Common octopus at Dunedin.

[Richard Schofield]

Yesterday afternoon (11th March) Claudia Mischler and I watched what appeared to be a Common Octopus (Pinnoctopus cordiformis) in Anderson's Bay Inlet. It was close inshore, in very shallow water, with its head above the surface most of the time. It was the colour of kelp, and about 3 feet long. It was next to the wader roost, and at one stage it was briefly investigated by a couple of Red-billed Gulls.