Polvo (Octopus vulgaris)

Cephalopod mollusk that appears in the rocky areas of the coastal zone of this island. It is accidentally caught on a line or in a trap, and during the summer it is hand-picked by boys who dive for this purpose, taking care to 'turn its cap' so as not to be bothered by the animal's tentacles. The cap is the sac where the respiratory siphon is located, so once turned, the octopus is reduced to complete impotence. Like all species of the coast, the octopus has been a victim of the use of dynamite and potassium chlorate bombs, and is therefore much less frequent today than in the past.

According to information given to us by Mr. Adolfo de Noronha, between Madeira and Tenerife, in November 1861, the French ship L'Alecton found a gigantic octopus 5 to 6 meters long, not counting the eight enormous arms, which was found to belong to the genus Architeutis. Also among the rarest species of cephalopods found in Madeira is the Argonaufa argo, whose delicate and elegantly modeled shell in the form of a volute, serves the female to shelter the eggs. It deposits them in this kind of floating cradle and places itself on top as if to hatch them, until the moment of hatching.