# Histoctopus

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{{Short description|Genus of octopuses}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| taxon = Histoctopus
| authority = [Norman](/source/Mark_Norman_(marine_biologist)), Boucher-Rodoni & Hochberg, 2009 
| type_species = ''Histoctopus zipkasae''
| type_species_authority = Norman, Boucher-Rodoni & Hochberg, 2009<ref name = WoRMS>{{cite web | url = http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=456052 | title = ''Histoctopus'' Norman, Boucher-Rodoni & Hochberg, 2009 | access-date = 3 February 2018 | publisher = Flanders Marine Institute | author = Julian Finn | year = 2017 | work = World Register of Marine Species}}</ref>
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = 
*''[Histoctopus discus](/source/Histoctopus_discus)'' <small>Norman, Boucher-Rodoni & Hochberg, 2009</small>
*''[Histoctopus zipkasae](/source/Histoctopus_zipkasae)'' <small>Norman, Boucher-Rodoni & Hochberg, 2009</small>
}}

'''''Histoctopus''''' is an [octopus](/source/octopus) genus containing two species: ''[Histoctopus zipkasae](/source/Histoctopus_zipkasae)'', the [type species](/source/type_species), and ''[Histoctopus discus](/source/Histoctopus_discus)''. The former is found in the south-west Pacific Ocean while the latter is found in the Indian Ocean. The three taxa were described in 2009 by [Mark D. Norman](/source/Mark_Norman_(marine_biologist)), Renata Boucher-Rodoni and F. G. Hochberg in the ''[Journal of Molluscan Studies](/source/Journal_of_Molluscan_Studies)''. The genus name is derived from ''octopus'' and the Greek word ''histos'', meaning "web" or "tissue", in reference to the membrane on the outside of the arms. The type species was named ''zipkasae'', "after the senior author's wonderful wife, Karen Zipkas", while the name of ''H. discus'' comes from the Latin ''discus'', meaning "plate", in reference to the large suckers.<ref name=Norman>{{Cite journal | last1 = Norman | first1 = M. D. | last2 = Boucher-Rodoni | first2 = R. | last3 = Hochberg | first3 = F. G. | doi = 10.1093/mollus/eyp027 | title = A new genus and two new species of mesobenthic octopuses from Australia and New Caledonia | journal = Journal of Molluscan Studies | volume = 75 | issue = 4 | pages = 323–336 | year = 2009 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

''Histoctopus'' are small to medium-sized octopuses with an orange-brown colouration. Each muscular arm has two rows of large suckers. Nothing is known about the [life history](/source/biological_life_cycle) of either species. They are found at depths of between {{convert|200|and|750|m}}.<ref name=Norman/>

The genus is most similar to genera ''[Scaeurgus](/source/Scaeurgus)'' and ''[Galeoctopus](/source/Galeoctopus)'', based on [morphology](/source/morphology_(biology)). However, the [phylogenetic](/source/phylogenetic) relationship between ''Histoctopus'' and other genera is unknown. The "web margins" on the arms, which are the genus's most distinctive feature and for which it is named, are found in three other octopus genera (''[Velodona](/source/Velodona)'', ''[Graneledone](/source/Graneledone)'' and ''[Pteroctopus](/source/Pteroctopus)''), but they are readily distinguished by other characteristics. All four species inhabit the [benthic zone](/source/benthic_zone) of deep water habitat, typically deeper than {{convert|200|m}} (and significantly deeper in the case of ''Graneledone''), and so Norman ''et al.'' propose that the presence of the margins is the result of [convergent evolution](/source/convergent_evolution). Their [function](/source/function_(biology)) is unknown; it is possible that they act as an aid in ensnaring prey or as an aid in swimming.<ref name=Norman/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=456052 ''Histoctopus''], on the [World Register of Marine Species](/source/World_Register_of_Marine_Species)

{{Taxonbar|from=Q15690791}}

Category:Octopodidae
Category:Cephalopods described in 2009

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Histoctopus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histoctopus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histoctopus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.