A new species of large Pacific octopus has been discovered in the waters of Prince William Sound, Alaska.
The frilled giant Pacific octopus. Image credit: David Scheel, doi: 10.4003/006.035.0206.
The newly-discovered species belongs to Enteroctopus, a genus whose members are known as ‘giant octopuses.’
All species of this genus live in the temperate areas of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
They have large bodies with longitudinal wrinkles or folds. Their heads are narrower than the width of their bodies. They also have paddle-like shaped papillae instead of the rounder version found in other genera.
Dubbed the frilled giant Pacific octopus, the new species is a sister taxon of the giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini).
The animal was found by a duo of marine biologists from Alaska Pacific University in Prince William Sound, a sound of the Gulf of Alaska on the south coast of the US state of Alaska.
Two distinct simple spots on the frilled giant Pacific octopus. Image credit: David Scheel, doi: 10.4003/006.035.0206.
“Enteroctopus dofleini and the novel species share a number of body pattern traits, including characteristics of relative head size, web extent, dark eye bars, and patterns of dorsal mantle white spots,” the researchers said.
“However, the two types are not the same. Genetically, they are separated by 3–4% COI (mitochondrial gene cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) sequence divergence, while within-clade divergence was less than 1%. They are also separated across mtDNA and nuclear genes as well as microsatellite loci; and they are reciprocally monophyletic.”
The frilled giant Pacific octopus is only the second member of the genus found in the Northern Hemisphere, according to the authors.
“Prince William Sound is in the middle of the known range of Enteroctopus dofleini,” they said.
“We found that the range of the new species similarly extends at least from southeast Alaska to the Bering Sea.”
The evidence for the new species of giant octopus is outlined in the American Malacological Bulletin.
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Nathan Hollenbeck & David Scheel. 2017. Body Patterns of the Frilled Giant Pacific Octopus, a New Species of Octopus from Prince William Sound, AK. American Malacological Bulletin 35 (2): 134-144; doi: 10.4003/006.035.0206
