Talk:Giant Pacific octopus

Latest comment: 1 month ago by Paskowsw in topic Wiki Education assignment: Deep-Sea Biology

Did I miss where it shared the size of the great octopus? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:1C2:1200:5870:0:0:0:986 (talk) 16:57, 23 February 2022 (UTC)Reply

Map with USA highlighted edit

Why is the USA highlighted? The species lives in numerous countries and throughout the North Pacific. Please include a map that doesn't single out one country to the exclusion of others. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.68.74.219 (talk) 03:58, 6 June 2017 (UTC)Reply

I'd like to know why you reverted the page deleting the link to the Video I added edit

UtherSRG,

The video (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6647659487495659414) was shot by a friend who was visiting the aquarium with me at the time... Is there some problem with linking to it (I didn't think that had any copyright implications)?

Would it be better if I conviced my friend to make the video available via the GFDL or something?

-G —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.49.59.131 (talkcontribs) .

It is unclear what reason the video serves. What part of the octopus is shown better through the video than the text/ How can we tell that this is the right species and not some other? - UtherSRG (talk) 11:41, 11 July 2006 (UTC)Reply
I just thought it was neat for people to actually see what these amazing creatures actually look like (since the article has no pictures or diagrams). And yes, it's the correct species - it was captured in Puget Sound, it has a life span of 3-5 years, the animal is definately quite large, the aquarium has a policy of capturing the animals and holding them for a year and then releasing them back into the wild so they can mate. But you need not take my word alone, here are some refs http://www.seattleaquarium.org/learn/research/ (species) and http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/traveloutdoors/2002181977_nwwoctopus17.html (which talks about releasing them back) -G —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.49.59.131 (talkcontribs) .
It is a first point of call for many people seeking information on the web. Having a video link only adds to the article. Have reverted to the previous edit. Nicolharper 16:21, 24 August 2006 (UTC)Reply
All I can see are a bunch of tentacles and (very occasionally) a bit of mantle. It's a nice home movie, but not a n appropriate link from an encyclopeida, IMO. - UtherSRG (talk) 13:01, 11 July 2006 (UTC)Reply
I disagree with removing the video, it should be kept until someone finds a better video and a picture of a North Pacific Giant Octopus. Even then, I think it is better to link to as many source as possible so long as they are not wrong. It is useful to be able to see the octopus, it is a long video and gives a fairly good view of the animal. I have added the video in a less prominent place. Nicolharper 15:47, 24 August 2006 (UTC)Reply

Wikipedia is not a collection of links. I've removed it again. - UtherSRG (talk) 16:17, 24 August 2006 (UTC)Reply


Wikipedia is a first port of call for many people seeking information. A video of the animal only improves the article, especially as there is no picture.

Quoting from WP:ISNOT

"Wikipedia articles are not

1. Mere collections of external links or Internet directories. There is nothing wrong with adding one or more useful content-relevant links to an article; however, excessive lists can dwarf articles and detract from the purpose of Wikipedia. "

The links are useful and content related. Two video links is hardly excessive, and certainly does not dwarf the article. Unless you can find better video please do not remove it again.

Nicolharper 16:24, 24 August 2006 (UTC)Reply

I'm with Nicol on this. The video is informative. Considering that most images are subject to copyright, this external link is a good way of showing what the animal looks like. Malamockq 18:37, 28 August 2006 (UTC)Reply
Personally, when looking up the largest of all known octopus species, I would find a photo, illustration or movie helpful and encyclopedic. Perhaps a more informative clip would be desirable, but (IMHO) this movie is preferable to not having any visual information at all. (Provided, of course, that the species on the clip is verified as NPGO) ---Sluzzelin 05:04, 29 August 2006 (UTC)Reply

That video was informative, I didn't know pacific octopus ate sharks, that cool and interesting, I'm inclined to leave the video here, it shows a scientific discovery about the octopus and their habits. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.230.106.144 (talkcontribs) .

That's a different video. - UtherSRG (talk) 16:45, 9 October 2006 (UTC)Reply


Big edit

I have repeatedly edited this page, someone keeps saying the Giant Pafici Octopus is not the largest octopus. That is not true, it clearly is the largest octopus, I've reverted this a couple of times and I also reverted the seven armed octopus article. On the discussion page for that article I posted a half dozen links backing up my claim that the Giant Pacific Octopus is the largest, I will now insert them here. TotallyTempo 03:31, 12 October 2006 (UTC) Links: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjewwcts/invertebrates/octopus/Octopuscoloring.shtml http://www.octopus.com/species/ http://bjo.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/87/7/812 http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/programs/expert/octopus/ TotallyTempo 03:34, 12 October 2006 (UTC)Reply

I have cited an article written by Dr. Steve O'Shea, one of the foremost experts on cephalopods, published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. You have linked to a number of websites that regurgitate the same *questionable* claims for which there is *no evidence*. I have made it clear in the introduction that the North Pacific Giant Octopus is the second largest based on scientific records. Mgiganteus1 08:25, 12 October 2006 (UTC)Reply

272 kilos?? edit

To call an estimate of 272 kg "highly questionable" is an understatement. "absurd, given our knowledge of the species" is more like it. That would make it a legitimate rival to the giant and colossal squids.

