Octopuses

All 7 species of octopuses on WAnimals

Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.

Conservation status

Where they live

Recorded in 162 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:

Where to see them

Did you know…?

• It lives only 12 to 15 months, breeding just once in its lifetime.

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• A female can lay between 100,000 and 500,000 eggs in a single clutch.

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• It can solve complex problems and use tools, a rarity among invertebrates.

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• It can change its colour, texture and body pattern in under a second to stay hidden as it moves about the sea floor by day.

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• It has been documented hunting in collaboration with groupers and other reef fish: the fish points out the hidden prey and the octopus extracts it from the crevice.

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• It is semelparous: the female stops feeding while she tends the eggs and dies when the young hatch.

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• For all its small size it produces one of the most potent toxins known in the animal kingdom, able to cause respiratory paralysis in people, and there is no specific antidote.

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• It is one of the most toxic marine animals in the world, and it fits in the palm of a hand: it does not exceed 10 cm including the arms and weighs about 80 grams. A single individual carries enough tetrodotoxin to kill several adults.

Ecosystems