Flapjack Octopus, Grimpoteuthis californiana

Flapjack Octopus, Grimpoteuthis californiana. Octopus collected off the surface in coastal waters off San Diego, California, August 2022. This specimen was near death and missing its  “Dumbo ears”.  Photographs and identification courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.

Philogeny:  The Flapjack Octopus, Grimpoteuthis californiana (S.S. Berry, 1949), is a member of the Grimpoteuthidae Family of Dumbo Octopuses. The genus Grimpoteuthis is one of three genera in this family, and there are seventeen species in this genus. Species in this family are also known as Cirrate Octopuses, Finned Deep-sea Octopuses, and Deep-sea Umbrella Octopuses. Dumbo Octopuses are rare, deep water, animals that are poorly studied and understood. Few sources will commit to identifying a species beyond the genus level, so this identification should be considered to as tentative. The Flapjack Octopus is also known as the California Flapjack Octopus, the Flapjack Devilfish and the Pink Flapjack Octopus, and in Mexico as Pulpo Panqueque.

Morphology: Flapjack Octopuses are pelagic mollusks with soft, sac-like bodies and a vestigial internal shell. Their bodies are short and bell-shaped. They have bilateral symmetry and two well-developed eyes. Unlike other octopuses, they lack an ink sack and have an under-developed beak. Like all octopuses, they have eight arms, each lined with two rows of suckers. They have strand-like structures (cirri) on their suction cups, which allow them to detect their prey and move it to their mouths more easily. The arms are much shorter than other octopuses, and are strongly webbed. Viewed from below, when their arms are spread, it looks like an open umbrella. They have a pair of ear-like fins that protrude from their mantle, resembling the Disney character Dumbo. These fins are located just above the eyes and are used for swimming. Flapjack Octopuses are orange,  pink, or red in color. The mantle length reaches a maximum of 20 cm (7.9 inches) in length, with males being larger than females.

Habitat and Distribution: Flapjack Octopuses get their name from the way they flatten out on the seafloor, like a pancake. From the limited data we have, they seem to prefer soft substrates and their para-larvae  are found at 200 m (660 ft) with the adults moving to deeper waters between 500 m (1,600 feet) and 1,500 m (4,900 feet). Flapjack Octopuses are found all temperate and sub-tropical waters of the Pacific Ocean and in Mexican waters are found from the United States border south to Mazatlán, Sinaloa. They are present in the Central and Southern Sea of Cortez.

Diet:  Flapjack Octopuses are predatory hunters that probe the seafloor with their small sucker discs and cirri, or they flap their webbed arms to stir up sediment, exposing prey. The octopus will trap prey with its arms and move them to its mouth with its suckers. They consume amphipods, bristle worms, copepods, snails and worms.

Predators: Flapjack Octopuses’ are preyed upon by various fishes and marine mammals including dolphins, fur seals, sharks, tunas and whales..

Reproduction:  Flapjack Octopuses are gonochoric (male or female for life). Reproduction is sexual with internal fertilization. During copulation, the male grasps the female and inserts the hectocotylus (A specialized arm that delivers a sperm packet) into the female’s mantle cavity where fertilization occurs. The female stores the sperm and fertilizes only one or two eggs at a time.  Females can carry 200–500 eggs in various stages of development. The eggs have a hard shell, and are laid under a rock. It can take over a year for the egg to hatch. The eggs hatch into a  planktonic stage and live for some time before they grow larger and take up a benthic existence as adults. Male and female adults die shortly after spawning and brooding, respectively.

Ecosystem Interactions: Flapjack Octopuses are a poorly studied and understood species. There is no documentation of commensal, parasitic or symbiotic relationships.

Human Interactions:   Flapjack octopuses have very limited impact on human activities. From a conservation perspective there is insufficient data to ascertain their population status.

Synonym:  Opisthoteuthis albatrossi.