Description

Also know as the Gloomy Octopus, Sydney Octopus.

Found singly, pairs or in a consortium, during the day amongst seaweeds for camouflage, or in rock crevices, over inter-tidal coral and rocky reefs, dispersing at night to feed, over the reef. This octopus has arms that are rusty red around it's suckers and can change it's body colour to match its surroundings.
They feed nocturnally on bivalves, invertebrates and each other.
Length - 80cm
Depth - 0-60m
Indo-West Pacific - Australia, New Zealand

Octopus make their homes in holes in the reef or bury in the sand.
They can often be found by the tell tale debris outside the holes.
Octopus feed by grabbing their prey with their tentacles or by spreading their skirt (the webbing between their tentacles) over the reef and hoovering up underneath.
They have a beak for biting their prey, the bite quickly paralyses their prey.
Some of the smaller Octopus are venomous to humans. Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus_tetricus