Cephalopods You'll Find in the Philippines
· Resources · By Scuba Journal
We all know that once someone gets SCUBA certified, they all become fascinated with the marine creatures we inevitably run into on our dives. Even the guys who get their Open Water certs in a cold, dark quarry in the UK, or somewhere similar, have seen some awesome stuff in magazines or online that they wish to one day see in person.
Basically, what I am trying to say is that all divers that I know have their own "diver's bucket list", whether it be a physical one or just a list in their head, of all the things they want to see in the ocean with their own two eyes.
Cephalopods, in particular octopuses and cuttlefish, are always at the top of people's wish list, and we are all willing to travel if it means seeing something rare.
That is why we love the Philippines. If you have been following along on our social media or our actual magazine, you know that the Philippines offers some of the coolest, most rare and exotic marine species on the planet, and cephalopods are no exception.
Divers and marine biologists will travel from all corners of the world, just to be able to photograph a blue ring octopus or a Flamboyant, and while we don't blame them for doing such a thing, we want to make sure they make the most out of their time, and see even more amazing wonders.
That being said, in this article we will put together a pretty comprehensive list of all the different types of cephalopods that you can see around the Philippines, that you really should not miss.
Put THESE dudes on your bucket list!
Cephalopods of The Philippines
When we say "cephalopods" we aren't just talking about octopuses. So let's put a little order into this list, and make some categories.
Octopuses
The Philippines is home to a remarkable variety of octopuses. A major 1997 study by Smithsonian-backed researchers recognized 20 shallow-water octopus species in Philippine waters, three of them new to science. That count came before the mimic octopus and the wunderpus were formally described, so the real number is higher.
Divers regularly find the big blue octopus on reefs, the coconut octopus carrying shells across muddy bottoms, and the tiny but venomous blue-ringed octopus hiding in rubble. For muck divers and macro photographers, few places in the world can match it.
Here are just a few to get you started.
1. Blue Ring Octopuses
2. Mototi Octopus
3. Coconut Octopus
4. Long Arm Octopus
5. Algae Octopus
6. Starry Night Octopus
7. Day Octopus
8. White V Octopus
9. Wunderpus
10. Mimic Octopus
Cuttlefish
Cuttlefish are some of the most charismatic animals Philippine divers meet. Their colour-changing skin pulses and flickers as they hunt, court and warn off rivals, and they steer with a rippling fin while a chambered cuttlebone keeps them buoyant. Scientists haven't published a definitive count for the Philippines alone, but regional checklists record at least 19 cuttlefish species in the South China Sea, several of them confirmed in Philippine waters.
Divers most often meet the broadclub cuttlefish, Sepia latimanus, hovering over reefs and laying eggs in branching coral. On muck dives, the tiny flamboyant cuttlefish, Metasepia pfefferi, steals the show as it walks across the sand.
1. Flamboyant Cuttlefish
2. Broadclub Cuttlefish
3. Pygmy Cuttlefish
Squids
Squid are the speedsters of the cephalopod world, jetting through the water and flashing colour in the blink of an eye. In the Philippines, divers most often meet the bigfin reef squid, Sepioteuthis lessoniana, hovering in small schools over the reef or laying eggs among corals and seagrass at night. Muck divers also look for tiny bobtail squid, which bury themselves in sand by day and use glowing bacteria to hide their silhouette at night.
There's no definitive count of squid species here, but fisheries research lists seven coastal species.
1. Reef Squid
2. Pygmy Squid
3. Bobtail Squid
4. Koch's Bobtail Squid
See our full list of cephalopods in the Philippines.