Biodiversity & Conservation

Curled octopus - Eledone cirrhosa - General information

Eledone cirrhosa

Image Bernard Picton - Eledone cirrhosa Image width ca 50 cm.
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Distribution map

Eledone cirrhosa recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Eledone cirrhosa is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Emily Wilson Text page icon Refereed by:

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Mollusca Snails, slugs, mussels, cockles, clams & squid
Class Cephalopoda Cuttlefish, nautilus, octopus & squid
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland All British and Irish coasts.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Found on rocky coasts, lower shore, sublittoral.
Text page icon Description A broad mantled octopus up to 50 cm in length, with a smooth or finely tuberculate body. The arms are slender, finely tapered distally and curled when at rest, with a single row of suckers. The colour is predominantly red-brown dorsally and white ventrally but species are able to change colour quickly to match their background.

This review can be cited as follows:

Emily Wilson 2008. Eledone cirrhosa. Curled octopus. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 03/09/2010]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=3248>