A day octopus rests on a tropical reef with its arms spread.

Day Octopus (Octopus cyanea) — A day octopus rests on a tropical reef with its arms spread.

Creator: klukoff, Octopus cyanea 138900133.jpg, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Licence: CC BY 4.0 International

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Species record

Day Octopus

Octopus cyanea

Explore the Day Octopus (Octopus cyanea) species record in The Ark Is Earth, including classification, habitat, distribution, conservation information, and sources.

Summary

The day octopus lives in warm Indian and Pacific waters, from Hawaii to the Red Sea. It shelters on coral reefs and among muddy, sandy, or rocky seabeds and seagrass beds. Unlike many octopuses, it hunts during daylight.

Classification in this archive

  1. Kingdom: Animals
  2. Phylum: Mollusca
  3. Class: Cephalopods
  4. Order: Octopoda
  5. Family: Octopodidae
  6. Genus: Octopus

Habitat and distribution

Selected documented locations — not a complete species range.

Habitat
coral reefs, muddy bottoms, sandy bottoms, rocky bottoms, seagrass beds
Selected regions
Africa, Asia, Oceania

Conservation status

Conservation status not recorded.

Did you know?

  • Day octopuses hunt during daylight, an unusual habit among octopuses.

More images

A day octopus blends into a reef in the Maldives.

Day Octopus (Octopus cyanea) — A day octopus blends into a reef in the Maldives.

Creator: Ahmed Abdul Rahman, Octopus cyanea Maldives.JPG, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).

Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 International

View image source

Sources and attribution