WHATSTHATFISH
Octopus & squid

Day Octopus

Octopus cyanea

Also known as: Big Blue Octopus, Big Red Octopus, Common Reef Octopus, Cyane's Octopus, Reef Octopus, Small Common Octopus

LCLeast ConcernIUCN Red List, 2018
Adult
@fishx6 · Mirihi Island Resort, Maldives · February 20071 / 119
01

Overview

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.

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.

02

How to identify

COLOURS
Pattern
blotches
Body shape
tentacles

Tap any trait to see other fish that share it.

03

Habitat & where to find it

  • Range · Indo-Pacific
  • Exact location · 21
  • Country only · 98
LIVES IN

Found singly, on rock and sandy bottoms, occupies lairs in the coral bedrock, of dead and live corals, over lagoons and coastal reefs.

04

Adult photos 119

05

Discussion

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    ALL STAGES
    FOR THE MARINE-BIOLOGY CURIOUS

    Deep dive

    Taxonomy

    1. kingdomAnimalia
    2. phylumMollusca
    3. classCephalopoda
    4. orderOctopoda
    5. familyOctopodidae
    6. genusOctopus
    7. speciesOctopus cyanea J. E. Gray, 1849

    SourcesWoRMSWikipedia

    06

    More in the family

    Octopuses (Octopodidae)