Yesterday (8 March 2021), Eric and I had to make a brief stop in Bodega Harbor (to look for a ribbon worm). A family was nearby exploring the shoreline not too far away from us. We could hear them talking about finding different animals like clams, snails, and sea squirts. And then we heard one of them exclaim, "Octopus!"
We paused our ribbon worm search and said a brief hello to the octopus that was walking across the mudflats and eelgrass towards the water. We didn't expect to see an octopus that day, but were lucky when some fellow coastal adventurers spotted this wonderful cephalopod!
Are there many species of octopus along our coast? Do you know the identity of this one?
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteNo, there aren't that many species of octopus along our coast. The most common species to see in the intertidal zone is the Red Octopus (Octopus rubescens). However, I have have seen at least one (and perhaps a few other) Pacific Giant Octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) in the rocky intertidal zone. As you might guess, Pacific Giant Octopus reach a much larger size than Red Octopus, but there's a catch -- there are, of course, juvenile Pacific Giant Octopus that are similar in size to Red Octopus. Identifying features on these two species overlap quite a bit, and include things that might be hard to see if you're just observing them from a distance (e.g., their internal gills, suckers on their arms, etc.)
This individual was large for a "small octopus," if that makes sense. So it was larger than many Red Octopus that we see. And there are often distinctive white markings on the head (behind the eyes) of Red Octopus, which I didn't notice on this individual. I wouldn't necessarily expect to see a Pacific Giant Octopus in Bodega Harbor (in an eelgrass bed), but I'm not sure how much is known about where juvenile Pacific Giant Octopus spend time when they're young.
So in this case I decided to leave this individual unidentified because I wasn't 100% certain about the identification. But you caught me! :) I'm glad you asked, though, because it's a good example of being careful about your identifications and not making assumptions. In this case, I just didn't see enough to clinch an i.d. either way.
I hope this helps!
Jackie
P.S. There might be other people who have more experience with juvenile Pacific Giant Octopus who know of other features that would be useful when trying to identify small octopus. If so, I'd love some hints!
Not exactly on topic, but just in case if you haven't seen it, there's a Netflix show called "My Octopus Teacher" which expanded my appreciation for these amazing amazing beings. If you haven't seen it, you're in for a treat. It's nice to know that we have octopuses on our coast. I've yet to see one in the wild and will keep an eye out next time I'm in the intertidal zone out there. Thanks, Jackie
ReplyDeleteHi, Dan,
ReplyDeleteYes! It's a terrific movie...highly recommended! I mentioned it back in October 2020: https://bodegahead.blogspot.com/2020/10/octopus-as-teacher.html
:) Jackie