Jun-2024 | MODIFIED | Dr Mark Norman |
| 12-Feb-2010 | (import) |