Morphological and genetic evidence that Octopus vulgaris Cuvier, 1797 inhabits Amsterdam and Saint Paul Islands (southern Indian Ocean)

Abstract

The coastal octopus at Saint Paul and Amsterdam Islands is Octopus vulgaris Cuvier 1797. Meristic and morphological characters, along with phylogenetic analysis of COI and COIII DNA sequences, were used to identify 11 animals collected in 2000 or 2001. The range of the species is therefore expanded to include the oceanic islands of the central southern Indian Ocean. The trees also depicted the genus Octopus as polyphyletic and O. vulgaris sense Cuvier or sensu stricto as monophyletic