Octopus pallidus — The Life Data

Animalia/Mollusca/Cephalopoda/Octopoda/Octopodidae/Octopus

At a glance

Occurrence records701

Data sources10

Biological traits5

DNA specimens1

eDNA detections1

Sources10 archives

Databases and archives Octopus pallidus's data was compiled from.

WikipediaWikimedia Foundation5 languages↗

BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗

GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility447 records↗

OBISOcean Biodiversity Information System254 records↗

ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI1 eDNA detections↗

BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics1 specimens↗

Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗

WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗

Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗

GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗

On this page5 sections

Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.

NarrativeWikipediaarticle

Traits & measurements1 literature sources5 traits

Occurrence & distributionGBIF · OBIS701 records

Environmental DNA1 datasets · 0 countries1 detections

DNA & barcodingBOLD1 specimens

01Narrative

Octopus pallidus, the pale octopus, is a species of octopus found in the Southwest Pacific. Immediately after it hatches it will begin foraging, primarily on bivalves. At night it will hide within rubble to surprise prey. There is evidence that maturation in females is not solely dependent on age, but on seasons instead. They have been able to distinguish vertical/horizontal rectangles and gradients from each other and uniform grey. This species has been helpful in learning scientific methods on identifying octopus age using stylets and pigment.

No narrative description available for this taxon yet.

02Traits & measurements

SourcesSeaLifeBase

Size & morphology1

Body length54 cm

Habitat & environment2

Habitat saltwateryes

Habitat zonebenthic

Other traits2

Depth max589 m

Depth min3 m

05DNA & barcoding1 specimens

A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Octopus pallidus has left across the world's sequence archives.

At a glance

DNA specimens1

BINs1

Marker genes1

eDNA detections1

Marker genes sequenced

★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.

COI-5P

animal barcode

08Occurrence & distribution

Record type701 records

Wild obs. + sensor414

Museum / vouchered287

Range

Area of Occupancy AOO896 km²

Depth

0–200 m sunlit108

200–1000 m twilight4

1–4 km midnight0

>4 km abyssal0

median 52.5 m · max 588.5 m · 112 records with depth

Wildobservation + sensor

Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.

Coordinate accuracy98% within 1 km

≤100 m 142≤1 km 228≤10 km 6

376 georeferenced · 38 without coordinates

Open the mapobservation + sensor414

Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence

Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.

Coordinate accuracy74% within 1 km

≤100 m 12≤1 km 125≤10 km 43>10 km 5

185 georeferenced · 102 without coordinates

Open the institutions mapphysical evidence287

Wildobservation + sensor

Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.

10Collections & institutions

Holding institutions1 of 8 geolocated

Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.

Institution	Specimens
Museums Victorialocation not on record	75
Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallerylocation not on record	32
Sydney, AU	29
Australian National Fish Collectionlocation not on record	4
DOI/NPS, Salem Maritime National Historic Sitelocation not on record	3
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record	1
UM-RSMASlocation not on record	1
QVMAGlocation not on record	1

8 institutions · 146 of 287 vouchered records shown

09Environmental DNA1 detections

Where the DNA of Octopus pallidus was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.

Signal

Detections DNA found1

Studies independent surveys1

Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections

Where its DNA was found

0 of 1 detections have coordinates

Open the map0 countries0

How strong is each trace?

DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.

How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.