Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation

Various species of Octopodidae are commonly found in seafood markets throughout Southern California. Most of the octopus available for purchase is imported, with the majority of imports coming from various Asian nations. Despite the diversity of global octopus species, products are most commonly labeled as simply “octopus,” with some distinctions being made in size, e.g., “baby” or “little octopus.” In efforts to characterize species diversity, this study genetically tested 59 octopus samples from a variety of seafood markets in Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego Counties. Universal 16S rRNA primers (ref) and CO1 primers developed by Folmer et al. (1994) were used for PCR amplification and sequencing of mtDNA. In all, 105 sequences were acquired. Seven species were identified with some confidence. Amphioctopus aegina was the most prevalent species, while two additional species were undetermined. Little available data exists pertaining to octopus fisheries of the countries of production of the samples. Most available information on octopus fisheries pertains to those of Mediterranean and North African nations, and identifies the Octopus vulgaris as the fished species. Characterizing octopus diversity in Southern California seafood markets and assessing labeling and countries of production provides the necessary first step for assessing the possible management implications of these fisheries and seafood supply chain logistics for this group of cephalopods.