''Abdopus capricornicus'' is a species of

octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...

in the family

Octopodidae The Octopodidae comprise the family containing the majority of known octopus species. Genera The World Register of Marine Species lists these genera: *'' Abdopus'' Norman & Finn, 2001 *'' Ameloctopus'' Norman, 1992 *'' Amphioctopus'' P. Fischer, ...

, native to the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

. Individuals are capable of

autotomy Autotomy (from the Greek language, Greek ''auto-'', "self-" and ''tome'', "severing", wikt:αὐτοτομία, αὐτοτομία) or self-amputation, is the behaviour whereby an animal sheds or discards one or more of its own appendages, usual ...

, sacrificing a writhing arm to a predator to distract it while making an escape.

References

Octopodidae Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean Cephalopods of Australia Molluscs described in 2001 {{Octopus-stub