Reef Cephalopods Codexery

Graneledone boreopacifica

Deep-sea octopus with record 53-month egg brooding.

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Graneledone boreopacifica

NOAA/MBARI · via Wikipedia: Graneledone boreopacifica · Public domain

A female observed in the Monterey Canyon brooded eggs for a record 53 months.[1] In temperate climates, the benthic zones are where Graneledone boreopacifica, a deep-sea octopus, lives.[2] The mantle length of the holotype is 9 cm.[3]

Scientific classification

  1. OrderOctopoda
  2. FamilyMegaleledonidae
  3. GenusGraneledone
  4. SpeciesGraneledone boreopacifica

Named by Nesis, 1982

Close relatives

Other species of Graneledone with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Graneledone boreopacifica (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 342222 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Least Concern (LC)

  1. LC▲ this species
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2018

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

How big is it?

Size comparison: Graneledone boreopacifica and a personA 0.09 m long graneledone boreopacifica drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.0.09 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 0.09 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Graneledone boreopacifica

Where the graneledone boreopacifica has been recorded

Where the graneledone boreopacifica has been recorded29 mapped locations from 89 GBIF occurrence records; marked places: Pacific OceanPacific Ocean

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (89 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 1 inland record left out (institution coordinates).

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Key facts and history

The type specimen was collected in the Pacific Ocean at 50°N, 151°E.[4] The eggs were never unattended during this period.[5] This 53-month brooding period is the longest known in the animal kingdom.[1] This brooding period alone makes it the longest-living octopus, as most live only 1 or 2 years.[5]

Saint Petersburg, Russia's Zoological Institute holds the deposited type specimen.[4] After egg-laying, females show no evidence of feeding.[1] Crushed gastropod shells from Provanna variabilis and Lepetodrilus fucensis were found in the gut during examination.[6]

What the cited sources add

The 2014 PLOS ONE study by Robison, Seibel, and Drazen documented the 53-month brooding record.[1][5] A 2000 Journal of Zoology paper by Voight described the octopus as a shell-crushing hydrothermal vent predator.[6] That paper reported the crushed gastropod shells found in the gut.[6] The same paper noted the mandible muscles' strength for crushing shells.[6]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Graneledone boreopacifica" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Robison, Bruce; Seibel, Brad; Drazen, Jeffrey (2014). "Deep-Sea Octopus (Graneledone boreopacifica) Conducts the Longest-Known Egg-Brooding Period of Any Animal (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Graneledone boreopacifica" (CC BY-SA 4.0) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Graneledone boreopacifica" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hochberg, F.G. 1998. Class Cephalopoda. In: P.V. Scott & J.A. Blake (Eds.) Taxonomic Atlas of the Benthic Fauna of the Santa Maria Basin and the Western Santa B (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Graneledone boreopacifica" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Current Classification of Recent Cephalopoda" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Graneledone boreopacifica" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Chung, Emily, "Octopus mom waits record 4.5 years for eggs to hatch", CBC News, 30 July 2014; Robison, "Deep-Sea Octopus (Graneledone boreopacifica) Conducts the Longest-Known Egg-Brooding Period of Any Animal", PLOS ONE, 2014-07-30; Robison, Bruce; Seibel, Brad; Drazen, Jeffrey (2014). "Deep-Sea Octopus (Graneledone boreopacifica) Conducts the Longest-Known Egg-Brooding Period of Any Animal (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Graneledone boreopacifica" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Voight, "A deep-sea octopus (Graneledone cf. boreopacifica) as a shell-crushing hydrothermal vent predator", Journal of Zoology, November 2000, p. 335–341 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Graneledone boreopacifica (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Same family (Megaleledonidae)

Thaumeledone gunteri Thaumeledone gunteriVelodona Velodona togata

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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