Greater blue-ringed octopus
Amazing fact
The greater blue-ringed octopus lures prey by wriggling an arm tip like a worm.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
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An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
The greater blue-ringed octopus lures prey by wriggling an arm tip like a worm.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Greater blue-ringed octopus
- Scientific name
- Hapalochlaena lunulata
- Japanese name
- オオマルモンダコ
- Group
- Ocean animals
- Class
- Cephalopoda
- Order
- Octopoda
- Family
- Octopodidae
- Genus
- Hapalochlaena
It lives from the Nansei Islands southward, in the tropical seas from India to the western Pacific.
The bright blue markings on its skin are all rings, with just the inner and outer edge of each ring dark.
It carries the eggs it has laid between its arms, caring for them as it moves around.
How the Greater blue-ringed octopus lives
It usually hides in places such as rock crevices and seashells. It glides toward a crab and pounces, catching it in its arms and pulling it toward its beak-like jaws. Crustacean shells and hollowed-out legs lie scattered just outside its home. It lives alone except during mating rituals.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Range
- The Nansei Islands and southward, and tropical waters of the Indian to western Pacific Oceans
Where the Greater blue-ringed 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
- オオマルモンダコ
- 简体中文
- 新月豹纹蛸
- 繁體中文
- 大藍環章魚
- Français
- Poulpe aux anneaux bleus
- Deutsch
- Großer Blaugeringelter Krake
- Português (Brasil)
- Polvo-de-anéis-azuis-grande
- Italiano
- Polpo dagli anelli blu maggiore
- العربية
- أخطبوط أزرق الحلقات هلالي
- Tiếng Việt
- Bạch tuộc đốm xanh lớn
- Русский
- Синекольчатый 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
- 鳥羽水族館 — オオマルモンダコChecked: 2026-11-04
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Hapalochlaena lunulataChecked: 2026-11-06
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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