Callistoctopus is a genus of nocturnal, orange octopuses in the family Octopodidae. They are readily identifiable by their reddish coloring, the white papillae that line their bodies, and their long arms. Though sympatric with diurnal Octopus species, they avoid competition by hunting at night. In acknowledgement of this preference, many species of Callistoctopus are referred to as night octopuses. Well-known species include C. macropus (Atlantic white-spotted octopus) and the type species C. ornatus (ornate octopus), both of which are harvested for human consumption as seafood.
Species
Callistoctopus alpheus (Norman, 1993) – Capricorn night octopus
Callistoctopus aspilosomatis (Norman, 1993) – plainbody night octopus
Callistoctopus bunurong (Stranks, 1990) – southern white-spot octopus
Callistoctopus dierythraeus (Norman, 1992) – red-spot night octopus
Callistoctopus graptus (Norman, 1992) – scribbled night octopus
Callistoctopus kermadecensis (Berry, 1914) Callistoctopus lechenaultii (d'Orbigny, 1826) Callistoctopus luteus (Sasaki, 1929) – starry night octopus Callistoctopus macropus (Risso, 1826) – Atlantic white-spotted octopus Callistoctopus nocturnus (Norman & Sweeney, 1997) Callistoctopus ornatus (Gould, 1852) – ornate octopus Callistoctopus rapanui (Voss, 1979)
Species brought into synonymy
Callistoctopus arakawai (Taki, 1964): synonym of Callistoctopus ornatus (Gould, 1852) Callistoctopus magnocellatus (Taki, 1964): synonym of Octopus cyanea Gray, 1849 Taxa inquirenda Callistoctopus furvus (Gould, 1852): potential name for West Atlantic octopuses currently under C. macropus Callistoctopus taprobanensis (Robson, 1926)
External links
References
Taki, I. (1964), On eleven new species of the Cephalopoda from Japan, including two new genera of the Octopodinae; Journal of the Faculty of Fisheries and Animal Husbandry, Hiroshima University, 5 (2) 297-343