Octopus and diver, Fiordland
The octopus is the greatest escape artist of the marine world. Found mostly around rocky outcrops, these night predators stalk their prey keeping a watchful eye out for something tasty to pass by. At first the octopus can appear to quite dull in colour. Yet they change colour fast and have a greater variety of colours than a chameleon.
Did you know that octopus/wheke only live for one year on average? Learn more about this complex species of the mollusc family.
Learn about some of the known threats to octopus/wheke in this section.
Find out about DOC's wheke/octopus conservation work.
Find out how you can be involved with octopus/wheke conservation efforts.
Conservation requirements of New Zealand's nationally threatened invertebrates
New Zealand invertebrates factsheet (PDF, 236K)
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