Northeastern Pacific Octopus Beak Shape for Species-Level Detection

Abstract

Cephalopods have upper and lower chitinous beaks, and their shape can be used to identify species. However, the morphological attributes of beaks are commonly obtained from sources that contain little information on shape, compromising the determination of taxa. Thus, in this study, we used geometric morphometrics to analyze inter-specific differences in beak shape of six octopus species from the northeastern Pacific. We found evidence of species-level discrimination according to upper and lower beak shape. In addition, we provided a detailed description of these chitinous structures for each species, and we developed a key to identify the species based on upper and lower beak shape. The inter-specific morphological variation of beaks of the octopuses evaluated in our study could be the result of adaptive processes related to habitat and feeding habits. The information generated in our study can be used for identification of six octopus species from the northeastern Pacific based on upper and lower beak shape.