''Enteroctopus megalocyathus'', also known as Patagonian red octopus (EN), Pulpo del sur (Chile) and Pulpo colorado (Argentina), is a medium-sized

octopus An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...

and the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

for the genus ''

Enteroctopus ''Enteroctopus'' is an octopus genus whose members are sometimes known as giant octopuses. Etymology The generic name ''Enteroctopus'' was created by Alphonse Tremeau de Rochebrune and Jules François Mabille in 1887 and published in 1889, ...

''.

Size and description

''Enteroctopus megalocyathus'' is a relatively large octopus, though not as large as some other giant octopuses like ''E. dofleini''. This species has an average mass of around 4 kg, although some individuals have outweighed this and reached masses of 7.5 kg (M) and 8 kg (F). It has a mantle length of 22.5 cmCephBase: ''Enteroctopus megalocyathus''
and can exceed 1 m in total length, but another author reported a maximum total length in Chile of 1.3 m. ''Enteroctopus megalocyathus'', like other octopuses in the genus ''Enteroctopus'', has longitudinal folds and grooves on the body and large, paddle-like papillae.Hochberg, F.G. (1998). ''Enteroctopus''. In: ''Taxonomic atlas of the benthic fauna of the Santa Maria Basin and the Western Santa Barbara Channel''. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara, California. p. 203.

Fisheries

''E. megalocyathus'' is one of the two commercially significant octopuses in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

an waters, along with ''

Octopus mimus ''Octopus mimus'' (Gould octopus) is commonly found between northern Peru and northern Chile.Tresierra, A., P. Ramirez, S. Alfaro, S. Campos & L. De Lucio. 2009. Catalogo de Invertebrados Marinos de La Región La Libertad. Inst. Mar del Peru. 11 ...

''. Yearly catch of the two octopuses fluctuates between 2,000 and 5,000 tons. In Chile, the extraction ban date is from October 15 to March 15, and its range is from the Araucanía region to the Magallanes region, and in regular season, only specimens weighing more than 1 kg are allowed to be extracted.

Predators

Like most octopuses, ''E. megalocyathus'' is a choice meal for many predators larger than it. It is a major dietary component of beaked skates ('' Dipturus chilensis''), spiny dogfish (''

Squalus acanthias The spiny dogfish (''Squalus acanthias''), spurdog, mud shark, or piked dogfish is one of the best known species of the Squalidae (dogfish) family of sharks, which is part of the Squaliformes order. While these common names may apply to seve ...

''), and the South American sea lion (''

Otaria flavescens The South American sea lion (''Otaria flavescens'', formerly ''Otaria byronia''), also called the southern sea lion and the Patagonian sea lion, is a sea lion found on the western and southeastern coasts of South America. It is the Monotypic ta ...

'').

Range

This octopus is native to the southeastern coast of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

along the coasts of

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

(Atlantic Ocean) and

(Pacific Ocean). In Chile ranges from north Patagonia,

Chiloé Archipelago The Chiloé Archipelago (, , ) is a group of islands lying off the coast of Chile, in the Los Lagos Region. It is separated from mainland Chile by the Chacao Channel in the north, the Sea of Chiloé in the east and the Gulf of Corcovado in the s ...

Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natura ...

and even more at 56°S, and in Argentina from the

San Matías Gulf The San Matias Gulf is an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Patagonia, Argentina. It is bordered by the Río Negro Province to the north and west, and the Valdes Peninsula of the Chubut Province to the south. It is "one of the largest g ...

to the

Beagle Channel Beagle Channel (; Yahgan language, Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego, Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of I ...

, including the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...

and the

Burdwood bank The Burdwood Bank, called Namuncurá in Argentina and other countries, is an undersea bank with a prominence of approximately , part of the Scotia Arc projecting some from Cape Horn in the South Atlantic Ocean and located some south of the Fal ...

. Its vertical range distribution in the water column is from 0 m depth (e.g. juvenile in intertidal rocky shore) to 220 m depth (e.g. seen in bottom crab traps) in Chile.

Feeding ecology

In general it is an opportunistic predator and eats crabs, teleost fishes, some molluscs e.g. clams, mussels, sea snails among other prey. In Southern Chile, specifically in

Los Lagos region Los Lagos Region ( , 'Region of the Lakes') is one of regions of Chile, Chile's 16 regions, which are first order administrative divisions, and comprises four provinces: Chiloé Province, Chiloé, Llanquihue Province, Llanquihue, Osorno Provin ...

, the adult octopuses prefer to eat big crabs like jaiba reina, jaiba peluda and even other ''E. megalocyathus'' as they are cannibalistic, as well as other species; meanwhile the younger octopuses prefer to eat jaiba mora, crab eggs, shrimp and squat lobster or langostino de los canales.

Aquaculture status

This species has high protein content and low-fat percentage. It also possesses a fast growth rate and easy weighing in rearing conditions; thereby making it an ideal species to culture.

References

External links

Images of ''E. megalocyathus''
many of which show the longitudinal folds of the body and paddle-like papillae that characterize this genus. {{Taxonbar, from=Q2025686 Octopuses Cephalopods of South America Molluscs of Chile Molluscs of Argentina Molluscs of the Atlantic Ocean Molluscs of the Pacific Ocean Cephalopods described in 1852