Enteroctopus
Enteroctopus is an octopus genus whose members are sometimes known as giant octopus.
Description
Enteroctopus is a genus of generally temperate octopuses. Members of this genus are characterized by their large size and are often known as giant octopuses. Enteroctopus species have distinct longitudinal wrinkles or folds dorsally and laterally on their bodies. Their heads are distinctly narrower than the mantle width. The hectocotylus 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. Octopuses in this genus have large, paddle-like e instead of the more conical papillae in other octopus genera.Species
Genus Enteroctopus at present consists of four species, tabulated below:| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
| Enteroctopus dofleini | giant Pacific octopus | coastal North Pacific, along California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alaska, Russia, Japan, and Korean Peninsula | |
| Enteroctopus magnificus | southern giant octopus | waters off Namibia and South Africa. | |
| Enteroctopus megalocyathus | southern red octopus | southeastern coast of South America along the coasts of Argentina and Chile up to the Chiloé Archipelago, and the Falkland Islands | |
| Enteroctopus zealandicus | yellow octopus | waters surrounding New Zealand. |
Type species
E. 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 no longer existed.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 based on his conclusion that E. megalocyathus and E. membranaceus are the same species.