The octopus is a perfect contradiction: boneless and deeply muscular, elegant and intelligent, capable of touching the world with a delicacy that defies its strength. Its eight tentacles move with an impossible weightlessness. It is a being that exists at the limits of what we understand as form, body, and intelligence.
Field Guide to the Ocean of Rivia Magiarín
First edition. Unofficial classification of the cephalopods documented in the illustrated waters of the Rivia Magiarín universe. The data collected here is the result of years of observation, intuition, and a reasonable amount of imagination. Any resemblance to real biology is intentional... to a point.
Bubble Octopi (Octopus socialis minimus)
Small, wide-eyed and sociable by nature, the Bubble Octopi prove that size has nothing to do with personality. They travel in groups, and their colour determines their temperament in ways that science has yet to fully explain.
The Blue are the most fearless of the family — afraid of nothing and no one, which, given their size, is either very brave or very unwise.
The Pink, with their impossible-to-ignore reflective colour, thrive on attention. On the ocean floor, they are the show.
The Purple — a purple that leans toward deep blue — are the shyest. They hide among rocks, bury themselves when possible, though some claim it is a predatory strategy. They neither confirm nor deny.
The Temptation, a red-leaning pink, are the most territorial and aggressive of the family. They protect what is theirs with the determination of an alpha lobisome. They dislike solitude, but their neighbours must keep their distance.
Finally, the Violet — a violet that grazes pink — are the most easily frightened. They move as one, like Fuenteovejuna, always watching each other's backs. Together they are invincible. Alone, they prefer not to find out.
Flare Octopus (Octopus solitarius venomicus)
Solitary by nature, Flare Octopus only gather during mating season. Their neon-coloured suckers are not an aesthetic choice — they are a deadly trap for small fish who, as everyone knows, cannot resist shiny things. Born predators, with one notable exception: females are extraordinarily gentle and affectionate with their paralarvae. Motherhood changes everything.
The Red are hostile and violent. Observe them from a distance — they are not particularly large, but their self-perception is that of a kraken. Do not argue with them.
The Amber, despite their warm and seemingly harmless tone, release an irritating substance in their ink when frightened. The Red warn with their colour. These do not warn. Best keep your distance.
The Brown are masters of camouflage among the rocks, showing only their vivid tentacles. Once they catch their prey — like pythons — they do not let go. Ever.
The Fluted, with their striated skin, blend best with the sandy ocean floor. Distrustful and aggressive, they possess a powerful parrot-like beak that tears without remorse anything that falls into their muscular tentacles. There is no second chance.
The Green and Purple are beautiful. They are also as venomous as a black widow bite. Perhaps that is why they approach any animal — humans included — without the slightest hesitation. Particularly the Green. The Purple are somewhat more reserved, which does not make them any less dangerous.
And finally the Orange, of immutable and contemplative character. Not territorial, not violent... but let us not be fooled. They only attack when hungry. The problem is they are always hungry.
Ghost Octopus (Octopus abyssalis spectralis)
Almost transparent, fragile in appearance and extraordinarily resilient in reality, the Ghost Octopus inhabit the abyssal zones where krakens roam freely. They are not aggressive — they do not need to be. They have found something better than violence: survival through adaptation.
The White are the most transparent of all. Shy and discreet, they attach themselves to great krakens much as cleaner wrasse fish attach to sharks. With their fine tentacles and powerful suckers they clean them, feed on their waste, and in return receive the best protection the ocean has to offer. A fair deal.
The Blue, delicate and sky-coloured, seem to have arrived from another dimension. Their tiny black eyes are perfectly adapted to hunting the small fish of the abyssal depths. Watching them swim is like seeing a fragment of sky lost in the darkness.
The Green are the only Ghost Octopus that venture beyond the trenches. Curious and exploratory, they camouflage themselves among the pale deep-sea algae, but their wandering instinct takes them further than any of their kind.
The Pink inhabit volcanic trenches. They love the warmth, eat small hot rocks, and the light they emit attracts larvae and crustaceans from the depths like light attracts moths. Nobody knows exactly how they survive. They do not explain themselves either.
