Pale octopus

About this species

Octopus pallidus, the pale octopus, is a medium-sized species of octopus endemic to the temperate coastal waters of southern Australia. It is the target of a commercial trap fishery in Bass Strait and has been the subject of substantial research into cephalopod reproductive biology, vision and age determination.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Octopus pallidus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 32 records
February: 36 records
March: 33 records
April: 29 records
May: 18 records
June: 22 records
July: 19 records
August: 34 records
September: 19 records
October: 56 records
November: 31 records
December: 66 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 25–199 m · Deepest record: 588.5 m

0–10 m: 2 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 5 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 8 records
60–70 m: 4 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 9 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–24 °C

12–14 °C: 19 records
14–16 °C: 65 records
16–18 °C: 23 records
18–20 °C: 18 records
20–22 °C: 11 records
22–24 °C: 2 records

Photos

(c) Lek Khauv, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Christopher Mark, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lawrence Hylton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Christopher Mark, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Pale octopus, pale octopus

Names in 3 more languages

German: Bleichkrake
Spanish: Pulpo pálido
French: Poulpe blême

Similar species

Common Atlantic octopus
Octopus vulgaris
Big blue octopus
Octopus cyanea
Gloomy octopus
Octopus tetricus
Southern Keeled Octopus
Octopus berrima
Southern sand octopus
Octopus kaurna
Common Long-arm Octopus
Octopus minor

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).
205 open-data records from 1937 to 2015.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.