Enteroctopus
| Giant octopus | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| E. dofleini showing longitudinal folds and paddle-like papillae diagnostic for the genus. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Order: | Octopoda |
| Family: | Octopodidae |
| Subfamily: | Octopodinae |
| Genus: |
Enteroctopus Rochebrune & Mabille, 1889 |
| Species | |
|
Enteroctopus dofleini |
|
Enteroctopus dofleini
Enteroctopus magnificus
Enteroctopus megalocyathus
Enteroctopus zealandicus
Enteroctopus is an octopus genus whose members are sometimes known as giant octopus.
Enteroctopus is a genus of generally temperate octopus. Members of the genus Enteroctopus are characterized by their large size and are often known as giant octopus. Enteroctopus species have distinct longitudinal wrinkles or folds dorsally and laterally on the body. The head is distinctly narrower than the mantle width. The of the males in this genus, found on the third right arm, is long and narrow in comparison with other genera in the family Octopodidae, often comprising one fifth the length of the arm. Octopus in this genus have large paddle-like instead of the more conical papillae in other octopus genera.
Enteroctopus membranaceus has often been regarded as type species of the genus, not because it was designated as such by Rochebrune and Mabille when they erected the genus, but because it was the first named species in the genus. Robson in his 1929 monograph of octopods regarded E. membranaceus as a species dubium because the original description was insufficient to identify an individual species, the holotype was an immature specimen, and the type specimen was no longer extant. As such, the genus was considered invalid until Hochberg resurrected it in 1998. Hochberg noted that Robson had considered E. membranaceus a junior synonym of E. megalocyathus, the second species assigned to the genus by Rochebrune and Mabille in their 1889 description. Additionally, since Rochebrune and Mabille did not actually assign type status to E. membranaceus, Hochberg concluded that Enteroctopus was indeed a valid genus and transferred type species status to E. megalocyathus by virtual monotypy.
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