Name: Giant Pacific octopus
Scientific Name: Octopus dofleini (Wulker, 1910)
Family: Octopodidae
Group: Octopuses, cuttlefish, clams, barnacles, sea-snails and sea-slugs
Class: Invertebrates
Size: >400 cm.
The giant Pacific octopus is the largest of all octopuses and can grow to really impressive dimensions: measuring more than 9 m between arms (from tip to tip) and weighing up to 250 kg! It is a cunning animal, which disguises the entrance to the hole that serves as its shelter with the empty shells and carapaces of its prey... After mating, the male and female stop eating. Some time later, the male finally dies, while the female watches over the eggs. For six months the female keeps the eggs clean and oxygenated, so as to avoid the growth of algae and bacteria. As soon as the eggs have hatched, the female, now quite weakened, also dies.
Photo by:
Abílio Leitão
Giant Pacific Octopus
