Maori Octopus (Octopus of New Zealand)

Maori Octopus

Macroctopus maorum

Colour ⁴

Orange brown to dark brick red base colour (First photo above)
Numerous small white spots scattered over mantle and dorsal arm crown (second photo above)
Orange lateral faces of arms

Texture ⁴

Skin texture of small irregular patches and papillae over all dorsal and lateral surfaces
More than 20 large spike-like papillae can be raised on the body and upper arm crown

Other Information ⁴

Suckers at the base of the dorsal arms are larger than the suckers at the base of the other arms, one pair of dorsal arms are much longer than the other pair of dorsal arms, are found more on the sand flats, tend to be greyer, have white spots (usually) on the arms

All O. maorum have numerous distinctive small iridescent white spots on the arms, web and dorsal arm crown, these spots being absent on the mantle (Third photo above)

Reference ⁴

CEPHALOPODS OF THE WORLD, AN ANNOTATED AND ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE OF CEPHALOPOD SPECIES KNOWN TO DATE Volume 3. Octopods and Vampire Squids Page 199

BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, 65(3): 657–676, 1999. MORPHOLOGY AND BIOLOGY OF OCTOPUS MAORUM HUTTON 1880 IN NORTHERN NEW ZEALAND, Tara J. Anderson

From a Research Paper ⁴

BULLETIN OF MARINE SCIENCE, 65(3): 657–676, 1999
MORPHOLOGY AND BIOLOGY OF OCTOPUS MAORUM
HUTTON 1880 IN NORTHERN NEW ZEALAND
Tara J. Anderson
COLOR PATTERNS.—Coloration among O. maorum individuals varied between two color morphs—individuals are either an orange-brown or a light to dark purple-gray. Individual coloration was conservative and color morphs mated freely. Color differences among individuals did not appear to be related to either size or sex. All O. maorum have numerous distinctive small iridescent white spots on the arms, web and dorsal arm crown, these spots being absent on the mantle (Fig. 2). These white spots were apparent on live, freshly dead, and frozen octopus, but appeared yellow-orange in preserved specimens and were less distinct. (Pg 661)

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