''Callistoctopus macropus'', also known as the Atlantic white-spotted octopus, white-spotted octopus,Norman, M.D. 2000. ''Cephalopods: A World Guide''. ConchBooks.Bouchet, P. (2014). Callistoctopus macropus (Risso, 1826). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=534558 on 2015-02-01 grass octopus or grass scuttle, is a species of octopus found in shallow areas of the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

, the warmer parts of the eastern and western Atlantic Ocean, the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

, and the Indo-Pacific region. This octopus feeds on small organisms which lurk among the branches of

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...

Description

''Callistoctopus macropus'' grows to a mantle length of with a total length of . The first pair of arms are a metre or so long, and are much longer than the remaining three pairs. The arms are all connected by a shallow web. This octopus is red, with white blotches on its body, and paired white spots on its arms. When it is disturbed, its colour becomes more intense, deimatic behaviour which may make it appear threatening to a potential predator.

Distribution and habitat

Populations of ''Callistoctopus macropus'' form a

species complex In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...

found in the Mediterranean Sea, the temperate and tropical Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It is also present in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It lives near the shore at depths down to about . Its favoured habitat is sand, rubble or

seagrass meadow A seagrass meadow or seagrass bed is an underwater ecosystem formed by seagrasses. Seagrasses are marine (saltwater) plants found in shallow coastal waters and in the brackish waters of estuaries. Seagrasses are flowering plants with stems and ...

s, and it sometimes buries itself under the sand.

Ecology

''Callistoctopus macropus'' is more fastidious in its diet than is the

common octopus The common octopus (''Octopus vulgaris'') is a mollusc belonging to the class Cephalopoda. ''Octopus vulgaris'' is one of the most studied of all octopus species, and also one of the most intelligent. It ranges from the eastern Atlantic, exte ...

(''Octopus vulgaris''), a species with which it shares some of its range and which feeds by day. ''Callistoctopus macropus'', by contrast, feeds by night. Its method of feeding is to move from one clump of branching coral to another, often '' Acropora'' or '' Stylophora'' spp.. The octopus wraps its mantle around a coral head and probes with its arms among the branches, searching for the small fish and invertebrates that seek protection there. It has been found that a number of

grouper Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes. Not all serranids are called "groupers"; the family also includes the sea basses. The common name "grouper" is ...

s (family

Serranidae The Serranidae are a large family of fishes belonging to the order Perciformes. The family contains about 450 species in 65 genera, including the sea basses and the groupers (subfamily Epinephelinae). Although many species are small, in some ca ...

) and other

predatory Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

fish associate with the octopus when it is feeding, pouncing on small organisms that are flushed from the coral head by the octopus. For many years, the breeding habits of this octopus were not known. Then a female was observed attaching short-stalked eggs, measuring , to a hard surface forming a sheet of eggs. The female then brooded the eggs, caring for them by aerating them and keeping them clean. The female octopus stopped feeding at the time the eggs were laid and died soon after they had hatched, as is common among octopus species. The

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucia ...

ic larvae which emerged from the eggs were each about in length with short, seven-suckered arms. They fed on

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

such as crustacean larvae.

References

* Norman M.D. & Hochberg F.G. (2005) ''The current state of Octopus taxonomy.'' Phuket Marine Biological Center Research Bulletin 66:127–154

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from1=Q13449622, from2=Q2235326 Octopodidae Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean Molluscs of the Indian Ocean Molluscs of the Mediterranean Sea Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean Fauna of the Caribbean Marine molluscs of Africa Marine molluscs of Europe Marine molluscs of North America Cephalopods of Europe Cephalopods described in 1826 Taxa named by Antoine Risso