Common Atlantic octopus

About this species

The common octopus is a mollusk belonging to the class Cephalopoda. Octopus vulgaris is one of the most studied of all the octopus species, and also one of the most intelligent. It ranges from the eastern Atlantic, extends from the Mediterranean Sea, Black sea and the southern coast of England, to the southern coast of South Africa. It also occurs off the Azores, Canary Islands, and Cape Verde Islands. The species is also common in the Western Atlantic.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Common octopus”, 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: 393 records
February: 394 records
March: 459 records
April: 870 records
May: 1,288 records
June: 1,440 records
July: 1,608 records
August: 1,833 records
September: 1,560 records
October: 1,233 records
November: 612 records
December: 555 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 28–152 m · Deepest record: 1,864 m

0–10 m: 28 records
10–20 m: 52 records
20–30 m: 86 records
30–40 m: 134 records
40–50 m: 216 records
50–60 m: 210 records
60–70 m: 159 records
70–80 m: 151 records
80–90 m: 99 records
90–100 m: 78 records
100–110 m: 29 records
110+ m: 327 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 8–28 °C

8–10 °C: 4 records
10–12 °C: 6 records
12–14 °C: 3 records
14–16 °C: 5 records
16–18 °C: 47 records
18–20 °C: 114 records
20–22 °C: 13 records
22–24 °C: 8 records
24–26 °C: 36 records
26–28 °C: 19 records
28–30 °C: 1 records

Photos

(c) Radu Teodoreanu, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Yves Bas, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Sarah Faulwetter, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Michael Bommerer, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Georgina Jones, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Dan Wrench, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Common Atlantic octopus, Common European octopus, Common octopus, Rock scuttle, Scuttle, common Atlantic octopus, common European octopus, common octopus, Common Octopus, European Common Octopus, Kolkrabbi, Mediterranean Octopus, Octopus, rock scuttle, scuttle

Names in 7 more languages

German: gemeiner Krake, Gemeiner Krake, Gemeiner Octopus, Gewöhnliche Krake, gewöhnlicher Krake, Krake, Polyp
Spanish: pulpo, pulpo común, pulpo de roca, Pulpo de roca del Atlántico, Pulpo roquero
French: pieuvre, pieuvre commune, Pieuvre commune, Poulpe commun, Chatrou commun, poulpe, poulpe commun, poulpe de roche
Japanese: ma-dako tako, マダコ
Korean: 참문어
Thai: ปลาหมึกสายใหญ่
Simplified Chinese: 真蛸

Other scientific names: Octopus albus, Octopus bitentaculatus, Octopus brevitentaculatus, Octopus cassiopea, Octopus cassiopeia, Octopus coerulescentes, Octopus heteropus, Octopus maculatus, Octopus moschatus, Octopus niger, Octopus octopodia, Octopus pilosus, Octopus rabassin, Octopus ruber, Octopus rugosus, Octopus tetradynamus, Octopus tritentaculatus, Octopus troscheli, Octopus troschelii, Octopus tuberculatus, Sepia octopus, Sepia polypus, Sepia rugosa

Similar species

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
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).
13,289 open-data records from 1792 to 2024.
Species data updated November 5, 2026.