Long-term retention of internal elastomer tags in a wild population of North Pacific giant octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini)

Visible Implant Elastomer (VIE) tags represent a viable approach for long-term tracking of North Pacific giant octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) in Alaska. Over a two year period, 1730 E. dofleini were tagged with individually identifiable VIE tags and 238 E. dofleini were recaptured in a 25 km2 area. Of the 238 E. dofleini recaptured, 31 were at liberty for 60 days or more with a maximum time at liberty of 374 days. This study shows that long-term retention of VIE tags may prove to be a vital tool in determining important life-history information for octopus species.

► 1730 Enteroctopus dofleini were tagged with individually identifiable VIE tags and 238 E. dofleini were recaptured (approximately 14%).
► Of the 238 E. dofleini recaptured, 31 were at liberty for 60 days or more.
► Maximum time at liberty was 374 days.
► None of the 238 recaptured E. dofleini showed any signs tag damage as seen using external tags.
► Visible Implant Elastomer tags may be an effective means to monitor cephalopod populations worldwide.