Gloomy octopus

Octopus tetricus

Cephalopods
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth1–65 m
Water temperature17–23 °C
Best monthsJanuary, March, and December
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Matthias Liffers, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Octopus tetricus, the gloomy octopus, the common Sydney octopus, or the peachy octopus, is a species of octopus from the subtropical waters of eastern Australia and northern New Zealand. O. tetricus belongs to the Octopus vulgaris species group. All species within the O. vulgaris group are similar in morphology, behaviour, and physiology. The English translation of O. tetricus (Latin) is 'the gloomy octopus'. It is a significant species in the fishing industry in Australia. They play an important role in energy flux between trophic levels in the marine environment.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Octopus tetricus”, 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: 604 records
February: 431 records
March: 496 records
April: 424 records
May: 354 records
June: 375 records
July: 340 records
August: 245 records
September: 247 records
October: 337 records
November: 331 records
December: 437 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–65 m · Deepest record: 137 m

0–10 m: 27 records
10–20 m: 3 records
20–30 m: 2 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 4 records
60–70 m: 3 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 17–23 °C

16–18 °C: 1 records
18–20 °C: 10 records
20–22 °C: 23 records
22–24 °C: 2 records

Photos

(c) Lachlan Copeland, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Kelvin Perrie, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lawrence Hylton, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tony Eales, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) libby hepburn, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) libby hepburn, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Gloomy octopus, Sydney octopus, gloomy octopus

Names in 1 more languages

German: Gemeiner Sydneykrake

Other scientific names: Octopus gibbsi

Similar species

Common Atlantic octopus
Octopus vulgaris
Big blue octopus
Octopus cyanea
Southern Keeled Octopus
Octopus berrima
Southern sand octopus
Octopus kaurna
Common Long-arm Octopus
Octopus minor
Oliver's Octopus
Octopus oliveri

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).
614 open-data records from 1898 to 2023.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.

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