Pinnoctopus macropus

Cephalopods

Usual depth3–187 m
Water temperature7–29 °C
Best monthsMay, June, and July
How commonOccasional

About this species

Pinnoctopus macropus, also known as the Atlantic white-spotted octopus, white-spotted octopus, grass octopus or grass scuttle, is a species of octopus found in shallow areas of the Mediterranean Sea, the warmer parts of the eastern and western Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea, and the Indo-Pacific region. This octopus feeds on small organisms which lurk among the branches of corals.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Pinnoctopus macropus”, 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: 1 records
February: 0 records
March: 1 records
April: 1 records
May: 14 records
June: 14 records
July: 15 records
August: 6 records
September: 8 records
October: 5 records
November: 0 records
December: 0 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 3–187 m · Deepest record: 400 m

0–10 m: 5 records
10–20 m: 1 records
20–30 m: 1 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 3 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 7 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 7–29 °C

6–8 °C: 1 records
8–10 °C: 0 records
10–12 °C: 0 records
12–14 °C: 0 records
14–16 °C: 1 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 12 records
20–22 °C: 2 records
22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 20 records
26–28 °C: 5 records
28–30 °C: 28 records

Names and classification

Other scientific names: Callistoctopus macropus, Octopus alderii, Octopus didynamus, Octopus frayedus, Octopus granosus, Octopus macropodus, Octopus macropus, Polypus macropus

Similar species

Pinnoctopus nocturnus
Big blue octopus
Octopus cyanea
Coconut Octopus
Amphioctopus marginatus
Algae Octopus
Abdopus aculeatus
Old woman octopus
Cistopus indicus
Greater blue-ringed octopus
Hapalochlaena lunulata

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.
80 open-data records from 1826 to 2006.

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