Where Do Octopus Actually Live in the US?
Octopus live in 9 US states and are confirmed absent from 5 more, based on 137,715 verified iNaturalist and GBIF records. This page covers every state at once instead of one near-identical page per state.
By Tim, founder of Easy Street Markets. I maintain the wildlife database and verify every animal and source myself.
The states with the strongest confirmed populations are Alaska, California, Florida, Hawaii, North Carolina and Oregon, and 3 more. These are real, verified iNaturalist and GBIF occurrence records, not modeled range estimates.
Octopus have zero confirmed wild sightings in Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi and Virginia, despite tens of thousands of nationwide observation records for the species. That is a real, checked absence, not a missing page.
A small number of states (9) have only a handful of unverified or vagrant records, too few to confirm octopus as an established population there.
Confirmed states (9)
Not found (5)
- Delaware
- Georgia
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- Virginia
Unconfirmed (9)
Only a handful of unverified or vagrant records exist for octopus in Alabama, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, too few to confirm an established population.
Frequently asked questions
What states do octopus live in?+
Octopus have confirmed wild populations in 9 US states: Alaska, California, Florida, Hawaii, North Carolina, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas and Washington.
Where are octopus not found in the US?+
Octopus have no confirmed wild sightings in Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi and Virginia.
Full octopus guides by state