{{Short description|Species of octopus}} {{Speciesbox | image = Octopus vitiensis 2.jpg | status = DD | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref>{{cite iucn |author=Allcock, L. |author2=Headlam, J. |author3=Allen, G. |year=2018 |title=''Octopus vitiensis'' |volume=2018 |article-number=e.T162907A952117 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T162907A952117.en |access-date=12 September 2025}}</ref> | taxon = Octopus vitiensis | authority = Hoyle, 1885 }}
'''''Octopus vitiensis''''', or the '''bighead octopus,'''<ref>{{Citation |last=Cole |first=Theodor C. H. |title=IX. Mollusca: Cephalopoda – Kopffüßer – Cephalopods |date=2017 |work=Wörterbuch der Wirbellosen / Dictionary of Invertebrates: Latein-Deutsch-Englisch |pages=157–163 |editor-last=Cole |editor-first=Theodor C. H. |place=Berlin, Heidelberg |publisher=Springer |language=de |doi=10.1007/978-3-662-52869-3_9 |isbn=978-3-662-52869-3}}</ref> is a species of octopus<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-02-07 |title=Octopus vitiensis Hoyle, 1885 |url=https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=342044 |access-date=2023-03-15 |website=World Register of Marine Species}}</ref> provisionally placed in the genus ''Octopus''.<ref name=":0" /> It was described by William Evans Hoyle in 1885<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hoyle |first=William E. |date=1885 |title=XIX.—''Diagnoses of new species of Cephalopoda collected during the cruise of H.M.S. 'Challenger.'''—Part I. ''The Octopoda'' |journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History |volume=15 |issue=87 |pages=222–236 |doi=10.1080/00222938509459320 |issn=0374-5481}}</ref> based on a specimen found in reefs in Kandavu, Fiji<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=Norman |first1=M. D. |url=https://www.fao.org/publications/card/en/c/6d398e2d-abf1-57f1-91d5-664b06874ee6/ |title=Cephalopods of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Cephalopod Species Known to Date |last2=Finn |first2=J. K. |last3=Hochberg |first3=F. G. |publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations |year=2016 |isbn=978-92-5-107989-8 |editor-last=Jereb |editor-first=Patrizia |volume=3: Octopods and Vampire Squids |location=Rome, Italy |page=215 |language=en |chapter=Family Octopodidae |editor-last2=Roper |editor-first2=Clyde F. E. |editor-last3=Norman |editor-first3=Mark D. |editor-last4=Finn |editor-first4=Julian K.}}</ref> during a voyage of HMS ''Challenger''.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last1=Thomson |first1=C. Wyville |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QAQTQYSJuuEC |title=Report on the scientific results of the voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-76 under the command of Captain George S. Nares and the late Captain Frank Tourle Thomson, R.N |last2=Murray |first2=John |last3=Nares |first3=George S. |last4=Thomson |first4=Frank Tourle |publisher=H.M. Stationery Office |year=1886 |location=Edinburgh, UK |language=en}}</ref>
== Description == ''O. vitiensis'' is maroon to dark purple-black in color.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Huffard |first=Christine L. |date=2007 |title=Four new species of shallow water pygmy octopus (Mollusca: Cephalopoda) from the Kingdom of Tonga |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263083845 |journal=Molluscan Research |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=147–170}}</ref> It has large eyes, a broad head, and arms of moderate length.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Ward |first=Linda A. |date=2003 |title=The cephalopods of Guam |url=https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=f6afef006f1a5fd7d2b46fbf6ecfc890933f258c |journal=Micronesia |volume=35-36 |pages=294–302}}</ref> The species is described as robust<ref name=":1" /> and muscular<ref name=":2" /> with scattered warts on the skin.<ref name=":3" /> ''O. vitiensis'' is small,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Voight |first=Janet R. |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/6317/SCtZ-0586_VolII-Lo_res.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=2#page=279 |title=Systematics and Biogeography of Cephalopods |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |year=1998 |editor-last=Voss |editor-first=Nancy A. |series=Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology |volume=II |publication-place=Washington, DC |language=en |chapter=An Overview of Shallow-Water Octopus Biogeography |editor-last2=Vecchione |editor-first2=Michael |editor-last3=Toll |editor-first3=Ronald B. |editor-last4=Sweeney |editor-first4=Michael J. |issue=586}}</ref> and has a mantle length of up to 60 millimeters and a total length of up to 250 millimeters.<ref name=":0" />
== Distribution == ''O. vitiensis'' is tropical,<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Octopus vitiensis, Bighead octopus |url=https://www.sealifebase.ca/summary/Octopus-vitiensis.html |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=SeaLifeBase}}</ref> found in Fiji, Tonga, and Papua New Guinea;<ref name=":0" /> and benthic,<ref name=":4" /> found at depths of zero to 20 meters.<ref name=":0" />
== Life cycle == ''O. vitiensis'' lays eggs two millimeters in length.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Villanueva |first1=Roger |last2=Norman |first2=Mark D. |date=2008 |title=Biology of the Planktonic Stages of Benthic Octopuses |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266223304 |journal=Oceanography and Marine Biology |volume=46 |pages=105–202}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
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Category:Octopodidae Category:Cephalopods described in 1885
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