The Distribution of Octopus Vulgaris Lamarck in British Waters

Abstract

In Britain Octopus vulgaris occurs on the Channel coast and only very rarely on other coasts. In Brittany and the Channel Islands it frequently makes its lair at low water, but on the English side of the Channel it does not come so close inshore except in abnormal years of high sea temperatures.The discovery of Octopus larvae of various sizes, from newly hatched to 6·0 mm. (mantle length), in plankton hauls taken to the north of the Channel Islands, proves that the species has a much longer planktonic life than hitherto supposed.The water circulation in the English Channel, as indicated by drift bottles, is admirably suited to the dispersal of larvae to our shores from breeding centres on the coasts of Brittany and the Channel Islands.