Common octopus
Octopus vulgaris
- Scientific name
- Octopus vulgaris
- Group
- Cephalopods
- Rarity
- Common
- Where to see it
- Mediterranean, Caribbean & Tropical Atlantic, Indo-Pacific & Red Sea
- Conservation status (IUCN)
- Least concern
Did you know?
The common octopus has three hearts and blue, copper-based blood instead of iron-based blood like ours. Thanks to millions of pigment cells in its skin, it can change color and texture in a split second to blend into its surroundings.
What defines this group — Cephalopods
Octopuses, cuttlefish, squid and nautiluses: molluscs that became the most intelligent invertebrates.
- Eight arms — ten in cuttlefish and squid — set around a horny beak.
- Skin cells called chromatophores change colour and texture in a fraction of a second.
- Three hearts, and blue blood that carries oxygen with copper rather than iron.
Other species in this group
- Common cuttlefish
- European squid
- Reef octopus
- Bigfin reef squid
- Blue-ringed octopus
- Flamboyant cuttlefish