OCTOPODIDAE 489 



Aside from egg-size and egg-clusters and mantle-arm index, there is great 

 difficulty in separating this species from O. bimaciiloides Pickford which 

 lives nearby in shallower water where there is mud present. 



Octopus bimaciiloides Pickford Mud-flat Octopus 



Los i\ngeles, California, to Lower California. 



Almost identical with O. bimacidatus Verrill. Eggs large, 9.5 to 17.5 

 mm. in length, with shorter stalks, attached in small clusters. Mantle-arm 

 index 34, but ranging from 29 to 39. Fairly common in shallow water among 

 rocks where mud is present. Adults are somewhat smaller than bimacidatus. 



W 



