Mexican four-eyed octopus
| Mexican four-eyed octopus | ||||||||||||
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| Octopus maya | ||||||||||||
| ( Voss & Solis Ramirez , 1966) |
The Mexican four-eyed octopus ( Octopus maya ) is a large cephalopod from the genus of octopuses . He lives in the Gulf of Mexico . It was first described by Gilbert L. Voss and M. Solis Ramirez in 1966.
features
anatomy
Octopus maya has a coat length of 12 centimeters and reaches a total length of 1.3 meters. It can weigh up to five kilos.
The tentacles reach 3 to 4.5 times the length of the mantle. The lateral arms are usually the longest. Octopus maya has 2 rows of suction cups on each tentacle . There are no enlarged suction cups. In male quadrupeds, the third right arm forms the hectocotylus , the length of which is about 80% of the remaining arms. At the top is the ligula , which makes up 1.5 to 2% of the arm length. The calamus is of medium size with around 25% of the length of the ligula.
The velar skin has a moderate depth. It reaches deepest on the side arms and covers 20–30% of the arm length there. The transitions on the dorsal arms are the flattest. There is no interbrachial swim bladder . The gills have 9 to 10 lamellae per demibranch . The funnel organ has a W-shaped appearance, with the leg sides being approximately the same length. The radula consists of nine elements, seven rows of teeth and edge plates. The clearly pronounced goiter forms a secondary branch of the esophagus.
Appearance and camouflage
Octopus maya has a variable color pattern of a uniform dark brown and evenly light, cream-colored speckles. False eye spots ( ocelles ) are present and form two dark spots, each with a central point of light and a light outer ring. There are a few white spots across the dorsal mantle, which occasionally continue at the slightly anterior center of the mantle. Like all real octopuses, Octopus maya can adapt its appearance to its surroundings. This camouflage is a combination of different chromatophores and a change in skin texture.
Way of life
nutrition
The Mexican four-eyed octopus feeds on crabs (preferred by Menippe mercenaria , a stone crab ), snails and small fish. Octopus maya , on the other hand, is mainly hunted by groupers and Spanish mackerel .
habitat
The octopus maya lives in the Gulf of Mexico at a depth of up to 50 meters below sea level. He comes here on the coast of Campeche and the peninsula of Yucatán before. The Mexican four-eyed octopus prefers to live in shallow water, in meadows made of seagrass, shell subsoil and in coral reefs.
Reproduction
Like all real octopuses, the males transmit their sperm as so-called spermatophores . These are transmitted to the female with a special tentacle, the hectocotylus. The spawning season is from September to December, when the females arrange their eggs in garland-like structures. These are placed in crevices or mollusc shells. The eggs are relatively large and 17 millimeters in diameter. They are produced in a small number of less than 2000 pieces. The breeding season is 50 to 65 days. The young immediately leave the nest after hatching and lead a benthic life until they are fully grown. The lifespan is one to two years.
Economical meaning
The Mexican four-eyed octopus is fished on a large scale. The animals are caught with bait lines. In the late 1980s, the annual average was 5,000 to 8,000 tons. In 2000 the catch was estimated at 9,000 tons. The FAO production statistics reported a catch of around 8,000 tonnes in 2010.