Is the referece provided based on an actual weighing, or an estimation based on a sighting? Because if it is the latter (or if it is at all ambiguous about it), I suggest we don't include this "big fish" story. - Atarr 01:13, 16 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Its not absurd, considering the nature of octopus growth. Octopuses demonstrate indeterminate growth, which begins exponentially and become logarithmic in the final stages of life. This means that a small change in growth conditions early in life can produce very large changes in the final weight of the animal. This is a well documented phenomenon in octopuses. For instance, O. rubescens normally only attains a grown weight of 100g, but it is not unheard of to observe 400-500g individuals. Considering giant Pacific octopuses regularly attain a final mass of around 40kg, it would almost be expected that there would be some outliers weighing upwards of 150kg. Well, twice individuals have been caught and weighed by fisherman of close to 180kg, one in California and one in Port Hardy, BC (the CA individual was photographed.) Neither of these weights were overseen by a scientist, but seem reasonably credible and are frequently cited by GPO biologists. Personally, a 272kg animal does seem quite a bit large, but honestly, its not impossible nor absurd. It is exactly as the article puts it: “Highly questionable”. Taollan82 05:28, 18 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Right, as the editor who worked on this article to add those claims, those claims are indeed questionable. However certain museums such as the royal British Columbian museum and various aqariums state that these octopi have been caught. Until we catch another one as large these claims will remain highly questionable though substatiated enough to warrant inclusion in the article TotallyTempo 08:47, 18 February 2007 (UTC)Reply

Misplaced sentence edit

"Among other things, some species of octopus have been reported to unscrew jar lids to retrieve food and mimic the behaviors of other octopuses ."

Is it just me, or does it seem like this sentence should not be in the section about the intelligence of the North Pacific Giant Octopus? It is speaking not of the North Pacific Giant Octopus, but of other octopus species. If this sentence should be anywhere, it should be in the article on cephalopod intelligence. Am I right?--01:04, 16 December 2008 (UTC)Star Trek enthusiast (talk)

Common Name edit

I propose that this article be officially renamed to "Giant Pacific Octopus" Every reference in the references section uses this common name, Mark Norman in Cephalopods: A world guide uses this name, tolweb.org uses this name. Giant Pacific Octopus is ubiquitously used, including being the name used nearly exclusively in scientific literature, while North Pacific Giant Octopus is virtually never used. In fact the only place I know it was ever used other than this wikipedia page is cephbase, which now is inaccessible and has been for a while. To add insult to injury, "giant pacific octopus" redirects to the genus page. This is somewhat ridiculous. Honestly, if I had my way, all wikiproject ceph articles should use scientific names as the primary article names, but I doubt I would be able to stem the current momentum. Cephs aren't birds for which nearly everyone knows common names and for which even most scientific articles use primarily the common names. Taollan82 (talk) 07:22, 4 March 2009 (UTC)Reply

UM.....Martini? edit

Is this true? The entteroctopus dofleini martini thing? My friend is doing a roject and needs to know. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Remey007 (talkcontribs) 04:46, 31 January 2011 (UTC)Reply

Yes. It is presumably formed from the personal name Martin; nothing to do with the cocktail. :-) mgiganteus1 (talk) 00:08, 1 February 2011 (UTC)Reply

Requested Move edit

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: withdrawn, per nominator. Everyone seems happy to use the binomial. ErikHaugen (talk | contribs) 17:10, 29 September 2011 (UTC)Reply


North Pacific Giant OctopusGiant Pacific Octopus – As per talk, the name is definitely Giant Pacific Octopus, and the only source to use North Pacific Giant Octopus is no longer in use. North Pacific Giant Octopus gets 167,000 hits on a google search while Giant Pacific Octopus gets 537,000 Jeancey (talk) 05:27, 14 September 2011 (UTC)Reply

Yes this has been resolved :) Jeancey (talk) 02:29, 29 September 2011 (UTC)Reply
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.