And finally the Pearl — small, delicate, moving like still water. They slip inside oysters and blend with their pearls, feeding on them and acquiring their characteristic nacreous tone. They are the hardest to find. And the hardest to forget.
Halo Octopus (Octopus tropicalis halogenus)
Striking, strange, almost extraterrestrial in appearance, the Halo Octopus are medium-sized and inhabit the ocean floors of warm tropical waters. Despite their warning-like appearance — like so many animals that have evolved to look dangerous without being so — they are calm creatures. Their best-kept secret: they are completely immune to the venom of jellyfish and anemones, among which they live and travel with total impunity.
The Beige is blind. It navigates exclusively through the touch of its tentacles and an extraordinarily sensitive statocyst — the finest of all known cephalopods. It lives beneath coral and anemone banks, where darkness is not an obstacle but its natural habitat.
The Blue, splendidly coloured and wide-eyed, is not exactly blind, but its eyesight leaves much to be desired. It shares its habitat with the Beige, though it prefers to settle among the anemones, where its colour makes it the most elegant neighbour in the area.
The Denim, faded blue like worn fabric, is the great traveller of the family. It migrates with jellyfish without caring where they take it, though its survival instinct is strong enough to keep it from ever reaching the shores. Adventurous, but not reckless.
The Green prefers shallow, algae-rich seas near tropical coasts where crabs are plentiful. Its appearance causes a visceral reaction in the humans who encounter it, which is a tragedy — because the Green Halo Octopus is endangered precisely because of this.
The Pink, ethereal and majestic, swims through the open ocean well away from shore. Perhaps it has learned from the experience of its Green cousins. Or perhaps it simply prefers the solitude of the open sea. Nobody has asked.
And the Purple, the smallest of the family but no less imposing for it. They live in the natural breakwaters of tropical coasts, right where the sea crashes with full force. They are extraordinarily strong. They have to be.
Solar Octopus & Neoring Octopus (Octopus ria atlanticus & Octopus ria hapalochlaena)
First cousins. The Solar is the ría octopus par excellence — the original, the authentic, the one that started it all. The Neoring is its evolution: the cross between the Solar and the Hapalochlaena, the real blue-ringed octopus. Same character, same elegance, but with neon rings that demand to be noticed. As with all the others, their colour defines who they are.
The Sunflare — Solar and its Neoring counterpart, the Garnet — burn like a red-orange fire. In this family, males and females are not equal: males display the most intense and brilliant tone; females, on the other hand, fade upon reaching maturity. Which means nothing, because as everyone knows, females do not need to justify their existence. The Garnet share this character and add beautiful blue neon rings. They are found slightly further from shore — they are somewhat larger, and equally majestic.
The Basil — a neon green that seems impossible — inhabit the cold Atlantic waters among rocky beds. Both Solar and Neoring are large and share the same habitat. They are a fantasy made real.
The Blue are wonderful. They move with the delicacy of underwater dancers, both Solar and Neoring, gliding through the ice of the North Atlantic as if walking on a soft carpet. Their only predator is the orca — which, being highly intelligent, rarely eats them. The Blue do not reproduce often and their paralarvae have the highest mortality rate in the entire collection. They are the most fragile. And the most extraordinary.
And finally the Flamboyant — the largest, the southernmost, the most hunted. Solar Flamboyant can reach the size of a kraken if they live long enough, inhabiting the deep waters of the southern hemisphere. Neoring Flamboyant are more active during mating season — they need to be, as their natural predators are leopard seals and elephant seals, who have absolutely no qualms about eating them. Their reproductive cycles are therefore shorter and their paralarvae develop faster. Both are hunted relentlessly for their ink, a rich magenta colour, highly prized for reasons this field guide prefers not to specify.
Author's note: Everything above is completely made up. Any resemblance to real biology is intentional to a point — and accidental in everything else. The krakens, however, are real. Do not doubt it.
All of the above is entirely the fruit of the Rivia Magiarín universe of art and stories, invented in an afternoon and long nights of cephalopod-inspired dreams. Real biology was consulted, selectively ignored and reinterpreted with complete artistic freedom. The krakens, however, are real. Do not doubt it.
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