Mollusca · mollusks

Giant Pacific octopus

Enteroctopus dofleini

Enteroctopodidae · giant octopusesIUCN: Not evaluated
Giant Pacific octopus
Photo: NOAA/R. N. Lea [1] · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons · resized

The largest octopus species, found in the cold North Pacific.

Fun factIts largest suckers are about 6 cm across, and each can hold about 16 kg.

Waters
North Pacific, Eastern Pacific
Depth zone
Coastal shallows & estuaries, Continental shelf
Diet
Crabs, clams & fish
Size
Up to 6 m arm span

Classification

Mollusca › Cephalopoda › Octopoda › Enteroctopodidae

  1. Kingdom Animalia animals
    • Many-celled organisms that eat other living things for energy (heterotrophs)
    • Cells have no cell walls
    • Most can move at some stage of life
  2. Clade Bilateria bilateral animals
    • Body has a left and right side that mirror each other (bilateral symmetry)
    • Head end with concentrated nerves; three tissue layers
    • Includes about 99% of all living animal species
  3. Clade Protostomia protostomes
    • In the embryo, the first opening usually becomes the mouth
    • Main nerve cord runs along the belly (ventral)
    • Includes mollusks, worms, and arthropods
  4. Clade Spiralia mollusks, worms & kin
    • Embryos usually divide in a spiral pattern (spiral cleavage)
    • Many have a swimming larva with a band of cilia (trochophore)
    • Includes mollusks and segmented worms
  5. Phylum Mollusca mollusks
    • Soft body with a muscular foot and a fold of tissue (mantle) that makes the shell
    • Most have a rasping, tongue-like ribbon of teeth (radula)
    • Includes snails, clams, octopuses, and chitons
  6. Class Cephalopoda cephalopods
    • Foot is modified into arms and tentacles around the head
    • Large brains and camera-like eyes
    • Jet propulsion by squirting water through a funnel (siphon)
  7. Subclass Coleoidea octopuses, squids & cuttlefish
    • Shell is internal, reduced, or absent
    • Most have an ink sac and color-changing skin cells (chromatophores)
    • Includes octopuses, squids, and cuttlefish
  8. Superorder Octopodiformes octopuses & vampire squid
    • Eight arms, with no long feeding tentacles
    • Includes octopuses and the vampire squid
  9. Order Octopoda octopuses
    • Octopuses: eight arms with suckers and a rounded body with no internal shell
    • Can squeeze through any gap larger than their beak
  10. Suborder Incirrata finless octopuses
    • Finless octopuses with no fleshy filaments (cirri) on the arms
    • Most bottom-dwelling octopuses belong here
  11. Family Enteroctopodidae giant octopuses
    • Large, cold-water octopuses
    • Includes the giant Pacific octopus
  12. Genus Enteroctopus
    • Species in the same genus are very close relatives and often look alike.
  13. Species Enteroctopus dofleini Giant Pacific octopus

Closest relatives in the guide