{{Short description|Undescribed species of octopus}} {{Automatic taxobox | image = Flickr - JennyHuang - octopus (2).jpg | image_caption = Mimicking a flatfish | display_parents = 0 | taxon = Octopodidae | genus_text = | species_text = White V octopus | binomial_text = Not yet named }}
The '''white V octopus''', also referred to as '''Octopus sp.18''', or '''blandopus''',<ref name="Han10"/> is an undescribed species of octopus in the family Octopodidae which inhabits the Indo-Pacific. Its morphology has not been described in detail, so it has not received a binomial name, but its genetics has been studied which revealed it as a close relative of both the mimic octopus and wunderpus.<ref name="Phylo"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Octopodidae sp. 'Blandopus white V' |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=707286 |website=ncbi.nlm.nih.gov |publisher=National Center for Biotechnology Information |access-date=12 October 2025}}</ref> Some sources consider it as a species of ''Abdopus''.<ref name="RG">{{cite web |title=White-V Octopus |url=https://www.reefguide.org/abdopussp1.html |website=reefguide.org |publisher=ReefGuide |access-date=12 October 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=White-V Octopus (Abdopus sp.1) |url=https://scuba.spanglers.com/species/abdopus-sp.1 |website=scuba.spanglers.com |publisher=Spanglers' Scuba |access-date=12 October 2025}}</ref> [[File:Octopus sp Timor.jpg|thumb|Closeup; Timor-Leste]] The white V octopus is considered a small-bodied species,<ref name="Lembeh"/> possessing arms which are up to {{convert|15|cm|abbr=out}} long.<ref name="RG"/>
Found in marine habitats in Indonesia (such as the Lembeh Strait)<ref name="Lembeh"/> and the Philippines,<ref name="RG"/><ref name="Phylo"/> the white V octopus inhabits sandy substrates with a depth of less than {{convert|50|m|abbr=out}}.<ref name="Phylo"/> White V octopus are able to mimic flatfish, akin to its close relatives, though it remains cryptically colored during this behavior unlike the mimic octopus.<ref name="Phylo"/> It has been suggested that this species is a "high-fidelity mimic of ''Bothus mancus''".<ref name="Han10">{{cite journal |author1=Roger T. Hanlon|author2=Anya C. Watson|author3=Alexandra Barbosa |title=A "Mimic Octopus" in the Atlantic: Flatfish Mimicry and Camouflage by Macrotritopus defilippi |journal=The Biological Bulletin |date=February 2010 |volume=218 |issue=1 |pages=15–24 |doi=10.1086/BBLv218n1p15 |pmid=20203250 }}</ref> The white V octopus only mimics flatfish when moving quickly, and seems to be a less prolific mimic than the mimic octopus.<ref name="Lembeh">{{cite journal |author=Hanlon, R. T. |author2=Conroy, L.-A. |author3=Forsythe, J. W. |year=2008 |title=Mimicry and foraging behaviour of two tropical sand-flat octopus species off North Sulawesi, Indonesia |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=93 |pages=23–38 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.2007.00948.x |doi-access=free}}</ref> Being sympatric with both the wunderpus and mimic octopus, it is assumed that they all compete with one another, though the specifics of their ecological interaction requires further study.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Chelsea O. Bennice |author2=W. Randy Brooks |author3=Roger T. Hanlon|title=Behavioral dynamics provide insight into resource exploitation and habitat coexistence of two octopus species in a shallow Florida lagoon |journal=Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology |date=June 2021 |volume=542-543 |pages=542–543 |article-number=151592 |doi=10.1016/j.jembe.2021.151592 |bibcode=2021JEMBE.54251592B }}</ref>
The following phylogenetic tree is taken from a 2010 study by Huffard, Saarman, Hamilton, and Simison:<ref name="Phylo">{{cite journal |author1=CHRISTINE L. HUFFARD |author2=NORAH SAARMAN2|author3=HEALY HAMILTON |author4=W. BRIAN SIMISON4 |title=The evolution of conspicuous facultative mimicry in octopuses: an example of secondary adaptation? |journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |date=2010 |volume=101 |pages=68–77 |doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.2010.01484.x |url=https://crissyhuffard.com/uploads/3/0/9/5/3095637/huffard_et_al_conspicuous_facultative_mimicry_octopus_2010.pdf |access-date=12 October 2025}}</ref> {{clade |1={{clade |1=''Cistopus indicus'' |2=''Octopus cyanea'' }} |2={{clade |1={{clade |1=''Abdopus sp.'' 1 |2={{clade |1=''Abdopus aculeatus'' |2=''Abdopus sp.'' "Ward" }} }} |2={{clade |1="Hawaiian Long Armed Sand" octopus |2='''"White V" octopus''' |3={{clade |1=''Wunderpus photogenicus'' |2=''Thaumoctopus mimicus'' }} }} }} }} The authors of this study suggested that both the white V and Hawaiian long-armed sand octopus should be included in the genus ''Thaumoctopus'', though this would necessarily render ''Wunderpus'' as that genus' junior synonym. Alternatively, the clade is referred to as the "Long Armed Sand Octopus" clade (LASO).<ref name="Phylo"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
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Category:Octopodidae Category:Undescribed mollusc species Category:Cephalopods of Asia Category:Molluscs of Indonesia