FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes Western

824 Cephalopods
Octopus australis Hoyle, 1885
En - Hammer octopus.
Moderate-sized octopus (maximum
mantle length 70 mm) with
moderately long arms (2.5 to 4
times mantle length). Up to 220
suckers on normal arms, 60 to 80
on hectocotylized arm of male.
Ligula of large swollen club
(“hammer”). Eggs large, to
12 mm. Raised ridge (“keel”) of
skin around lateral mantle. Skin
covered in regular rounded papil- tip of hectocotylized arm
lae. Colour: cream to purplebrown
dorsally, cream on ventral
surfaces. Sand and mud substrates
to a depth of 134 m. Small-scale trawl
harvest for human consumption and as bait.
Restricted to subtropical waters of southern
Queensland and New South Wales, Australia.
Octopus dierythraeus Norman, 1993a
lateral view
En - Red-spot night octopus.
Large robust octopus (maximum mantle length 140 mm) with moderately
long arms (4 to 5 times mantle length). Dorsal arms longer than
lateral and ventral arms. Webs moderately deep, deepest 18 to 28%
of longest arm. In adults, 230 to 280 suckers on normal arms, 100 to
130 on hectocotylized arm of male. No enlarged suckers. Large eggs
(more than 14 mm) produced in low numbers (less than 500).
Colour: foraging animals orange brown to red with white spots over
dorsal surfaces, alarm display of white base colour with red spots
over mantle, arm crown, webs and arms. Shallow coastal waters on
rubble, sand or mud from intertidal reefs to depths of at
least 80 m. Potential bycatch harvest. Tropical species
restricted to coastal waters of northern Australia.
tip of hectocotylized
arm
dorsal view
(after Stranks and Norman, 1993)
dorsal view