Red Sea octopus
Abdopus horridus
- Usual depth3–208 m
- Water temperature13–29 °C
- Best monthsJuly
- How commonRare
About this species
Abdopus horridus, the Red Sea octopus or common reef octopus, is a species of octopus in the genus Abdopus from the western Indian Ocean. It occurs in the western Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. It has a small body and long arms with a complex skin sculpture and pigmentation pattern on the body which it uses to camouflage itself. If a predator attacks this species it is capable of autotomising its arms, once autotomisised the arm can grow back in 2–3 months. Abdopus horridus is the type species of its genus but within that genus it is rather distinct and lays larger eggs than its congeners, many of which were previously thought to be populations of this species under its synonym Octopus horridus.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Abdopus horridus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 2 records
- February: 0 records
- March: 2 records
- April: 1 records
- May: 2 records
- June: 1 records
- July: 7 records
- August: 3 records
- September: 0 records
- October: 2 records
- November: 0 records
- December: 2 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 3–208 m · Deepest record: 208 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 13–29 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Red Sea octopus, Common Reef Octopus, Longarm Octopus, Red Sea Longarm Octopus
Names in 4 more languages
- German
- Rotmeerkrake
- Spanish
- Pulpo del Mar Rojo
- French
- Poulpe de la Mer Rouge
- Thai
- ปลาหมึกสายทะเลแดง
Other scientific names: Octopus fimbriatus, Octopus horridus
Similar species
Algae OctopusAbdopus aculeatus
- Mosaic Drop-arm Octopus
Abdopus abaculus
Big blue octopusOctopus cyanea
- Coconut Octopus
Amphioctopus marginatus
Sources and credits
Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).
- Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
- Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
- Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
- 26 open-data records from 1826 to 1984.
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