Requested move 11 July 2014 edit

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: no consensus, default to long term stable title, Enteroctopus dofleini. Jenks24 (talk) 10:46, 26 July 2014 (UTC)Reply



Giant pacific octopusGiant Pacific octopus – Per WP:NCCAPS as "Pacific" is a proper noun here. The octopus is named for inhabiting the Pacific Ocean, not for being peaceful. --Relisted. Armbrust The Homunculus 11:56, 18 July 2014 (UTC) NebY (talk) 08:58, 11 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Survey edit

Feel free to state your position on the renaming proposal by beginning a new line in this section with *'''Support''' or *'''Oppose''', then sign your comment with ~~~~. Since polling is not a substitute for discussion, please explain your reasons, taking into account Wikipedia's policy on article titles.
  • Comment. I think a better solution would be to reverse the recent undiscussed move, returning the title to Enteroctopus dofleini. Linnaean binomials are used for the titles of almost all the articles that appear in Category:Octopodidae, and see the 2011 move discussion immediately above this section. Deor (talk) 22:38, 11 July 2014 (UTC)Reply

Discussion edit

Any additional comments:

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.


Section 7: Please remove the speculative text and clean up the references edit

The bulk of section 7 is the bulk of the article text. This is not necessarily problematic. However, most of the text of section 7 is speculative and use questionable sources. (e.g. the link for PCBs use Wikipedia as the source. Standard practice when citing sources is to NOT use a prior article that "you" are considered the author of, in this case "you" means Wikipedia, regardless of contributor. This is to prevent the appearance of bias/ the appearance of just making things up...) These problems are endemic through the section. Please don't construe this as somehow politically motivated. I agree that climate change is probably going to kill this species off. I am only taking issue with the low quality of the section. 75.73.76.99 (talk) 04:43, 15 May 2015 (UTC)Reply

Complete sections of the article fail to provide information specific to the entry edit

...and it's not as if the encyclopedia didn't have entries for which this information is specific, is it? 178.238.167.23 (talk) 14:58, 11 October 2015 (UTC)Reply

External links modified edit

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External links modified edit

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Requested move 25 April 2018 edit

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: moved as requested, per the discussion below. Dekimasuよ! 17:42, 1 May 2018 (UTC)Reply



Enteroctopus dofleiniGiant Pacific octopus – Clear common name. I get 46k ghits for just the species name and 411k for the proposed, almost 9x (other common name mentioned in lead gets only 20k). Proposed also appears in half of the scholar search items and don't see another mentioned. The 4-year-old RM (at Talk:Enteroctopus dofleini#Requested move 11 July 2014) with only one comment that led to the article's reversion back to the binomial has flawed reasoning that's outdated now anyway. Rhinopias (talk) 23:02, 24 April 2018 (UTC)Reply

This is a contested technical request (permalink). GeoffreyT2000 (talk) 00:14, 25 April 2018 (UTC)Reply
  • This needs to be discussed, as there was an earlier RM that did not result in a consensus. GeoffreyT2000 (talk) 00:14, 25 April 2018 (UTC)Reply
  • Support move to common name. Rreagan007 (talk) 20:48, 30 April 2018 (UTC)Reply

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Toxins not directly related to climate change edit

PCB and heavy metal accumulation in the octopus is summarized in the article as being a result of climate change, which is inaccurate. Toxins should be separately grouped as a threat, as, like much terribly destructive pollution, it is occurring and impacting the ecosystem independent of the emissions that are driving climate change. Ogbn (talk) 15:52, 17 November 2019 (UTC)Reply

Description: none edit

Apart from the picture captions, there is absolutely nothing here in terms of description. Arminden (talk) 10:59, 30 August 2021 (UTC)Reply

I was particularly interested in the hooks allegedly associated with the suckers. They don't show on the suckers close-up, a description we don't have, so I got nothing. Arminden (talk) 11:02, 30 August 2021 (UTC)Reply

Clubs edit

The boys and girls club in the airport is bad 2404:4404:1001:5800:ADBC:28:3209:F06E (talk) 02:49, 4 July 2022 (UTC)Reply

Home edit

Super mario 46.252.44.145 (talk) 16:22, 27 February 2023 (UTC)Reply

Climate Change edit

The last half of the article becomes a lecture on climate change and has only a tangential connection to the octopus itself. Such a lecture could be attached to a description of pretty much every species in the ocean. I have no argument with the claims, I just don't think that most of them belong in this article. RobotBoy66 (talk) 08:19, 25 February 2024 (UTC)Reply

Wiki Education assignment: Deep-Sea Biology edit

  This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 16 January 2024 and 2 May 2024. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Annabellebeaton, ExploringTheDeep (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Paskowsw, Gabrodi, Julia Serra.

— Assignment last updated by Paskowsw (talk) 17:30, 25 March 2024 (UTC)Reply