Latin name: Enteroctopus dofleini

Eight Suckered Arms to Hold You!

• It is the world's largest octopus. Each one of its eight arms has 280 suckers capable of moving independently from one another. When injured, its arms can regenerate.

• When it feels threatened, or simply to hide, the octopus can change its color, pattern and even texture for a perfect camouflage in its environment.

• It can release a non-toxic cloud of ink that acts as a screen. This "ink", made of a mixture of black pigments (melamine) and mucus, creates a diversion while the octopus escapes.

• It hunts especially at dusk and feeds on a variety of species including many crustaceans, but also bivalve mollusks, snails, fish, sharks and other octopuses.

• Fishing data leads us to think that the giant Pacific octopus is plentiful. However, the increase in human activity along the coastal zones could unsettle the species on a long term basis.