ID Help - Larval Octopus from Southeast Florida, USA

Linda I

Hatchling
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Joined
Aug 20, 2016
Messages
4
Location
Boca Raton, FL
Hi, I know this is difficult, but can anyone provide an ID for this larval octopus? It was found during a black water dive in the gulf stream off the coast of southeast Florida. Thanks for any help you can provide.
 

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Way out of my league here (I CAN say it is not O. briareus :grin) but I will guess this is a squid and not an octopus because it looks like the mantle is not dorsally attached and there are more colors than we usually see on octo hatchlings. However, I do not see any sign of a fin and would expect one if it is a squid.

After looking at tons of images, I think it is indeed an octopus and not a squid. The most common would be O. vulgaris but I am no sure how you would go about IDing the species.

@GPO87 @Tintenfisch ?
 
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Way out of my league here (I CAN say it is not O. briareus :grin) but I will guess this is a squid and not an octopus because it looks like the mantle is not dorsally attached and there are more colors than we usually see on octo hatchlings. However, I do not see any sign of a fin and would expect one if it is a squid.

After looking at tons of images, I think it is indeed an octopus and not a squid. The most common would be O. vulgaris but I am no sure how you would go about IDing the species.

@GPO87 @Tintenfisch ?

Thanks, I was pretty sure it was an octopus. There were also a lot of small squid in the water at the same time, but the look and behavior was different. The octo was shorter and fatter, with the tentacles curled around the body. The squid were longer and narrow, with the tentacles extended to the front, also moving around very quickly. Thanks for "looking at tons of images" and trying to come up with an ID>
 
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