AnimalvsAnimal
Common octopus🐙

Photo: Martijn Klijnstra · CC BY-SA 4.0

SpeciesOctopodaOctopodidae
Molluscs

🐙Common octopus

Octopus vulgaris Cuvier, 1797

The common octopus is a mollusk belonging to the class Cephalopoda. Octopus vulgaris is one of the most studied of all the octopus species, and also one of the most intelligent. It ranges from the eastern Atlantic, extends from the Mediterranean Sea, Black sea and the southern coast of England, to the southern coast of South Africa. It also occurs off the Azores, Canary Islands, and Cape Verde Islands. The species is also common in the Western Atlantic.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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Photos
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Measurements
3
vs you
≈ 1/6th of your weight
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2018.

Population trendUnknown
Key measurements
Body mass
10 kg
Body length
1.8 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
not recorded
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Common octopus

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
10 kgmaximum recorded
SeaLifeBase
Details ↓

SeaLifeBase populates Weight independently of Length; the two are not guaranteed to describe the same individual. Verify before publishing.

Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

Body length
1.8 mmaximum recorded, total length
SeaLifeBase
Other figures ↓

Source: SeaLifeBase · v25.04 · CC BY-NC 4.0

By sex

  • Female1.2 mSeaLifeBasev25.04
Volume l
10 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Common octopus yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force, maximum lifespan.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumMollusca
  3. ›classCephalopoda
  4. ›orderOctopoda
  5. ›familyOctopodidae
  6. ›genusOctopus
  7. ›speciesOctopus vulgaris
Full lineage
  1. phylumMolluscs · Mollusca
  2. classOctopuses & squid · Cephalopoda
  3. suborderIncirrata
  4. superfamilyOctopodoidea
All 8 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumMolluscs · Mollusca
  3. classOctopuses & squid · Cephalopoda
  4. subclassColeoidea
  5. superorderOctopodiformes
  6. orderOctopoda
  7. suborderIncirrata
  8. superfamilyOctopodoidea
More

More about the Common octopus

In other languages
Gewöhnlicher Krake (de), Octopus vulgaris (es), pieuvre commune (fr), 참문어 (ko), gewone octopus (nl), 真蛸 (zh) … and 23 more languages
More photos
Common octopusCommon octopus (Octopus vulgaris), Pedra de Deu, Medes Islands, Spain
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