Caribbean Reef Octopus

The Caribbean reef octopus is a master of disguise, changing both colour and skin texture in seconds to vanish against the reef. It can grow up to 100 cm long and weigh as much as 1.5 kg, though most are smaller.

Also known as: briar octopus

Its constantly changing colour makes it easy to confuse with other reef octopuses. Look instead at the fixed shape: long, slender arms attached to a notably large, bulky mantle, a proportion that does not change even as the colour does.

It has eight arms of different lengths and thicknesses attached to a large, bulky mantle, the rounded body behind the head. Its skin holds special colour-changing cells that let it shift from crimson to green and from bumpy to smooth almost instantly, so its look changes constantly.

It lives on coral reefs, seagrass beds, and rocky bottoms in warm shallow water, usually no deeper than 20 m. By day it hides in a rocky lair that is hard to spot, and it moves to a new lair often rather than staying in one place.

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  Atlantic White-spotted Octopus

  Pinnoctopus macropus

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  Big blue octopus

  Octopus cyanea

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  Brazilian Reef Octopus

  Octopus insularis

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  Coconut octopus

  Amphioctopus marginatus

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  Common octopus

  Octopus vulgaris

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  Common Sydney Octopus

  Octopus tetricus