Octopus exterior

The curled octopus (Eledone cirrhosa), also known as the horned octopus, lesser octopus or northern octopus, is a species of cephalopod found in the northeast Atlantic, ranging from Norway to the Mediterranean, including the British Isles.

It has a broad, ovoid-shaped mantle and can reach a total length (including arms) of up to 50 cm (20 in). The head is narrower than the rest of the body with a filament over each eye. The octopus’s color is yellowish or reddish-orange to reddish-brown dorsally with diffuse rust-brown patches, and white on the underside. The skin is covered with very fine, closely set granulations, interspersed with larger warts. The relatively short arms have a single series of suckers on them and at rest are held with the tips lightly curled, hence the species’s common name. This species maximum weight is 1 kilogram (2.2 lb) in the more southerly parts of its distribution and 2 kilograms (4.4 lb) in the northern part.