Kingdom    Animalia

Phylum      Mollusca

Class         Cephalopoda

Order         Octopoda

Family        Enteroctopodidae

Genus        Enteroctopus

Species     E. dofleini (formerly Octopus apollyon)

Giant Pacific Octopus Basics

A mollusk endemic to the northern Pacific Ocean, the Giant Pacific Octopus represents a species of mollusk. It is the world’s biggest octopus species, with the greatest specimen weighing 600 pounds and over 30 feet in width!

Giant Pacific Octopus Description

As with other octopus species, the enormous Pacific octopus has eight arms and a bulbous’mantle’ on top. The majority of people are a rich red or reddish tint. The enormous Pacific octopus is the world’s biggest octopus, reaching a length of around 16 feet and weighing well over a hundred pounds. Females are typically bigger than males, and their total size is influenced by temperature, in addition to the presence of nutrients and light in their particular environments.

The huge Pacific octopus, like all other cephalopods, employs a jet-propulsion mechanism to eject water from a component of its respiratory system structured like a funnel.

Habitat and Distribution

The huge Pacific octopus prefers to live at depths of up to 300 feet in rocky coastal areas. It thrives in cold, nutrient-rich settings, and its range extends from Japan to Alaska in the northern Pacific Ocean, as well as the west coast of North America as far south as Baja California, Mexico. Typically seen in tide pools or hidden in cracks along the bottom in the intertidal zone, Outside their hiding places, they often stack boulders and other materials to create a natural, predator-free refuge.

When the huge Pacific octopus can’t hide in its home or disguise itself adequately, it may rely on its agility and evasion skills. The jet propulsion mechanism allows them to move quickly, and the production of a deadly black liquid that they can spew on their enemies provides them with an additional method of evasion.

Reproduction

The enormous Pacific octopus has an average lifespan of almost five years, making it one of the species with the longest lifespans. Females achieve adulthood at the age of 2-3 years. At this moment, the male may reach to  and effectively caress her with one arm. Once the female is greeted favourably, the male would seize her with his other arms and use his hectocotylus, a modified arm, to put his sperm into her mantle.

A clutch of 74,000 eggs is laid by a female in a deep lair or cave. She’ll be here for the next seven months, keeping an eye on them and making sure they get enough oxygen. The female octopus does not feed throughout this stage and survives on her own body lipids and other tissues.

The mother dies after the eggs hatch, leaving her children totally self-sufficient. They begin as little octopuses drifting in the plankton when they attain around 50 mm in length, at which point they fall into the water stream and spend the balance of their lives mostly benthic. The gigantic octopus of the Pacific is a semelparous species, meaning that it only reproduces once in its lifetime.

Conservation Status

The big Pacific octopus is difficult to survey because of its evasive habits. These include concealing in tiny gaps or using camouflage to evade detection. Even though the species is still subject to commercial fishing in North America as well as Japan, communities are flourishing.

Fun Facts about the Giant Pacific Octopus

The gigantic Pacific octopus has consistently fascinated both scientists and beach goers, despite its timid and secretive nature.

Full of Hearts

Octopuses as well as many cephalopods contain remarkable circulatory systems, having three different hearts to aid with blood circulation. Two of such hearts, known as branchial hearts, push blood towards the gills, where it is re-oxygenated in a manner comparable to that of mammalian lungs. The systemic heart, the third heart, pumps blood to the remainder of the body, such as the eight tentacles.

Octopuses are recognised by their blue blood, a unique characteristic. Humans and many other animals have iron-rich blood that transports oxygen around their whole bodies, whereas cephalopods contain copper-rich blood that performs the same function. Haemocyanin is a copper-based chemical that enables their blood to look blue instead of red, as is the case with hemoglobin-based blood.

Chromatophores

The colossal Pacific octopus, as well as many cephalopods, are experts at camouflage, changing the texture and colour of their skin to mimic rocks and macro algae (seaweed). The presence of chromophores, which are pigment cells that dwell just beneath the skin’s surface, makes these abilities feasible. These pigment-contining cells surround practically the whole of their bodies and enable them to change hues in a fraction of a second.

An elastic, pigment-filled sac exists inside each chromatophore. They are controlled by several muscles and the octopus’s distinct, broadly distributed nervous system. The sac expands as these muscles contract, displaying more bright colours like yellow and red. The sac recovers to normal size when these muscles are relaxed by the octopus, and the colours become less apparent. Combined with the species’ ability to alter the roughness of its skin, these chromatophores may be used to accurately imitate complex surfaces, such as a rocky bottom covered in a variety of colourful algae and other benthic creatures.

Nine Minds

Cephalopods have a unique neurological system that contains nine ‘brains.’ They have one core brain that controls their nervous system, while the remaining eight brains—one in every of their eight tentacles—govern their motility. About two-thirds of an octopus’s nervous system is located in their tentacles, enabling it to smell and taste with its intricate arrangement of around 2,200 “suction cups”. This gives the octopus a high degree of movement and tactility, as well as a robust grasp.

‘The Brain’

The huge Pacific octopus is a remarkably clever species that can gain knowledge to unscrew jars and engage in games despite having a neural system that is distinct and not similar to mammalian nervous systems. In the case of specimens housed in captivity at aquariums, they may even learn to identify other people, including their caretakers. It’s no surprise that the enormous Pacific octopus, the largest octopus in the world, continues to astonish.