Japanese Pygmy Octopus
Amazing fact
Japanese pygmy octopuses have been seen actively catching fish and crabs at low tide at night.
科学技術振興機構
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Japanese pygmy octopuses have been seen actively catching fish and crabs at low tide at night.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Japanese Pygmy Octopus
- Scientific name
- Octopus parvus
- Japanese name
- マメダコ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Class
- Cephalopoda
- Order
- Octopoda
- Family
- Octopodidae
- Genus
- Octopus
How the Japanese Pygmy Octopus lives
In a study on Fukue Island, their bodies grew markedly from summer to winter. In that study, males and females were similar in body size and growth. The study suggests they may later move to areas that stay underwater at low tide to lay eggs.
科学技術振興機構Basic data
- Size
- Total length: about 15 cm
- Range
- South of the Boso Peninsula
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- マメダコ
- 简体中文
- 日本微蛸
- 繁體中文
- 日本微蛸
- Español
- Pulpito de japon
- Deutsch
- Japanischer Zwergkrake
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 鳥羽水族館 — マメダコChecked: 2026-11-04
- 科学技術振興機構 — 潮間帯におけるマメダコ Octopus parvusの季節的な出現Checked: 2026-11-07
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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