Grimpoteuthis megaptera
{{Short description|Species of octopus}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Résultats des campagnes scientifiques accomplies sur son yacht (CÉPHALOPODES (III) PL. I) (6197442469).jpg
| image_caption = Images of Grimpoteuthis megaptera from 1889.
| status = DD
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| taxon = Grimpoteuthis megaptera
| authority = Verrill, 1885{{cite web |last1=Bouchet |first1=Philippe |last2=Cuvelier |first2=Daphne |last3=Rosenberg |first3=Gary |title=Grimpoteuthis megaptera |url=http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=157020 |website=World Register of Marine Species |accessdate=5 June 2018}}
| synonyms = *Cirrhoteuthis megaptera
}}
Grimpoteuthis megaptera is a species of octopus known from five specimens, collected by Addison Emery Verrill. Between two and three of these specimens may belong to different species.{{cite web |last1=Vecchione |first1=Michael |last2=Young |first2=Richard E. |title=Grimpoteuthis megaptera |url=http://tolweb.org/Grimpoteuthis_megaptera/20125 |website=Tree of Life Web Project |accessdate=5 June 2018}}
Description and habitat
Grimpoteuthis megaptera lives in the Atlantic Ocean off of Martha's Vineyard in the United States. It was found 4,600 meters deep.
Its full length reaches 107 millimeters.{{cite book|editor1-last=Jereb|editor1-first=Patrizia|editor2-last=Roper|editor2-first=Clyde F.E.|editor3-last=Norman|editor3-first=Mark D.|editor4-last=Finn|editor4-first=Julian K.|title=Cephalopods of the World: an Annotated and Illustrated Catalog of Cephalopods Known to Date Volume 3. Octopods and Vampire Squids|date=2016|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization|location=Rome|isbn=978-92-5-107989-8|page=263|url=http://www.fao.org/3/a-i3489e.pdf|accessdate=26 April 2018}} Its eyes are small, as are its suckers and cirri. They can be distinguished between other species by its gill morphology, sucker count (52-70),{{Cite journal |last=Collins |first=Martin |date=2003 |title=The genus Grimpoteuthis (Octopoda: Grimpoteuthidae) in the north-east Atlantic, with descriptions of three new species |url=https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/53439/1/4129.pdf |journal=Zoological Journal |volume=139 |issue=1 |pages=93-137 |via=Oxford Academic}} and whether it has a radula and posterior salivary glands. The species exhibits high degrees of variability, which may be influenced by sexual dimorphism and preservation methods.
The octopus' arms and web, when viewed orally, are brown. G. megaptera has yellow suckers and a blue-white mantle and fins. The mantle is spotted with irregular brown-purple markings.