Description

Also know as the Big Blue Octopus, Big Red Octopus, Common Reef Octopus, Cyane's Octopus, Reef Octopus, Small Common Octopus.

Found singly, on rock and sandy bottoms, occupies lairs in the coral bedrock, of dead and live corals, over lagoons and coastal reefs. Colour varies to blend in with surroundings.
They feed on bivalves and crustaceans.
Length - 180cm
Depth - 0-150m
Widespread Indo-Pacific

This octopus we observed from our water bungalow at very low tide about mid-day, going from rock to rock and spreading its skirt over the rock to catch food.
We watched for about half an hour before it eventually went out of site.

Octopus make their homes in holes in the reef or bury in the sand.
They can often be found by the tell tail 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_cyanea