Octopoda

Blanket octopus Tremoctopus violaceus, copyright Cassandra L. Cox.

Belongs within: Neocoleoidea.
Contains: Grimpoteuthididae, Opisthoteuthididae, Octopodidae.

The Octopoda, octopuses, are a group of stout-bodied cephalopods with eight arms and no tentacles. A small internal shell is present in members of the suborder Cirrata which also have a pair of fins on the head and cilia-like cirri associated with the suckers on the arms; all three features are absent in the suborder Incirrata.

Octopoda [Octopodida]
    |  i. s.: Polypus H09
    |           |--P. octopodia [=Eledone (Polypus) octopodia] G20
    |           |--P. pictus (Brock 1882) [=Octopus pictus] H09
    |           |--P. polyzenia (Gray 1849) [=Octopus polyzenia] H09
    |           `--P. tenebricus (Smith 1884) [=Octopus tenebricus] H09
    |         Amphioctopus marginatus KVF11
    |--Cirrata [Cirroctopoda] O99
    |    |  i. s.: Chunioteuthis gilchristi (Robson 1924) [=Cirrhoteuthis gilchristi] O99
    |    |         Cirroteuthopsis massayae Grimpe 1920 O99
    |    |         Frokenia clara Hoyle 1904 O99
    |    |--Grimpoteuthididae O99
    |    |--Opisthoteuthididae O99
    |    |--Stauroteuthis GO06 [Stauroteuthididae YVD98]
    |    |    `--S. syrtensis GO06
    |    |--Luteuthis O’Shea 1999 [Luteuthididae] O99
    |    |    |--*L. dentatus O’Shea 1999 O99
    |    |    `--‘Grimpoteuthis’ tuftsi Voss & Pearcy 1990 O99
    |    `--Cirroteuthididae O99
    |         |--Cirroteuthis Eschricht 1836 O99
    |         |    `--*C. muelleri Eschricht 1836 O99
    |         `--Cirrothauma Chun 1911 O99
    |              |--*C. murrayi Chun 1911 O99
    |              `--C. magna (Hoyle 1885) [=Cirroteuthis magna] O99
    `--Incirrata O99
         |  i. s.: Palaeoctopodidae D93
         |           |--Palaeoctopus newboldi (Woodward 1896) YVD98, D93
         |           `--Proteroctopus ribeti Fischer & Riou 1982 D93
         |--Octopodidae O99
         |--Vitreledonella Joubin 1918 [Vitreledonellidae] O99
         |    `--*V. richardi Joubin 1918 O99
         |--Amphitretus Hoyle 1885 [Amphitretidae] O99
         |    |--*A. pelagicus Hoyle 1885 [incl. Idioctopus gracilipes Taki 1964] O99
         |    `--A. thielei Robson 1930 [=A. pelagicus thielei] O99
         |--Bolitaenidae [Bathypelagoctopoda, Bolitaenoidea] O99
         |    |--Haliphron atlanticus YVD98, O99 [incl. Alloposus mollis O99]
         |    |--Bolitaena Steenstrup 1859 O99
         |    |    `--*B. microtyla Steenstrup in Hoyle 1886 O99
         |    |--Japetella Hoyle 1885 O99
         |    |    `--J. diaphana (Hoyle 1885) [=Eledonella diaphana, Bolitaena diaphana, Chunella diaphana] O99
         |    `--Eledonella Verrill 1884 O99
         |         `--*E. pygmaea Verrill 1884 (see below for synonymy) O99
         `--Argonautoidea YVD98
              |--Alloposidae YVD98
              `--+--Tremoctopus delle Chiaje 1830 O99 [Tremoctopodidae YVD98]
                 |    |--*T. violaceus delle Chiaje 1830 O99
                 |    |    |--T. v. violaceus O99
                 |    |    `--T. v. gracilis O99
                 |    |--T. gelatus O99
                 |    `--T. robsonianus Kirk 1883 [=T. robsoni (l. c.)] O99
                 `--+--Ocythoe Rafinesque 1814 O99 [Ocythoidae YVD98]
                    |    `--*O. tuberculata Rafinesque 1814 O99
                    `--Argonautidae YVD98
                         |--Obinautilus Kobayashi 1954 D93, K64
                         |    `--*O. pulcher Kobayashi 1954 K64
                         `--Argonauta Linnaeus 1758 O99
                              |--*A. argo Linnaeus 1758 O99 [incl. A. bulleri Kirk 1885 O99, A. papyracea C64]
                              |--A. boettgeri Maltzan 1881 P61
                              |--A. cymbiu Linnaeus 1758 L58
                              |--A. hians Solander 1786 P61
                              |--A. navicula Lightfoot 1786 K65
                              `--A. nodosa Solander 1786 [incl. A. gracilis Kirk 1885, A. tuberculata Shaw 1791] O99

*Eledonella pygmaea Verrill 1884 [incl. E. ijimae Sasaki 1929, Bolitaena ijimai, E. massayae Robson 1924, B. massayae, Japetella prismatica Hoyle 1885, B. massayae purpurea Robson 1932, Eledonella sheardi Allan 1945] O99

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[C64] Carpenter, P. P. 1864. Supplementary report on the present state of our knowledge with regard to the Mollusca of the west coast of North America. Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 33: 517–686.

[D93] Doyle, P. 1993. Mollusca: Cephalopoda (Coleoidea). In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 229–236. Chapman & Hall: London.

[GO06] Giribet, G., A. Okusu, A. R. Lindgren, S. W. Huff, M. Schrödl & M. K. Nishiguchi. 2006. Evidence for a clade composed of molluscs with serially repeated structures: monoplacophorans are related to chitons. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 103 (20): 7723–7728.

[G20] Goldfuss, G. A. 1820. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte vol. 3. Handbuch der Zoologie pt 1. Johann Leonhard Schrag: Nürnberg.

[H09] Hedley, C. 1909. The Marine Fauna of Queensland: Address by the President of Section D. Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science: Brisbane.

[K65] Kay, E. A. 1965. The Reverend John Lightfoot, Daniel Solander, and the Portland Catalogue. Nautilus 79 (1): 10–19.

[KVF11] Kröger, B., J. Vinther & D. Fuchs. 2011. Cephalopod origin and evolution: a congruent picture emerging from fossils, development and molecules. Bioessays 33: 602–613.

[K64] Kummel, B. 1964. Nautiloidea—Nautilida. In: Moore, R. C. (ed.) Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology pt K. Mollusca 3. Cephalopoda—General Features—Endoceratoidea—Actinoceratoidea—Nautiloidea—Bactritoidea pp. K383–K457. The Geological Society of America and the University of Kansas Press.

[L58] Linnaeus, C. 1758. Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii: Holmiae.

[O99] O’Shea, S. 1999. The marine fauna of New Zealand: Octopoda (Mollusca: Cephalopoda). NIWA Biodiversity Memoir 112: 1–280.

[P61] Powell, A. W. B. 1961. Shells of New Zealand: An illustrated handbook 4^th ed. Whitcombe and Tombs Limited: Christchurch.

[YVD98] Young, R. E., M. Vecchione & D. T. Donovan. 1998. The evolution of coleoid cephalopods and their present biodiversity and ecology. South African Journal of Marine Science 20: 393–420.

Last updated: 20 November 2021.