Callistoctopus rapanui, or the rapanui octopus,[1] is the only endemic octopus species in Rapa Nui (or Easter Island).[2] It was first described by Gilbert L. Voss in 1979[3] as Octopus rapanui.[4]
Description
Callistoctopus rapanui is large and muscular, with a mantle length of up to 115 millimetres (4.5 in) and a total length of up to 550 millimetres (22 in). It has scattered rough tubercles across the body.[5] The arms are 3.5 to 4.5 times the length of the mantle, and have two rows of suckers each. C. rapanui is cream-gray with a darker purple hue on its dorsal surfaces.[6] Its most distinctive feature is a "straight, out-turned" rostrum.[7]
Distribution
Callistoctopus rapanui is subtropical[1] and only known in Rapa Nui.[6] It is benthic,[1] and found at depths of zero to four metres (0 to 13 ft).[6]
Use by humans
Callistoctopus rapanui are fished for food in Rapa Nui, and make up 0.6% of subsistence fishing catch.[8]
^Voight, Janet R. (1998). "An Overview of Shallow-Water Octopus Biogeography". In Voss, Nancy A.; Vecchione, Michael; Toll, Ronald B.; Sweeney, Michael J. (eds.). Systematics and Biogeography of Cephalopods(PDF). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology Number 586. Vol. II. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
