Size: mantle length up to 25 cm and arms length up to 1 m.

 

Key Features: It is able to change colour to blend in with its surroundings, and is able to jump upon any unwary prey that strays across its path. The prey is paralyzed by a nerve poison, which the octopus secretes in its saliva, and the octopus is able to grasp its prey using its powerful arms with their two rows of suckers. If the victim is a shelled mollusc, the octopus uses its beak to punch a hole in the shell before sucking out the fleshy contents.

 

Diet: Crabs, Fish (little Fishes), Food specialist, Schrimps, Sepia, Snails.

 

Habitat:  The common octopus is typically found in tropical waters throughout the world, such as the Mediterranean Sea and East Atlantic. They prefer the floor of relatively shallow, rocky, coastal waters, often no deeper than 200 meters.

 

Conservation status: Not Evaluated

 

Distribution in the GoK: reported along the coast of  Paga, Boria, Noru, Bhaidar, Chusana, Goose, Dedeka-Mundeka, Kalubhar, Narara, Beyt Dwarka and Pirotan region.

 

 

 

 

 

References:

Norman, M.D. 2000. Cephalopods: A World Guide. ConchBooks.

 

Belcari, P., Cuccu, D., González, M., Srairi, A. & Vidoris, P. (2002) Distribution and abundance of Octopus vulgaris Cuvier 1797, (Cephalopoda: Octopoda) in the Mediterranean Sea. Scientia Marina, 66, 157-166.

 

Octopus vulgaris. In Reeflex , the Marine Aquarium Encyclopedia. Retrieved on June 16, 2014 from http://www.reeflex.net/tiere/811_Octopus_vulgaris.htm

 

 

Photo Courtesy

Beckmannjan. Licensed under CC BY-SA via Wikimedia Commons.