North Pacific giant octopus
Amazing fact
The giant Pacific octopus brings prey back to its den to eat and leaves the remains at the entrance.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
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The giant Pacific octopus brings prey back to its den to eat and leaves the remains at the entrance.
THE REAL WORLD
The real North Pacific giant octopus
- Scientific name
- Enteroctopus dofleini
- Japanese name
- ミズダコ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Class
- Cephalopoda
- Order
- Octopoda
- Family
- Octopodidae
- Genus
- Enteroctopus
An octopus of the North Pacific that lives from shallow coastal seas to very deep water, and grows very large.
It is usually reddish, but it can change the color and texture of its skin when threatened or to hide.
By day it hides in holes and hollows; at night it becomes active and eats shrimp, shellfish and other prey.
How the North Pacific giant octopus lives
It sometimes pulls a shell apart to eat what is inside. Around spring, the female lays eggs on rocks and other surfaces on the sea floor. The female cares for the eggs.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebアクアマリンふくしまBasic data
- Weight
- average 60 kgUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Lifespan
- 4–5 yearsUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)アクアマリンふくしま
- Diet
- Shrimp, shellfish, and other animalsアクアマリンふくしま
- Range
- Pacific OceanUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
Where the North Pacific giant octopus has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
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
- ミズダコ
- 简体中文
- 北太平洋巨型章鱼
- 繁體中文
- 北太平洋巨型章魚
- 한국어
- 문어
- Español
- Pulpo gigante
- Français
- Pieuvre géante du Pacifique
- Deutsch
- Pazifischer Riesenkrake
- Português (Brasil)
- Polvo-gigante-do-pacífico
- Italiano
- Polpo gigante del Pacifico
- العربية
- أخطبوط المحيط الهادئ العملاق
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Gurita pasifik utara
- Русский
- Гигантский осьминог
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- アクアマリンふくしま — ミズダコChecked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Enteroctopus dofleiniChecked: 2026-11-03
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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