Description: Medium to large sized cephalopod, chunky in appearance. Eight stout arms with similar thickness; dorsal pair of arms slightly shorter than the others. In males, the right arm III has the tip modified into a very small, spoon-shaped ligula.
Global Distribution: Circumglobal in temperate and tropical waters. View Map
BIOLOGICAL FEATURES
Size: Maximum total length 130 (male), 120 cm (female); maximum published weight 10.0 kg; common weight 3.0 kg.
Age:
Weight length rel.:
Growth type:
von Bertallanfy growth parameters:
Reproduction: Two spawning peaks per year; in West Africa the first peak occurs in May/June and the second in September. Females produce between 120,000 - 400,000 eggs about 2 mm long, which they deposit in strings in crevices or holes, usually in shallow waters. Spawning may last a month. The female ceases feeding during the brooding period, while she guards and aerates the eggs. Octopi are semelparous (reproduce only once). Males often die after mating; females generally die at the end of the brooding period, after the hatching of the larvae. The hatchlings are pelagic, settling into a benthic life after about 40 days old, at 12 mm.
Maturity: Mantle length at first sexual maturity: 9.5 cm (male); 13.5 cm (female).
Behavioural ecology:
Population structure & migrations: Undertakes limited seasonal migrations; usually occurring in deeper waters during the winter and shallower water in the summer.
ECOLOGICAL FEATURES
Depth range: SeaLifeBase: 0 - 200 m, usually 0 - 100 m.
Habitat: Found in intertidal and subtidal areas. Inhabits rocky, sandy and muddy bottoms of the coastline to the edge of the continental or insular shelf.
Feeding habits: Feeds on bivalves and crustaceans.
Trophic level:
FISHERIES
Commercial interest: Commercial species.
Conservation status: Not evaluated.
Nutritional information & food safety:
Proximate composition per 100 g:
energy value 77 kcal (3.9% DRV)
protein 15.6 g (31.2% DRV)
fat 1.2 g (1.7% DRV)
of which saturates 0.266 g (1.3% DRV)
sodium 0.259 g (10.8% DRV)
Octopus is naturally rich in sodium, so it is not necessary to add salt when cooking.
REFERENCES
Direcção Regional de Pescas, Madeira.
IUCN (2014). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.1. www.iucnredlist.org
Nunes M.L., Bandarra N., Oliveira L., Batista I., Calhau M.A. (2006). Composition and nutritional value of fishery products consumed in Portugal. In: Seafood Research from Fish to Dish: Quality, safety and processing of wild and farmed fish, eds.: J.B. Luten, C. Jacobsen, K. Bekaert, A. Saebo, J. Oehlenschläger. Wageningen Academic Publishers, The Netherlands, 568 pp.
Roper C.F.E., Sweeney M.J., Nauen C.E. (1984). FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 3. Cephalopods of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of species of interest to fisheries. FAO Fisheries Synopsis 125, Vol. 3, 277 pp.
