Opisthoteuthis californiana

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Flapjack octopus
Opisthoteuthis californiana.jpg
Scientific classification edit
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Octopoda
Family: Opisthoteuthidae
Genus: Opisthoteuthis
Species:
O. californiana
Binomial name
Opisthoteuthis californiana
Berry, 1949[2]

Opisthoteuthis californiana, also known as the flapjack octopus[3] or adorabilis,[4] is a species of umbrella octopus.

Description

The flapjack octopus usually appear pinkish.[5] They have fins above their eyes, similar to those found on some species of squid. Their maximum size is 20 centimetres (7.9 in) mantle length.[5] They have eight jointed legs which are affixed together in an umbrella shape.[6] They have a gelatinous body, which spreads into a parachute shape when maneuvering through dimly lit water.[6] They swim by moving their fins, pulsing their webbed arms, pushing water through their funnel for jet propulsion, or all three at once.[7]

Distribution

Opisthoteuthis californiana has a distribution in the northern and northeastern Pacific, ranging in the west from off central Honshū (Japan) and the Sea of Okhotsk, its northernmost range is the Bering Sea, and its eastern range is along the western coast of North America as far south as Eureka Bar, California (the type locality, at 350 m depth).[8] The depth at which the species occurs typically ranges from 124 m to 823,[9] however, more recent records indicate that they may occur down to 1500 m depth.[5]

Reproduction

Opisthoteuthis (like other cirrate octopuses) use 'continuous spawning' where the female lays one or two large eggs at a time over several years (rather than a large batch near the end of the lifespan). These eggs have a hard protective outer shell (unlike the eggs of incirrate octopus) and are not brooded or protected by the mother, the hatched young undergo direct development (lacking the paralarvae stage of incirrate octopus) and are likely benthic.[10]

Mature Opisthoteuthis californiana females carry approximately 1400–2381 eggs in the ovary, with the individually spawned mature eggs measuring 11 mm long. Estimations of egg hatching time (using water temperature and egg size) for O. californiana are up to 1.4 years at 4 °C.[10][11]

Mating has never been observed in Opisthoteuthis, the males lack the hectocotylus of typical octopus, instead having a series of enlarged suckers that presumably have a role in mating or competition.[10]

Classification

Opisthoteuthis californiana is one of 14 species in the genus Opisthoteuthis, these species are also collectively known as the flapjack devilfishes (due to the anterior-posterior compression of the body).[12] Opisthoteuthis californiana is morphologically very similar to Opisthoteuthis albatrossi and they may be the same species, but the two have never been critically compared (due to the latter being historically placed in the genus Stauroteuthis).[13] If they are conspecific, O. californiana would be a synonym of O. albatrossi (as the latter was described first in 1920, the former in 1949). Another undescribed Opisthoteuthis may occur in the north-east Pacific, overlapping the distribution of O. californiana, this species is still being described but in media was given the name 'Opisthoteuthis adorabilis' (but this is not yet a valid scientific binomial name is it lacks a published description).[4]

Diet

The stomach contents of eight Opisthoteuthis californiana were found to contain small benthic/epibenthic crustaceans including copepods, isopods, mysids, and small shrimp (crangonid or hippolytid). From observations of other Opisthoteuthis species, the extensive arm webbing is possibly used to trap small crustaceans, with the cirri and suckers moving small prey items towards the mouth (a fairly low energy feeding strategy compared to shallow water octopus).[10]

In popular culture

In the Finding Nemo franchise, one of Nemo's classmates, Pearl, is a flapjack octopus.[14] Lenny the flapjack octopus is the main character in a children's book The Adventures of a Flapjack Octopus.[15] Flapjack octopodes also appear in ABZU along the sea floor. [16]

References

  1. ^ Lyons, G.; Allcock, L. (2014). "Opisthoteuthis californiana". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T163065A968048. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T163065A968048.en. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  2. ^ Philippe Bouchet (2018). "Opisthoteuthis californiana Berry, 1949". World Register of Marine Species. Flanders Marine Institute. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  3. ^ "Steller Sea Lion and Northern Fur Seal Research: Environmental Impact Statement". 22 November 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2017 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ a b Conrad, Caitlin (2015-07-17). "'Adorabilis' octopus on display at Monterey Bay Aquarium". KSBW. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  5. ^ a b c Jorgensen, Elaina (2009). Field Guide to Squids and Octopods of the Eastern North Pacific and Bering Sea. Fairbanks, Alaska: Alaska Sea Grant College. pp. 69–70. ISBN 978-1-56612-139-2.
  6. ^ a b Dodrill, Tara (June 16, 2015). "Flapjack Octopus". Inquisitr.com. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  7. ^ "Flapjack Octopus". Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  8. ^ "Opisthoteuthis californiana". Tolweb.org. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  9. ^ Pereyra, Walter (1965). "New records and observations on the flapjack devilfish, Opisthoteuthis californiana Berry". Pacific Science. 19 (4): 427–441.
  10. ^ a b c d Collins, Martin; Villanueva, Roger (2006). "Taxonomy, ecology and behaviour of the cirrate octopods". Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review. 44: 277–322.
  11. ^ Laptikhovsky, V.V. (1999). "Fecundity and reproductive strategy of three species of octopods from the northwestern Bering Sea". Russian Journal of Marine Biology. 25 (4): 342–346.
  12. ^ Lamprell, K. L.; Scheltema, A. M.; Healy, J. M. (22 November 2017). Mollusca: Aplacophora, Polyplacophora, Scaphopoda, Cephalopoda. Csiro Publishing. ISBN 9780643067073. Retrieved 22 November 2017 – via Google Books.
  13. ^ "Opisthoteuthis albatrossi". tolweb.org. Retrieved 2022-07-06.
  14. ^ Harmon, Katherine. "Unusual Octopods: A Flapjack Devilfish Octopus [Video]". Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved 2020-02-24.
  15. ^ Watson, Charles; Thompson, Wendy Louise (2020). The Adventures of a Flapjack Octopus. New York: Austin Macauley. ISBN 9781528984089.
  16. ^ {{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGVVjKUCqzk&t=6169s

External links

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