#4760 · 🐌 snails, slugs & other molluscs

Common Octopus

🇳🇱 Gewone octopus ·Octopus vulgaris

LCleast concern 🐌 Snails, slugs & other molluscs 📍 in Europe, not in NL

7 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Susanne Spindler · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
2. © Kaila Wheatley Kornblum · CC BY-NC 4.0
3. © Dennis Rabeling · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
4. © Dennis Rabeling · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
5. © Stergios Vasilis · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
6. © jjulio2000 · CC BY-NC 4.0
7. © jjulio2000 · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

The common octopus ( Octopus vulgaris ) is a mollusc belonging to the class Cephalopoda. Octopus vulgaris is the most studied of all octopus species.

base stats

NL sightings 0iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 11,061iNaturalist observations
lifespan 2 yrmaximum recorded
threat LCleast concern

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

No confirmed wild sightings in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: you'd have to travel for this one.
11,061 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Can live up to 2 years.
Scientifically named by Georges Cuvier in 1797 (229 years ago).

fact sheet

English: Common Octopus
Nederlands: Gewone octopus
scientific name: Octopus vulgaris
class: Cephalopoda
order: Octopoda
family: Octopodidae
IUCN Red List: LC · least concern
sightings in NL: 0
sightings in Europe: 7,233
sightings worldwide: 11,061
GBIF records in NL: 29
weight: —
length: —
lifespan: 2 years
named: 1797 by Georges Cuvier

IUCN in Dutch: niet bedreigd. Blank means the sources don't say.

Sources: iNaturalist taxon 49315, Wikidata Q651361, GBIF 2289671, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.