Giant Pacific Octopus (Octopus dofleini)
Factoid:The giant Pacific octopus is an intelligent creature. In laboratory tests and aquariums, it has been able to solve mazes very quickly, unscrew jar lids to retrieve food inside the jar, and even mimic another octopus in a different tank.
Status: presumed stable.
Population: unknown.
Threats: The giant Pacific octopus is commercially fished in the United States.
Survival: Octopuses generally do not live more than one or two years. The giant Pacific octopus lives longer than most octopus species. Males live about 4 years and females about 3.5 years. They usually die after breeding.
The giant Pacific octopus is one of the largest species of octopods. Its reddish-brown body, called the mantle, plus four pairs of arms, measure on average about 16 feet long from arm tip to arm tip. The record weight for a Pacific giant is 600 pounds, but most weigh about 50 to 90 pounds. Newly hatched young are the size of a grain of rice.
This octopus's head is globe-shaped and contains all the octopus' organs and mouth. In the mouth is a beak that is made of the same substance as the human fingernail. The octopus uses the beak to kill prey and bite it into pieces. Each arm contains two alternating rows of suckers, used to catch prey and even taste things.
At rest, the octopus's skin is smooth and a light brownish color. But when excited, the octopus can change colors by contracting skin cells filled with pigment. This ability also allows it to camouflage itself when hunting for prey, such as shrimp, crabs, scallops, abalones, clams, and fish. The octopus can also rapidly force water out of its body, propelling itself backwards. It uses this ability to escape prey quickly. It can also squirt ink at an attacker and escape while hidden by the ink cloud.
The giant Pacific octopus lives along rocky shores in tide pools and in areas from the low-tide line to depths of 1,650 feet. It can be found along the Pacific coast from Alaska to southern California.
National Parks: The giant pacific octopus can be found in Channel Islands National Park and National Marine Sanctuary, CA; Point Reyes National Seashore, CA; Kenai Fjords National Park, AK; Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, AK; and Katmai National Park and Preserve, AK.
