Muusoctopus levis

Description

It is known to inhabit shallow depths between 21 and. It is predatory, living and feeding in the benthic zone, where it feeds heavily on brittle stars. In a study in which the stomach contents of 70 specimens were examined, around 50 were shown to have fed only on brittle stars. A study on the reproductive strategies of coleoid cephalopods concluded, while "a simultaneous terminal spawning strategy is most likely" for M. levis, "the egg-length frequency graphs and multivariate analysis also suggest a greater variation in egg-lengths which could lead to spawning over an extended period". The study collected five female M. levis specimens from the Southern Ocean. They weighed from 16 to and the mantle length was from 34 to.

M. levis is similar in appearance to another species in the same genus, Muusoctopus rigbyae, which was first described in 2009 based on specimens found in Antarctic trawling surveys near the Antarctic Peninsula, and while similar in appearance, differs from M. levis in its arm length, the depth of its interdigital webbing, and specific details of its hectocotylus. Further, the species is found in slightly deeper waters, having been recorded at depths between 250 and.

References

References

1. Julian Finn. (2016). "''Muusoctopus levis'' (Hoyle, 1885)". Flanders Marine Institute.
2. (2009). "''Benthoctopus rigbyae'', n. sp., a new species of cephalopod (Octopoda; Incirrata) from near the Antarctic Peninsula". [[Malacologia]].
3. (2001). "Zoological Catalogue of Australia: Mollusca, Aplacophora, Polyplacophora, Scaphopoda, Cephalopoda". [[CSIRO Publishing]].
4. (2006). "Advances in Marine Biology". [[Academic Press]].
5. (2011). "The Southern Ocean: Source and sink?". Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography.
6. (1998). "Cephalopod Behaviour". [[Cambridge University Press]].
7. (2007). "Fecundity and reproductive strategies in deep-sea incirrate octopuses (Cephalopoda: Octopoda)". Marine Biology.